Fenghuang (8-22)

I took the minibus from Dehang to Jishou Monday afternoon. It stopped at the train station before going to the place where I picked it up. This was convenient for me, as I didn’t have to take a taxi to the bus station that is near the train station. When I got off the bus, a man asked where I was going. When I told him, he pointed to his minibus and told me to get in. So, after confirming that he was going to Fenghuang, I got in, feeling glad that the minibus was there and I didn’t have to walk to the bus station, since I still had low energy. After he didn’t stop and pick up more passengers before leaving the city, I realized that he was taking me as one passenger, which was not what I had planned. I should have asked the price before getting in and should not have assumed that he was driving a minibus like I had gotten off just because it was actually a minibus like I had gotten out of. But I was tired and not thinking clearly and he was there and it was convenient. When I realized what was happening, it was too late for me to tell him to let me out (and he probably wouldn’t have let me out in the middle of nowhere), as it would have been difficult to return to the city or to figure out how to get to Fenghuang. I was a bit anxious about how much money he would want and was a little uncomfortable being alone in the minibus with him. He was OK but was trying to be friendly, which I was not interested in; so I ignored even the little I understood. About half way there, he stopped at a gas station to use the toilet. When he returned, I asked how much he wanted. The price he gave (40 yuan/ about $6.50) wasn’t bad for a one-person trip, but I wanted him to know that that was not what I thought I was getting or what I wanted. Using my phone dictionary and little Chinese, I managed to communicate this. He then cut the price in half. This was still more than I thought the minibus would be, but it was OK; so I agreed. I later read online that the bus cost between cities is 20 yuan; so he was charging me the actual rate. When we arrived in Fenghuang, he called the hotel to ask where it is. Then he gave me the phone, and the man who answered talked to me in very good English. He told me to call again when we got to the bridge and the hotel would send someone to meet me and take me there. The driver took me into the city and let me out. This was fine, as, if I’d taken a bus, I would have had to take a taxi from the station to the hotel. Then he got out and waved down a taxi for me and told the driver where to take me. So it all ended out well, and he was really OK. I was just uncomfortable with the situation. It was the first time I felt like someone was taking advantage of me here, and I didn’t like that feeling. But maybe he really wasn’t and thought that I understood that I was going as one passenger, since he was helpful in the end.

When the taxi got to the bridge, which is the farthest vehicles can go, a man was waiting. I thought he was waiting for the taxi, but, when he wanted my bag and said the name of the hotel, I realized that he was waiting for me. The man on the phone had told them to send someone to meet me. He carried my bag and led me to the hotel, since it is a little difficult to find at first.

The hotel was nice, and the rooms are really cute. After I paid, the woman used a translator to let me know that aircon is $5 a day extra. Since it wasn’t hot, I said I didn’t need it. I think one of the reasons I had a cold was air conditioning blowing on me. Usually it's directly opposite the bed; so one can't avoid it except by turning it off, which I did some nights but always ended out waking up hot and turning it on. This one is above the bed on the other side; so it wasn’t blowing on me directly. However, by evening it was hot and I was sweating; so I paid the extra to be comfortable.

The disappointment with the hotel was that the man who speaks English well was not on the premises. I don’t know who he is or why he answered the phone, but he wasn’t there. When I realized that, I realized that I had been looking forward to having someone at the hotel with whom I could easily communicate. I was frustrated with dealing with communicating with my very little Chinese and people with very little English. I think especially after my experience with the driver and at the previous hotel where no one talked to me. And I was still not feeling my best from the cold. The woman here was friendly and helpful when she could be but knew less English than I do Chinese. A man used an online translator to communicate with me.

The experience with the driver and the lack of English at the hotel left me feeling frustrated and ready to be done with traveling in China. I’ve traveled longer than three weeks on my own in other countries, but there have always been English-speaking people at hotels. Here the menus are in Chinese, which makes ordering food challenging. When everything is challenging, it is wearing. Since my energy was low, it all got to me.

My frustration with the lack of English made me think about the fact that it is Chinese that is the language here and I should not expect English everywhere. (and I don’t. I was just missing it) It is I who should be trying to communicate. However, my meager efforts to speak Chinese usually fail. But I do OK with my dictionary and pointing and my few words and a smile. It also makes me admire and appreciate even more the people who do speak English, especially those who speak well. And I think about people who travel to the U.S. and how they need to know English fairly well, as Americans will rarely speak their native language.

After checking in at the hotel, I rested in the room for a few hours and then went out to get oriented and eat dinner. I ate at a restaurant where the woman took me in and showed me the refrigerator case with vegetables I could point to. She was willing to work with me; so I ate there. I chose eggplant and tofu. (I had passed on “the oil drenches the eggplant” at the previous hotel which had an English menu.) When I suggested cooking them together, the response was that they couldn’t do that. So I ended out with two dishes instead of one. When I saw the man take out three small eggplants and two lumps of tofu, I told him only one, but he took them all. And I got twice as much food as I wanted or could eat. But it was good. And they were really happy to serve me.

Tuesday morning started with a photo session where I was the attraction. 

Then I went to a site near the hotel. Since it’s a ticketed site (Fenghuang has a ticket you purchase that is good for ten sites), the person at the entrance opened a notebook and showed me a page where several things were written in English and Chinese. They explained the need for a ticket, the cost of a ticket, and the need to show your passport to buy a ticket. Then the young man pointed to the one that said “Follow me to buy a ticket” and took me to the purchasing booth. I was pleased when the seller gave me the senior discount. Then the man standing there pointed up and told me to go there. This was the East Gate, which is where I ended out starting the day.

I walked along the city wall, enjoying the buildings along it. 

The other side was along the river; so there were good views of the river and buildings on the other side. 

Towards noon many people were doing laundry in the river. Many of the buildings are hotels, and I could see that people were washing sheets. Some were washing clothes.

I stopped at a café for lunch and ordered noodles and tea. When I asked for the bill, the man told me 45 yuan (7.50). I was shocked. When I good-naturedly said it was too expensive, they showed me the prices on the menu: 15 for the noodles and 30 for the large mug of tea. I was shocked at the price of the tea and would not have ordered it if I’d had any idea it would be so expensive. After we exchanged friendly comments, he gave me a discount, charging only 30 yuan. I would have paid the 40, but it was nice to have the discount.

One of the ticket items is a boat ride down the river; so I did that. As always, it was pleasant to be on the water for a short ride. 

We went past the stilt houses I’d read about.

At the end of the ride, there’s a platform with cormorants. 

After the boat ride, I walked along the riverside and ended out shopping a bit. Then I crossed back and headed to the East Gate to return to the hotel. But I was farther down than I’d realized. So I wandered through the shops on the way upriver. It was a pleasant day. I enjoy meandering around casually with no particular destination or schedule.

After relaxing in my room, I went out for a while. Some women were burning a pile of special paper outside the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, other women were doing the same thing. This was happening outside shops all over the area all evening. It must have been a special day for the Chinese or for the local people. I missed having someone I could ask why they were doing this.

My first task was to go to a bank to withdraw money with my debit card, but the transaction didn’t work. I tried twice and tried again at another bank. Then I returned to the hotel and called my bank. The woman said there was no problem with my card and the refused transactions didn’t show. This was good news that there wasn’t a problem with my card. But it was bad news in terms of my getting cash. I’d heard that some banks don’t take foreign credit/debit cards but hadn’t had that problem before. Fortunately, I still had a little money left in my Chinese bank and had already paid for the train tickets; so I didn’t need much cash.

On the other side of the bridge, the street had turned into a street food market. 

Many vendors were selling the food on skewers. After purchasing skewers, the cook grilled or stir fried the food. I chose four and took them back to my room to eat. It was delicious.

Wednesday morning I decided to try the ATM again even though I knew it would be a miracle if it worked. Of course it didn’t. So I went into the bank to see if someone could help. The man just shook his head and waved “no” and said “China Bank.” I managed to get the security man to show me on the map where a Bank of China is. Fifteen minutes later I had cash. I could have gotten by without it, but I felt more secure having extra cash on hand for my last few days and travels home.

A highlight of the day was walking up the mountain of the Phoenix Culture Scenic Spot. The view of the city from the top is great. 

One favorite place was an area with red umbrellas hanging among the trees. It was magical. Chinese parasols are homes for the phoenix. I also enjoyed the area about the phoenix in Chinese culture. It’s at the top of 99 steps (not 999!). The phoenix is a representation of the 9^th god and the second 9 is for the 9^th level of heaven. 

A small museum has representations of the phoenix through the ages in bronze and on ceramics and pottery. I learned that “feng” is male and “huang” is female. Together they mean everlasting love. Thus the city’s name incorporates both. 

It is the city’s symbol which can be found everywhere.

I took in a few more of the ten sites. The palace is beautiful with its stone walls and carved wooden windows.

After a couple hours relaxing in my room, I headed out for dinner. I wanted a nice meal for my last one on the trip. I chose a small fish—live in the tank—and they made a delicious fish soup with tofu. I also had some greens. Then I walked around a little bit to see the night lights reflecting in the river. But I had had enough walking around the old town and enough of the crowds, which increase at night. So I didn’t stay out long.

Thursday was my final day in Fenghuang and the final day of my vacation. Since I was really done with Fenghuang, there wasn’t much to do. I walked around a little in the morning just to be out and moving. After checking out of my room, I went for a fish spa. I’d seen them around town and had decided that I would treat myself to one before leaving. This one was for thirty minutes. After the initial ten seconds getting used to the nibbling fish, it was nice and relaxing. When I left, my feet felt good and were very soft. 

Then I went to the noodle shop I’d decided to have lunch at, but the man was too busy playing phone games to serve me. (This happens a lot in China. The staff are so busy with their games that they don’t even look up sometimes or you have to wait till they can stop and take care of you.) So I had to find another place to get noodles. I was lucky and found one that had fungus as one of the items that could go with the noodles. That made a tasty addition.

Then it was time to leave for the train station in Jishou, an hour away. The man at the hotel who had greeted me at the taxi when I arrived was there and took me to the shuttle and told the driver where to drop me off so I could go to the long distance bus station. At the buses to Jishou, the women pointed me to the one that went directly to the train station. That was handy. The end of my vacation had arrived. 

Dehang (8-19)

When I arrived at the train station in Jishou, I needed to purchase my tickets back to Chengdu. Sunny had written instructions in Chinese for me. I went to the reception desk to ask where to purchase the tickets, and I met Sue. She is a university student who is majoring in Chinese and wants to be a Chinese language teacher. She will graduate next year. Sue went to the ticket window with me and ordered my tickets. There are two trains that will take a total of 16 hours. Since there were not sleepers available, I had to purchase a seat. It will be like sitting on a plane.

After purchasing my tickets and hers, she decided to take me to the minibus to Dehang. I’d read that these were outside the train station, but they have moved to a new location. It would have been challenging for me to find it on my own; so I appreciated her assistance.

Dehang is a small Miao, ethnic group, village along a river that is surrounded by mountains. Along the river there are many rice fields. The area is lush with green. Since it’s not a major tourist destination, it sounded like a lovely place to relax for a couple days after the hiking in Zhongjiajie. And it was. During the day, small groups of Chinese tourists came to the village for a few hours. The main part of the village has many shops selling goods to them. Before the tourists arrive and after they leave, the village is quiet. The setting, with all the green fields and the mountains, is beautiful, calm and relaxing. It was a good choice.

I’d woken up with a bit of a cold Saturday morning. By the time I arrived at the guesthouse in Dehang, it had become a full-blown drippy nose cold. I slept all afternoon. Fortunately, my room had a nice view of a mountain. In the evening, I went out for a short time and then returned to sleep some more.

Sunday morning I woke up at 7:00 when I heard fire crackers going off. I looked out the window, and after a few minutes what looked like a funeral went down the sidewalk beneath the window. After resting for a few more hours, I decided that I could go for a short walk and headed down the canyon. I didn’t have much energy, but I could walk slowly and the path was flat and easy to walk on. It follows along the river, which is mostly dry due to the drought in the region. Sad to see.

I went to what looked like the end of the path and sat on a rock for a while. After a few minutes, I thought I heard water and looked up. There was a waterfall across the pond, but it was just a trickle due to the drought. 

A man and two boys were collecting something from the pond. I realized that the path continues around a corner and up a mountain. Since I was not up for that, I turned around.

On the way back I took a brief detour along a path that was advertised to have many beautiful waterfalls. It went uphill, but that was OK by this time. After the first waterfall, it came to a rock covered with moss with only room for one foot and nothing to hold onto. I decided that was not for me and turned around. By the time I got back to my room, I had had more than enough, having been out for 3.5 hours, and slept for the rest of the afternoon. I had planned to rest and relax in Dehang, but not like that. I guess my body was making sure I followed through and rested a lot.

In the evening I decided that I had enough energy to attend the cultural program. After I selected a seat, two men sat next to me. The one indicated that he was asking me about his smoking. Then he put his cigarette out and told his friend to do the same. I thought that was very considerate. Then a woman sat next to me and chatted for a bit. She had been a visiting scholar at a university in Alabama. Now she teaches nursing at a university in Hunan and was in Dehang for a medical conference. Then another young woman joined us and stayed with me. She is studying nursing and will graduate next year. Her English was also excellent. She told me what the various shows were. 

The program was well worth the cost of admission (60 yuan/$10). It featured several dances, including a dragon dance, a man who swallowed fire and walked on fire, 

and men who climbed a pole of knives.

Monday morning I went for another short—3-hour—walk through a river canyon. This river was also mostly dry. The path is flat stones; so it was easy to walk on. There are rice fields and other crops growing at the bottom of the canyon most of the way. 

The views with the green fields and the mountains in the background are stunning. It was a lovely way to spend the morning and finish my time in Dehang.

When I returned to the guesthouse, it was the first time I’d walked through the village during the day. Two of the shops had women weaving the cloth that is used to make shirts I liked. I ended out buying a shirt from one of them.

The guesthouse was an interesting experience. I had made the reservation by text messaging. I had tried to call but got cut off. Then there was a phone call to me and then I received a message asking how many nights I wanted. I asked the price and reserved the room. When I needed to change my arrival day, I did that by text message, too. So someone connected with the guesthouse can communicate in English. But I never encountered that person when I was there. After such friendly communication by texting, I was disappointed to find that the people actually there were the least friendly I have encountered.

Zhangjiajie 2 (8-16)

Wednesday morning was sunrise morning, which meant waking up at 5:15 to leave at 5:30 to walk to the Great Sightseeing Platform for the sunrise at about 6:00. I did manage to do that in good spirits. When I woke up, I could hear other people nearby getting ready to leave. There were vans heading out. All of this seemed a little strange, since no one was out and there was no traffic when I went out at 7:00 on Tuesday. At the viewpoint, about 50 people were waiting for the sunrise. This took a long time because there was a thick cloud above the mountains, and the sun rising was not visible through it. We waited until it finally rose above the cloud at 6:30 and were rewarded with a little color.

Then we returned to the guesthouse for breakfast. And then we were on our way at 7:40, which was good because we missed the rush of vans leaving at 8:00.

Our first, of three, destination of the day was Tianzi Mountain. In spite of its name, there wasn’t too much going up and down, which was a good thing after all the ups and downs on Tuesday. I couldn’t have done that again, and I think Sunny would have had a hard time, too. On the mountain, we walked to He Long Park, which is named for an important man from the area. There’s a huge bronze statue of him which Sunny said is the biggest one in China. I think this may have referred to the weight or the biggest bronze statue because the one of Mao in Chengdu is at least as tall. His grave is also at the site.

In terms of rock pillars, the area is thought of as a sea of stone. 

One pillar has a boat-shaped rock on top of it. This is like a boat floating on the sea, which is a sign of good fortune and that everything is fine. There is another group of pillars that are called a tortoise. This area was full of tourists and large tour groups. I was glad when we stepped out of the main area and went to a smaller, less crowded side area. The view was basically the same; it just wasn’t the most popular view. I was feeling really glad not to be part of such a large group. An advantage of having my own guide is that I can take time to enjoy the scenery for a few minutes when it’s not crowded. There is no need for me to hurry to keep up with the group, and I don’t have to always have an eye out to make sure I know where the guide is. She’s right beside me.

In another section, there is a group of pillars called the writing brush pillars. The story is that when He Long died, his brushes turned into the stone pillars. There is also a tall pagoda from which there are good views of the stone forest.

Then it was time to leave the mountain top. We descended by cable car. Morning was a great time to go down because there was no waiting line. Sunny said that in the afternoon there is a long line for the cable cars. I was lucky to have a seat beside the window on the side with a view of the rocks. This was a different view, as we were at the same level as the pillars some of the time. When we got to the bottom, there was a long line of people waiting to go up. I was glad to have missed that.

Our second destination of the day was Ten Mile Gallery. I’m not sure how it got its name because it is not ten miles. It’s actually about five km. We walked one way and took the monorail back. The path is flat and paved; so it was a nice change from the mountains. The gallery is the views of the rocks and mountains as you walk along.

The third and final destination was Baofeng Lake. First we had to walk up (yes, up again) the lake. But it wasn’t too bad. The lake is a beautiful, dark green color. It’s very calming, as lakes are. We took the boat ride around the lake. I thoroughly enjoyed the relaxing sensation of being on the water. 

There are two small houseboats where a woman and a man sang a short song as we went by. 

After the ride, we walked back down to the waterfall at the entrance. In a pool near the entrance, there is a special kind of salamander (as translated to me) that lives in the park and is an endangered species. It’s surprisingly big. We had seen a picture of one and an explanation as we walked along Golden Whip Stream. People had thrown money into the pool for good luck.This was a relaxing place to visit after all the walking. It was also nice that the temperature was lower.

Having finished our itinerary for the day, it was time to go to my next guesthouse. I’d chosen one in the village near the park entrance because I didn’t want to be in the city. My bags were there when we arrived. The village is small and is mainly there for tourists. It was nice to be back to a place with full-time water.

Thursday we had a “late” start. Sunny and the driver picked me up at 8:30. It was quite nice to sleep in a bit. We had a full day again—longer than the last two but not as challenging or tiring. Our first destination was Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon. As we started descending down the canyon on regular steps—the kind that are found in buildings, I decided not to even think about walking back up. A few minutes later, Sunny gave me the good news of the day: We didn’t have to walk up! The stairs descended steeply into the canyon. At one place, the passage was narrow, but not as narrow as the one on Tianzi Mountain. I read on a sign at the top that the walls are 400 meters high. About half way down, there is an option to take a slide, but we wanted to descend slowly and to walk. 

I became quite fascinated with the signs on the rubbish bins inviting people to use them. They are so Chinese in style.

At the bottom, we walked along the river. It was cool and shady most of the time. The river was shallow due to the lack of rain. 

There are a few waterfalls that were barely trickling—again due to the lack of rain. However, the area was lush and moist and green. And the path was flat. It was very pleasant walking there. At one point the path goes through a cave. There is a canon in the cave that was a prop from filming The Journey to the West. In one place, we enjoyed watching the dragonflies and some other similar insect. 

At the end of the path, there is a boat trip to the exit. All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a few hours.

The next, and final, destination was Yellow Dragon Cave. The grounds on the way to the cave are lovely. The first building is a music hall that has a grass roof and blends in with the environment very nicely. There is a trellis covered with hanging gourds. There are carved zodiac animals that are the nicest I’ve seen. There’s a display area where the local corn-based wine is made. 

And there is a series of large, connected water wheels. Each one pours water into the next one as the water goes down the line.

The cave itself is huge. We spent two hours walking through it. I had no idea we’d been there that long. Caves are always magical experiences, and this one was no exception. It has four levels connected with stairs that go up and down and wind around. In one place, you take a boat to the next section. 

As always, I enjoyed the various formations. 

The cave is a wet cave, and we could see drops of water at the bottom of some of the stalactites. In one big room there is a waterfall coming down from the ceiling. Like all the local water features, it was very small due to the drought.

There were several large tour groups going through the cave when we were there. The guides used microphones, which was annoyingly loud in the cave. The groups were loud. Fortunately, we were able to hang back as they passed and then had quiet time before the next group arrived. These quiet times were especially nice.

I was delivered to my hotel at 5:30, making this the longest day. But the temperature was lower (29^o C/84^oF), which made a huge difference. And most of the day we were in the shade or in the cave. Most of the walking was downhill or flat. We did go up some stairs in the cave, but the ascent was in sections. So it was a relatively easy day physically. The change of pace and scenery was pleasant.

Friday was my last day in Zhangjiajie. When she picked me up at 8:30, Sunny said Tianman Mountain, our destination, takes about five or six hours. We had agreed that I should take the 2:25 train, which didn’t leave enough time for the mountain, especially considering possible lines. So I decided to spend the night in the city. Luckily, I was able to cancel my other reservation for the night, and the agency had someone find a room for me. With that taken care of, we could relax and enjoy the day, not worrying about getting me back in time for the train. This was good.

When we took the cable car up the mountain, it was raining lightly, but we could still see some of the mountains. 

When we arrived at the top, Sunny purchased rain ponchos for us, as did most of the passengers. But when we went out of the building, the rain had stopped.

At the top, where there are beautiful views of the mountains, we saw only the trees in front of us. The rest was a sea of white cloud—just white like when you’re in the cloud, not fluffy, white, beautiful clouds like the publicity pictures show. Sunny said that her friends had told her about this, but she had never seen it before. We skipped the glass walk above the canyon, since there wasn’t anything to see below except the whiteness. 

As we walked, bits of the mountain tops emerged from the cloud. It was fun to watch for these. After a while, a whole mountain was visible some of the time. We were fascinated watching the cloud from a nearby valley rise up and cover the mountain and then move on. This happened many times. It was a magical experience.

Zhangjiajie is known for views of its peaks above the clouds. Sunny had told me that that happens after a rain, especially in the spring. I’d been thinking that I hadn’t seen any clouds. Now I had. It wasn’t like the beautiful photos, but it was still magical and mystical.

In one area, people hang red ribbons on which they have written prayers.

There is a temple at the top. When we were leaving, a few monks were walking out with some people. This was the first time Sunny had seen monks.

At the very top, there is a pavilion with panoramic views. This was the only uphill waking on the mountaintop.

We saw blue sky a few times, but most of the day was cloudy.

After spending four hours walking around the top, we took the cable to the mid-point to go to Tianmen Cave. 

After exiting the cable car, we took the shuttle to the cave. The road has 99 curves, many of which are marked with signs. 

The cave is actually an arch. Sunny explained that the story is that it was a cave, but many years ago the back part fell off the mountain. To get to the cave, you walk up 999 steps. Sunny said there are actually only 896, but maybe 999 sounds better and 9 is a special number in China. The steps go straight up with no real break, but there are sections where they are longer and flatter for about ten steps. The sign beside the stairs reminds people to "slow down when stepping into the steep elevator."

Then it was time to take the cable car to the bottom. Again it was raining slightly. At the bottom, the man from the guesthouse met us to take us there—about a ten minute walk. When we arrived, we were given watermelon, which tasted delicious after the long day. After checking me in, Sunny went with the man to the train station to purchase my ticket for Saturday morning. Then it was time to say “good-bye” to her. She’s a wonderful person and I’m glad to have had her as my guide and friend for my time in Zhangjiajie.

When I asked about eating, the woman at the guesthouse took me around the corner to a local food shop. There I saw a couple I’d seen briefly at the guesthouse, and they recognized me. They’re Greek, and she has studied Chinese as a hobby and speaks well. She had been working in China for two months, and now they are traveling for a month. When I asked about an ATM, she and the woman chatted and decided that the woman would take me to the Bank of China. After returning, I joined the couple to eat and chat for quite a while. It was a very pleasant night.

Saturday morning when I was eating breakfast, Sunny arrived. This was a surprise, as she had said she had thought about returning Saturday morning but decided to sleep. She came to thank me for the generous tip I gave her and to give me some grapes and a can of flavored peanuts. She went to the train station with the man and me. When we parted again, she said I was her best client. I really felt a heart connection with her, as with Hanh last year in Vietnam.

Although my five days in Zhangjiajie were wonderful and amazing, I have realized that five days of intensive hiking in a row is too much these days. I guess it’s time to slow down a bit.