# Fenghuang (凤凰) Hunan Province: One of the most beautiful towns in China!



## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

Last summer I spent two months travelling around China. One of the places I visited was Fenghuang; an ancient town in Hunan province and in my opinion, the most beautiful of all the places I visited in China.

Enjoy the photos:

























More to come soon ...


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## z0rg (Jan 17, 2003)

!!!

I promise I didn't copy the title of Dujiangyan thread from your thread :crazy: Macpolo can confirm it 

Amazing pics, btw.


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

Hahaha, ok! :rofl:


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## superchan7 (Jan 21, 2004)

This is just about as close as we can get to the fantasy worlds of role-playing games. Wonderful trip and fabulous pictures.


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## hzkiller (Feb 2, 2006)

beautiful ~`i can't wait...............good DC!wonderful pictures~


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## null (Dec 11, 2002)

nice pics,Shaw


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## foadi (Feb 15, 2006)

wow, it looks beautiful. i am definitely going to add this to my list of places to go. any suggestions on things to do/cheap hotels/places to eat?


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## WinoSoul (Sep 14, 2005)

I've already senn pics from this city, it's awesome! So pretty!


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## Jiangwho (Jun 29, 2006)

I think we shoud vote for the most beautiful town in china:lol: :lol: .


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

Some more photos:













Still more to come ...


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## Nefast (Jun 13, 2006)

I just love this kind of old idyllic looking Chinese cities, built on a human scale, integrating nicely with the natural environment.
Thanks for the nice pics, keep 'em coming


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## sequoia (Mar 12, 2007)

looks better than skyscrapers, good job andrew!


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## z0rg (Jan 17, 2003)

I love it, I love it!


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

I love Chinese roofs so much! More pics coming soon.


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

Since this thread has slipped onto the second page and nobody's said anything for a day I'll add more pics:





Not just beautiful buildings and beautiful countryside but beautiful people as well:


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## Rem (Feb 26, 2006)

really nice , and sequoia's right, these Chinese pagodas look better than skyscrapers.


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

I agree, there's not a single tall building in this town and there never should be. In fact I think the tallest structure in Fenghuang probably is a pagoda!


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## Jiangwho (Jun 29, 2006)

Andrew said:


> In fact I think the tallest structure in Fenghuang probably is a pagoda!


the only skyscraper in town:lol: :lol:



















my fenghuang thread
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=386290&highlight=fenghuang


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

Indeed, and that's as it should be.


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## hzkiller (Feb 2, 2006)

HUNAN IS MAOZEDONG'S HOMETOWN~


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

hkskyline said:


> I doubt they'll raze or redevelop the old areas, but rather open up a whole new zone outside the historic centre with skyscrapers and hotels, much like what they've done with other large Chinese cities.
> 
> The other big tourism destination with many old buildings is Lijiang. I notice quite a number of tours available from Hong Kong to both Lijiang and this one.


That's the problem though, what makes Fenghuang so special is it's amazing harmony with nature. The town sits in the landscape perfectly and is surrounded by hills covered with forest. The more they expand the town, even if the new buildings are in old style, the more that part of what makes Fenghuang so special is lost.



zachus22 said:


> As a white man would I get along okay if I visited Fenghuang...?


Depends mostly on whether you can speak any Chinese. Doesn't make much difference if your white or not; the problem is mainly making yourself understood. The biggest problem if you can't speak Chinese is getting there, for me it was a 10 hour train journey followed by a 2 hour bus journey. I would never have been able to get there if I wasn't with my Chinese friends who sorted out transport for us.
Once your there, still very few people speak English, but it doesn't really matter as much because it seems quite safe in the town and everywhere is walkable so you don't have to worry about transport in the town.


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## zachus22 (Dec 4, 2006)

Andrew said:


> Depends mostly on whether you can speak any Chinese. Doesn't make much difference if your white or not; the problem is mainly making yourself understood. The biggest problem if you can't speak Chinese is getting there, for me it was a 10 hour train journey followed by a 2 hour bus journey. I would never have been able to get there if I wasn't with my Chinese friends who sorted out transport for us.
> Once your there, still very few people speak English, but it doesn't really matter as much because it seems quite safe in the town and everywhere is walkable so you don't have to worry about transport in the town.


Well that's relieving, I was thinking something to the effect of racial tension, considering this is a smaller town. I'm under the impression that Xiang is spoken in Hunan Province, but me, as well as all of my Chinese friends, only speak Mandarin. Ah, I'm sure we can find a tour guide who speaks both Mandarin and Xiang


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

zachus22 said:


> Well that's relieving, I was thinking something to the effect of racial tension, considering this is a smaller town. I'm under the impression that Xiang is spoken in Hunan Province, but me, as well as all of my Chinese friends, only speak Mandarin. Ah, I'm sure we can find a tour guide who speaks both Mandarin and Xiang


I didn't detect a hint of racial unease when I was there, apparently you have to be a little more careful if you're exploring the surrounding countryside but I think if you're with a guide it'll be ok. I think if you speak Mandarin you'll have no problems in Fenghuang town itself, the friends I went with only spoke Mandarin and they seemed to be able to make themselves understood. I think the they're quite used to having tourists now so most people will speak at least a bit of Mandarin, though very few speak any English. If you do want a guide though, it's very easy to find one (at the hotel where we stayed, one of the ladies working there showed us around for free)! Overall, I got the impression that people were quite friendly and willing to help.


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## Sen (Nov 13, 2004)

Fenghuang is not so much of a typical Chinese town, it is inhabited by local Miao (Hmong) and Tujia minorities, so its culture is quite instinct. It has been on the radar of Chinese tourists for some years now, I am surprised it has kept its originality whereas other tourist towns like Zhouzhuang, Tongli have lost most of their charm to commercialization.
They do not speak Xiang, they speak their own languages(Non Chinese), but they also speak Mandarin.


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## feifeiinmyname (Nov 12, 2006)

my dream town........... i am planing a trip to Fenghuang around Oct, anybody interested?


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

Here are some more views of Fenghuang streets:


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## ningxiard (May 28, 2006)

What?! One RMB for using their restroom? :bash: That's really expensive! I wonder how much money they could make out of it everyday.


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

Hahahaha! Yeah, very enterprising!!


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## kix111 (Jun 14, 2007)

they give me a feeling, as the cities gets more advanced, people living in the city would like countryside more


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## Johnor (Jan 8, 2008)

This beats Pingyao all the way. 

Thank you for your wonderful shot photographs. Next time I am in China I will give Hunan a shot. Ive have read that there are some more old towns in the area.....


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## paulcazzz (Nov 30, 2008)

We travelled to Fenghuang in October 2008 and my only regret is, my photos don't look anywhere near as good as Andrew's. We cannot speak any Chinese apart from "hello" and "thankyou" but found a lot of Chinese Students speak a bit of english and are happy to have a westerner to practice on. It's true there are a lot of tourists there (mainly Chinese) but I don't think the Fenghuang people are complaining, thats how they earn their living. THE most beautiful place we saw in China Andrew.


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## abcgoodest (Jul 17, 2008)

an amazing place.. too bad it's consistently being overlooked


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## abcgoodest (Jul 17, 2008)

You can tell it's not a Han-style old town, which is supposed to be bustling, noisy and vibrant. Quiet little Asian towns can only be found in Chinese minorities and places like Japan.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Very nice place - reallty awesome :cheers: i like the old traditional architecture in this town


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

I just realised, I never actually finished uploading all my photos to here. Here are the rest of them.

This is the main street through the new part of town, unfortunately not as nice as the old parts but it's not very big and is reasonably tidy. I don't mind this part of town so long as it doesn't grow too much and overshadow the old town, afterall, even historic places need modern services:






Anyway, back to the old stuff:




Town Wall


Well, that's all of them. I'm actually planning to go back to China this March. This time I hope to visit Kunming and Dali (as well as some more of the major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and maybe Hangzhou). Everyone who is interested in historic Chinese towns especially, look out for a Dali thread by me sometime next spring!


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## dingyunyang179 (Feb 5, 2005)

good thread


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## dsatan1 (Jan 27, 2009)

*I am in Fenghuang now...*

Hello.
I am John, advanced English interpreter in China. Base in Fenghuang(phoenix city). Obtained rich experience in alternative interpretation and consecutive interpretation in recent years, Could speak fluent Kroean. 
If you come to fenghuang (phoenix town),I can translate the language for you. I can help you to rent a car whith driver,help you to book your room……….
I am a good private guide,
MSN:[email protected]Mobile: 86-13574396954


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## dsatan1 (Jan 27, 2009)

*FENGHUANG*


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## japanese001 (Mar 17, 2007)

箱ビルの連続よりこっちの方が好きです。
是非古い町を残してください。


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

fantastic pics, thanx Andrew


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## Scion (Apr 26, 2008)

Awesome photos


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## Rekarte (Mar 28, 2008)

Awesome photos!
Amazing city,I like China!


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