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 by budget air 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. From Tongren airport, we took a one-hour cab ride to Fenghuang.

[astroboy]

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

[astroboy]

Sunset by the river.

[astroboy]

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

[astroboy]

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

[astroboy]

The pagoda by night.

[astroboy]

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

[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.

[astroboy]

Early morning scene.

[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.

[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.

[Ramius75]

very nice place and photos, thanks for sharing

[astroboy]

A lady from one of the ethnic minority tribes selling their handmade jewellery and knick knacks.

[astroboy]

The local folks' daily lives revolve around the river - washing clothes, fishing etc.

[astroboy]

The water wheel at the middle of the river is quite a landmark.

[astroboy]

If u like local wine, they have a wide variety.

[astroboy]

If u bring along your other half, they will have lots of things to buy. The ethnic minority tribes are good at making jewellery and handicrafts.

[astroboy]

We went to visit one of the ethnic tribes' villages outside Fenghuang.

[astroboy]

A cheeky girl running inside her house to hide when we approached. Shot taken at one of the villages outside Fenghuang.

[astroboy]

A little girl running off to school.