Qingsharushilou Hostel Fenghuang

... furry animals I didn't recognise, and noting the poor condition they appeared to be in. The water creatures fared little better: crammed into plastic boxes of water, with barely room to wriggle, were fish, tiny crabs, eels, turtles... I turned away and perused the street stalls instead, happy to find fried tofu in chilli and even chilli-fried potatoes... oh those carnivores just don't know what they're missing!

... 1502;ותי, סינית, שהחלי 96;ה לנסות לדבר עימי. הפתעת 97; את עצמי והצלח 14;י לדבר איתה הרבה מעבר למש ...

... 1497;ד הן מתוקו 14;. ונשאר לברר, מה עושים עם מיליר 88;די העוגו 14; שלא נקנו לאחר החג? (האם גם הם אוכ ...

Alison: We arrived in Fenghuang by bus and were dropped off at the station which was in the middle of nowhere. We had the address of our hostel written down in English which was a big mistake because most people can't speak any English. Even if you have the address in Chinese, it is still difficult to get a taxi. They always stop if they are empty but if they don't fancy taking you to where you want to go, they just say 'no ...

Nigel: The only reason why we came here was to transfer to our next destination. As it happended we had to stay the night as the next train was not until the next day. We had already booked a hotel and after the last experience with hotels we weren't expecting what we got. Were we surprised... for 22 pound we got king size bed, plasma screen tv and computer which was just a little part of what was in the room. The room was to an excellent ...

... I wanted to take a photo, but didn't want to look like some stupid western tourist gawping at the locals. I feel like I'm in the 'real' China now, there are people wearing conical bamboo hats, beautiful green mountains, and rice terraces everywhere.

I'm now sitting in an internet cafe in Fenghuang, it's an ancient town on a river, with buildings on stilts leaning out over the water. It's kind of like a Chinese version of Brighton, Camden or ...

... very few foreign travellers here). I didn't end up staying in the International Youth Hostel located here. Instead, I met a group in Zhangjiajie and we found a really cheap "no frills" guesthouse located close to the main town area. It is pretty minimal as far as accomodation is concerned but at the end of the day it still serves its purpose: a place to sleep.  The last two days I walked around with the group I mentioned above. It was comprised of a Korean girl named "Young", a ...

not finished

notes:

arrived off the bus with 3 hours to sightsee fenghuang. Came with canadian friends. dropped off bags at their hostel. very beautiful river town. could stay longer, but saw most of the city in 3 hours really. mostly selling wierd stuff on streets. amazing views along water. walked across a rock step bridge. blitzed through everything. caught bus with 20 minutes to spare.

... was a hostel or school but it served our purposes nicely for the night.             We got up early in the morning for our first hike to beat the crowds and the heat. The fog and mist lay heavy on the karst peaks partially shrouding them while we slowly climbed through wheat fields and gourd patches. The minority peasants were already hard at work thrashing grain and even the children barely paused from their chores to look at us. The beauty was truly astounding and as I ...

... were having to pull loads significantly heavier than their usual they seemed to be genuinely pleased to pull and talk to a few waiguoren. They dropped us off by a row of fantastic smelling restaurants that perched above the river and after arbitrarily selecting one set about devouring our meals. I cannot say enough about the Fenghuang love of pickled things. The normally fiery lajiao or hot peppers were given a new kick ...