Fenghuang Ancient Village, China

[astroboy]

Fenghuang (Foong Wong in Cantonese or literally Phoenix City in English) is an ancient village located on the western part of Hunan province. It is known only to local tourists and is not on the western tourist maps and therein lies its charm.

To get there, we flew AirAsia to Macau and made our way across the border to Zhuhai. From ZH, we took a 2-hour bus ride to Guangzhou. From GZ's Baiyun Airport, we took a domestic one-hour flight to a small town called Tongren (about RM300). From Tongren airport, we took a one-hour cab ride (about RM25 per pax) to Fenghuang.

In fact, I spent less than RM3,000 for the entire trip.

PS: I might be making another trip in October if any one of u r interested. :)

[astroboy]

During off-peak season the village is quiet and peaceful. We were there in March and it was pretty cooling...

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[astroboy]

On the left bank of the river, you can see the rows of shops selling souvenirs. There are also lots of antiquated hotels and pubs. On the right is the main bridge connecting both sides of the river.

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[astroboy]

Sunset by the river.

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[astroboy]

Believe it or not, this is the view from our hotel.

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[astroboy]

Another view...

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[astroboy]

By dusk, the entire village is lighted up, turning into a fairyland village...

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[astroboy]

The pagoda by night...

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[astroboy]

The guy rowing up and down the river is actually the "maintenance supervisor"... his job is to keep the river clean.

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[astroboy]

If u r lucky, u can go down to the river banks and shoot the boats moored beside the bank during magic hour...

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[astroboy]

In the early morning, the river is usually covered by mist creating a surreal scene...

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[astroboy]

Besides the main bridge, there are two foot bridges. I see the locals, young and old hopping across the narrow bridges like nothing. For us, it's quite a balancing act. I can imagine the embarrassment if one of us dumb tourists fall into the river...

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[astroboy]

On the opposite side of the river, there are many structures which look like the "Great Wall" and old alleys which make a perfect setting for shooting kungfu movies.

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[astroboy]

We met one of the local gals. She young, pretty and... here's the best part... single. She a owns one of the restaurants in town and she was so nice as to take a day off to bring us sight-seeing. :)

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[astroboy]

No prizes for guessing why there is this particular monkey who likes to eat at this restaurant almost every day... breakfast, lunch, dinner...

http://www.awarna.com/test_images/fh_rest_0047.jpg

[alancheong7]

Wow, sifu, it's beautiful! With apologies to Stanley, this is much more beautiful :D
And the night scenes...!
RM3000 for how many days, please?

Antiquated is THE word, so much history, can almost feel like being back there where our roots are, a bit Wong Fei Hoong-ish ... :D

any mosquitos? flies? cockroaches?

[qqmeng]

hhmmm.... looks familiar... like i hv been to tht place b4.

but anywhere, the single restr. owner looks sweet! :D

[astroboy]

Thanks alan. I forgot to mention, we stayed there like 6D/5N. The place is pretty cooling so no mossies, flies or cockroaches.

I was surprised there were no river rats either. The locals eat them... :p


Wow, sifu, it's beautiful! With apologies to Stanley, this is much more beautiful :D
And the night scenes...!
RM3000 for how many days, please?

Antiquated is THE word, so much history, can almost feel like being back there where our roots are, a bit Wong Fei Hoong-ish ... :D

any mosquitos? flies? cockroaches?

[astroboy]

Maybe u were there in yr past life. Yes, she is really sweeeet and friendly, too ... :)


hhmmm.... looks familiar... like i hv been to tht place b4.

but anywhere, the single restr. owner looks sweet! :D

[HenryLow]

this place really nice... especially @ nite...
and the river look very clean...
nice...

wah, u really visit many places already...

[JackJack]

so nice.....tat's cheap for almost one week of stay there

so...this coming oct u go back to "date" the single gal restaurant owner?:P

[AhMah]

Wah..this place very nice!
I so like !

Mana get this kantau?...what to see/do besides soaking in the atmosphere?

Think I'll look up this place for my next escapade.

Certain parts of China can be a real steal for a get-away if we just know the wheres and hows. My recent 8 days Xian trip only cost me RM 800+ (most of which goes to the many extrance fees) excluding air-fare which sets me back another RM2000.

[ckc]

No prizes for guessing why there is this particular monkey who likes to eat at this restaurant almost every day... breakfast, lunch, dinner...

http://www.awarna.com/test_images/fh_rest_0047.jpg

actually the person who post here insist of going to this place to eat.... i had no choice....

[clemong888]

lovely place, pretty girls and cheap! if i ever get to bring myself to learn chinese,i might go :D

[astroboy]

Haha... just go with someone who knows Mandarin. Cantonese or English is useless here cos no one will understand u.

[marlboro]

just came back from this FengHuang couple of days ago...
this place is wonderful...

took some digital and film pix...
will post some later...