Getting ahead of the hordes - Days 6 and 7

 

Fenghuang Old Town at night

The penultimate day of our pre-Lunar New Year trip was yet another smoggy affair. As we checked out of our hotel in the Yongding New District 永定区 of Zhangjiajie City 张家界市 the AQI was 183, the worst we had experienced so far:

My wife hailed a Didi to take us to Zhangjiajie West railway station 张家界西站. A one-hour ride on a high speed train found ourselves at Zhangjiajie Station 张家界站: 

This 80-year-old woman started up a conversation with Shu-E, making me feel better that my Mandarin ability is still so poor that strangers are reluctant to talk to me: 

This was a typical view from my seat as the train made its way through the countryside:

From Zhangjiajie Station it was another hired car that deposited us at our final hotel, Sulu Lianhua 素履莲花度假酒店, the characters of which Google Translate renders as the "Lotus Resort Hotel". Our room provided a modern take on a traditional albeit upper-class bedroom: 

Our room overlooked the Tuo River 沱江:

To our surprise there was a working bathtub on the balcony. Obviously, with the temperature reading 12°C/54°F (and often feeling colder) I wasn't going to be taking any dips, but even if it were summer I most likely would not be bathing au naturel:  

After five days taking in the natural wonders of Zhangjiajie 张家界 and Tianmenshan 天门山, we would be ending our trip in an ancient town. Fenghuang 凤凰 (the name translates as "phoenix") once marked the boundary between the Han 汉族 of the central plains and the Dong 侗族, Miao 苗族 and Tujia 土家族 ethnic minorities of  the southwest mountains, eventually becoming a center of trade and cultural exchange. Visitors now descend on Fenghuang to visit the Old Town 古城. Soon after checking in we talk a walk along the riverside to check it out for ourselves:

In a typical tourist scene seen all over China visitors (mainly women) culturally appropriate dress up in ethnic clothing to have their photographs taken:

We had lunch in a restaurant on the opposite side of the river:

After the meal we crossed back and continued toward the main part of Old Town:

Many of the old buildings lining the Tuo have been converted into hotels and inns:

This cup holder is a popular souvenir of Fenghuang. We plan on giving ours to our daughter the next time she's in China:

The Wanming Pagoda 万名塔 dates from the Qing dynasty 清朝. It has seven tiers and stands 21 meters/69 feet high:

The 1807 Yingximen Gate 迎曦门 is made of brick and stone. It stands 3 meters/9.8 feet high and 1.7 meters/5.6 feet wide:

Just past the pagoda and the gate is Wanshou Temple 万寿宫. It was built in 1755 and served as an assembly hall for almost 200 years:

On the grounds is the Huang Yongyu Art Museum 黄永玉艺术馆, devoted to the life and works of an ethnic Tujia scholar, Chinese painter and former professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. And, no, neither my wife nor I had ever heard of him: 

Leisure boats waiting for the sun to go down:

Just as I'd come across a McDonald's amidst the Avatar scenery of Zhangjiajie and a Burger King atop Tianmen Mountain, here in Fenghuang proudly stood a KFC and Pizza Hut for those tiring of Hunan cuisine:

The photogenic Qingxi Alley 清溪巷:

A spice shop:

These stepping stones across the river were a popular photo spot for visitors: 

While my wife successfully crossed there, I chose a different, wider walkway to get to the other side, afraid of losing my balance while having to get around people heading in the opposite direction on the narrow stones.  Nearby was the North Gate Tower 北门城楼, rising 13.6 meters/44.6 feet high:

From the tower we walked along the old city wall. 700 meters/2297 feet long, it was originally built for protection against attacks and floods:

What I initially thought was a Chinese revolutionary museum disappointingly turned out to be a photo studio giving tourists yet another opportunity for dressing up:

One of the most impressive buildings in Fenghuang is the Yang Family Ancestral Hall 杨家祠堂, built in 1836. Faded Cultural Revolution slogans can still be seen by the exterior door:

Shu-E snaps a pic of the East Gate 东门:

Throughout our trip this Adidas jacket kept me relatively warm. Little did I know I was "Chinamaxxing":

The Rainbow Bridge 虹桥, which was first constructed in 1556. The interior is lined with stalls:

It was at one of these stalls where Shu-E had this heliotrope 鸡血藤 bracelet made for her: 

Speaking of my significant other, by this point she was beginning to tire, so she summoned a van from our hotel to take us back to our room for a short rest. We were then returned to near Rainbow Bridge where my wife bought some fried shrimp cakes for us to snack on: 

The most popular time to visit Old Town is after dark, so it wasn't surprising the area was much livelier compared to earlier in the day: 

Some dishes I didn't have for dinner that evening. Instead I cowardly played it safe with a Turkish wrap:

Nanhua Mountain 南华山 overlooks the Old Town: 

Throughout the time we were there in the evening a slow-moving play about a woman waiting for her lover was taking place in the middle of the river: 

The view from Nanhua Road:

The attractively illuminated Xueqiao Bridge 雪桥 was designed by the aforementioned Huang Yongyu, who was apparently a man of many talents: 

Eventually we were driven back to our lodgings. This was the view from our balcony:

The final morning of our trip. After checking out, while Shu-E had herself driven yet again into the main part of Old Town, I opted to stroll along what was apparently dubbed the Baoziwan Riverside 豹子湾河边: 

The costume rental shops were preparing for another day of business:

At this temple a woman asked if I had a lighter as she was having trouble lighting her incense sticks. A pity for her that I quit smoking 24 years ago:

We met up outside the Rainbow Bridge. A video of mochi being pounded that she took while waiting for me to show up: 

 

We crossed the bridge to the other side to see this somewhat pitiable sight of horses being loaded down with heavy bricks:

Shu-E waited at the bottom while I walked up a short but steep staircase to the Temple of the Heavenly King 天王庙, which has existed in this location in one form or another since 1183:

Afterward it was back on the bridge where Shu-E bought some Yufeng Duck Head 御峰鸭头, only to be disappointed as it wasn't sufficiently spicy:

People write auspicious slogans on banners in preparation for the coming Year of the Horse:

Our final lunch, consisting of Hunan dishes. Much apparently is made on Chinese social media on the "rice tofu" (the dish on the left), but my wife was less than impressed:

Taking a dessert break in a riverside cafe:

Eventually it was time to bid farewell so the hotel arranged for a car to take us back to the train station:

Initially Shu-E had intended for the two of us to return to Guangzhou 广州 via plane, but later opted to take a five hour-plus ride on one of China's many high speed trains:

Unfortunately there wasn't much to see along the route. Though metropolises like Beijing 北京 have done much in recent years in tackling the once-notorious air pollution levels, smoggy conditions like those we experienced are still the sad reality for millions of people living in the provincial cities and towns, especially in winter:

And so on the first Friday in February we found ourselves back "home" in Guangzhou, an urban conglomeration of 18.7 million where the AQI was ironically much lower. I had originally arranged to take the week off in order to travel to Thailand, but after some discussion we agreed to use those days to see Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang during a time when most Chinese still had to go to work or school. Shu-E was completely responsible for the itinerary, deciding where we would go, where we would stay and how we would get there and get around, and if you've been following along with these posts, I think you would agree that she did a fantastic job in doing so. 

The best part for me about this short vacation was being able to appreciate the natural and man-made attractions without having to put up with the thousands upon thousands of visitors that would have shared the spaces with us had we traveled on a weekend or national holiday. Zhangjiajie, Tianmenshan and Fenghuang were hardly bereft of tourists while we were there, but the numbers were tolerable. Had we waited until the middle of the month and the Lunar New Year holiday period, things would have been very, very different. Videos on WeChat showed Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang in danger of sinking under a sea of humanity during the holidays. If planning to visit China it's best to avoid extended breaks like the Lunar New Year, Labor Day or National Day, unless you enjoy scenes like these:

In fact, the best thing to do if you're in China during major public holidays is to leave the country. Which is what the two of us did during this year's LNY edition. Please join me when the next series of posts delves into our time spent in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

新年快乐！恭喜发财！