Blogs from Hunan, China, Asia - page 7

Hi All, We've been trying to get to Shaoshan for quite a while. I would really like to see all the home towns of the old communist leaders around Changsha. That was going to be our plan but, as is usual in China, we underestimated just how long it would take us to get there. We left Shaoyang at around 9 am and arrived in Xiangtan at lunchtime. After a spot of lunch we then travelled onto Shaoshan, we took a taxi 200 rmb but there is a bus from the west bus station we found out later which cost 15rmb, which took another hour. So it was around 2 o'clock when we finally got there. We had about 45 minutes in the square and visited Mao's home and then we had to go back to ... read more

The most important rule that I remind myself and others is that you do not bring your standards of food to other places. If you are not comfortable with sampling the variety of local cuisine, you're going to go hungry really fast. From March 22nd to the 29th, I was traveling around the Chinese province of Hunan with a tour group that were peoples of Chinese descent with citizenship in another country. It was part of a special tour group formed by the People's Republic of China to bring Chinese people back into China to tour around (and spend money) and to have a good time so we could go back and tell all of our friends what a fun time we had with the Government. In all honestly, it was really fun. One of the ... read more

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park This was one of my favorite places so far this trip. Zhangjiajie (pron. "jang-jah-jee") features hundreds of these bizarre sandstone towers formed during many years of weathering and erosion. The climate here is usually wet year round so the foliage is super dense and there are small streams running everywhere. The Chinese like to say it's more impressive than the Grand Canyon. Hmm, we'll see about that! In 1982, Zhangjiajie was declared China's first national forest park (much like our Yellowstone!). It must be a national showcase because it is VERY clean. The trails were cleaned up, the park enforced a "no-smoking" policy, they posted good trail signs (in English, Korean, and Japanese!), and the park also provided many other pleasantries for visitors. The one pleasantry that stands out in my mind ... read more

New photos on: http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/China-Hunan-Summer%202012/ …..I may consider Avatar a 3D movie with 2D plot & characters but the area used as a backdrop for the alien world in the film is worth seeing. I visited Zhangjiajie in Hunan province during the winter holiday but fog & low visibility gave only tantalising glimpses of the Wulingyuan national park & Tianmen Shan. This issue of the YYW will have to be devoted to the the small town with nothing much to attract the thousands of visitors other than its proximity to some of the most outstanding natural scenery I have ever seen. I had aimed to cover this & the final part, (Guilin, Yangshou & the beautiful Li River), all in this edition but, having looked at the photos, Zhangjiajie is just too big to shar... read more

Having lived in China for three years, we have seen all of the major cities and taken many tours. We have moved our travels to other countries in Asia thinking we have seen the best of China. I was at an Expat coffee one morning and picked up a brochure for Weekend Gataways in China. The one called “Finding Avatar” promising to explore the real “Pandora” looked extremely interesting. Our weekend trip ended up beginning on Sunday night and ending on Tuesday night due to work conflicts but it was well worth the effort in scheduling and traveling during the week. The Zhangjiajie area is known for producing mushrooms so our dinner Sunday night was at a mushroom restaurant. We love most Asian food and this was no exception. The meal was delicious and was a ... read more