Fenghuang, the "Phoenix," is the riverside town of western Hunan that the writer Shen Congwen turned into a myth: wooden stilt houses leaning over the green Tuojiang River, boatmen poling under a Ming-dynasty bridge, Miao and Tujia villages in the hills beyond. It is beautiful, and it knows it — the riverside is now a lantern-lit, bar-lined, thoroughly touristed strip. Come anyway, but come with open eyes: the trick is to see the town at its quiet hours and push out to the villages for the culture the postcards promise.
The full handbook is part of the paid series
You have read the free preview — the introduction and the route map. The complete handbook adds the day-by-day plan, tickets and transport, culture and etiquette, food, useful Chinese, and the dated source list.