I have been reading posts at the site for so many years, never contributed any. I really appreciate all the contributors who provided great posts and beautiful photos. It has been real enjoyment visiting this site. Here is my China trip 2010 experience, hope it maybe of any help to someone. First I want to thank Kangfengjing’s tips on the “World Expo” and Michael C’s tips on Zhangjiajie. This trip is very fast paced, only stayed at each place for a short period of time. The whole trip planning was played by ears regarding travel tickets and motels, except for the first few days at Shanghai and general ideas of places to go (did give up PutuoShan due to time concern).
Itinerary
Day 1-3 Shanghai,
Day 4 travel to Hangzhou
Day 5 Hangzhou, afternoon to QiandaoHu
Day 6 Ferry from QiandaoHu to Tangko, visiting HongCun in the afternoon
Day 7-8 HuangShan
Day 9 travel to Fenghuang
Day 10 Fenghuang, traveled to Zhangjiajie in the afternoon
Day 11-13 Zhangjiajie
Day 1 and 2. Shanghai World Expo.
Like most people described “you regret if you did not see it, you regret even more when you did see it”. I purchased 3-day ticket package, gave up the second day. It was so hot and humid, crowds of people every where, and thunderstorms both days, almost unbearable. First day experience was fairly nice, we did what most people recommended, walked around a little bit, and went inside when the line wasn’t too long. At night watched the show at the culture center, and saw the light, fountains and music afterward.
Day 3, Since we did not go to the world expo, my dad saw the group travel deal to ZhouZhuang at the motel and booked it. We ended up at Wuzhen, because the fellow who answered my Dad’s inquest insisted he said it was WuZhen (I doubted it, because the only name my Dad ever mentioned to us was ZhouZhuang), we did not want to argue. It was my first experience with guided group tour, and it would be my last too. The guide did not do much of tour guiding, but wasted most of our time at two shopping stops.
Day 4, It was wasted on traveling from Shanghai to Hangzhou (waiting at the train station). I should’ve purchased the train tickets ahead of time since the place we stayed was very close to the train station, we could have more time at Hangzhou. I did see the night scene of Xihu.
Day 5: XiHu, Hangzhou and traveled to QiandaoHu
We walked almost a circle from DuanQiao to BaiDi and SuDi. XiHu was full of people even at 5:30 in the morning. I took a lot of pictures of water lilies. It’s a nice walk, could be nicer if less crowded.
Day 6: Ferry trip
I decided to take the ferry from QiandaoHu to Tangko (close to Huangshan) instead of sightseeing QiandaoHu because some people mentioned most of the tourist spots of the QiandaoHu islands were artificially manufactured to attract tourist. I think if you like amusement parks, this maybe a good choice. I was more into natural beauty plus I was pressed for time. People who took the same ferry confirmed my choice. The lake and islands scenery was nice, but not as grandeur as Canadian Rockies, nor as elegant as Li River scenery. However, a few hours of boat ride, without any disturbance from other tourist boats (except for a few small fishing boats, good for photo taking) like you see on Li River, and with net fish farms scattered in the lake which you won’t see at Canadian Rockies, was delightful.
HongCun
I strongly recommend HongCun, which has the classical Hui-style houses, which are laid out in an interesting way, and connected by water. HongCun was not as crowded as other southern villages tourists jammed. I wish I stayed there for the night. There are a lot bed and breakfasts (not sure if they offer breakfast though). And there are buses to HuangShan directly (not the city, but the actual mountain site). There are many Hui-style villages in the surrounding areas, but according to my friend’s husband, HongChun was probably one of the nicer ones, they traveled to quite a few Hui-style villages. Actually, Fenghuang’s architect style is also Hui-style. Once again, I recommend HongCun.
Day 7 and 8, HuangShan
We hiked through the front route. My mother did the back route last time she visited HuangShan. The back route was easier, less steep. After climbing to the LianHuaDing, my mother and niece rested for that day. I set off for the XiHaiDaXiaGu, it was after three o’clock in the afternoon. A lot of people said it was too late to go, but I did not want to miss the chance, because I heard Xihai Canyon was the most beautiful part of HuangShan. I saw a college boy was hesitating, I encouraged him to go, so I had a “companion”, of course he was lot faster, he disappeared shortly. Even on the way to the gate of the Canyon, a few travelers were still saying “go back, the gate will be closed by the time you get there”. I almost ran to the gate, it took me about 30-40 minutes or so to get to the gate (one hour for most people, I did not really look at the time, the boy did the estimation). We encountered more late travelers, formed a group of 6. I do believe the Xihai Canyon is the most beautiful part of HuangShan. I certainly glad I went. We finished the HuangShan trip the next day.
Day 9, travel to FengHuang
Since there is no direct train to ZhangJiaJie, and we cannot take the flight because we did not carry my niece’s birth certificate/HuKoBen. I decided to take the train to ZhuZhou, and take the bus to FengHuang. It was dark already when we arrived at FengHuang. I did go out to take some night photos of Fenghuang. This old small city was full of young travelers; the bars were still at their high time after midnight. FengHuang at 6 o’clock in the morning was as crowed as at noon, if you want to enjoy the serenity of the old stone streets and TuoJiang, better be a very early bird.
Day 10, FengHuang old city tour, local farmer’s market, HuangSiQiao, and traveled to Zhangjiajie in the afternoon
I thought I might see some ethnic products at the local farmer’s market. Unfortunately, not at all, don’t waste your time. I did see the Southern Great Wall on the way there.
Day 11-13 Zhangjiajie
3 days in Zhangjiajie, not even a single cloud. I almost wanted to cry. The humidity made it hazy everywhere. Because of the “bad” weather, I think 2 days was plenty; it was basically seeing the same peaks again and again from different angles.
I was very thankful that my mother and niece made it through the whole trip. It was lot tougher than the one my mom and I took to the southwest of China last year.
1. Shanghai World Expo
2. Hangzhou Xihu Water Lily
3. QianDaoHu
4. HongCun
5. HuangShan
6. FengHuang TuoJiang at Night
7. ZhangJiaJie
Finally, wish everybody Happy Moon Festival
