Entries Tagged as 'Hunan Province'

From Our Diary: Changsha to Jinggangshan 3/9/2003

Wednesday 3/9 – The bus to Jinggangshan


As we had established on yesterday’s exploratory visit to the bus station, there were two buses, a modern one and an old one, covering the Changsha – Jinggangshan route.  And, as Adam had already glumly predicted, today’s bus is the old one…

Clutching our tickets, we walk out, looking for our bus. When we eventually find it, Adam’s worst fears are confirmed but, for once, he is absolutely right: it is definitely the worst-looking vehicle in the whole station, by far! [Read more →]

Tags: From Our Diary, Hunan Province, Jiangxi Province by Adam
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Hengshan & Nanyue 南岳衡山旅游区

We hadn’t seen anything like these people before in China: dressed in loose black clothes covered by red aprons, and carrying little wooden blocks decorated with dragon heads, these old men and women circumambulated and filed into every temple they passed. They were followed all the time by three young boys bearing colourful banners and carrying boxes full of religious regalia.  When I asked them: “您们是什么民族?” (What minority are you?), they cheerfully replied: “汉族” (Hanzu), in other words, ordinary Chinese, from Hunan, the province where we found ourselves in. “您们为什么穿这秧的衣服” (And the clothes, why are you dressed like this?), I asked. “我们是道教人”(We are Taoists), an elderly man answered. I smiled, slightly embarrassed at my ignorance.

Hengshan is one of China’s most sacred mountains and receives hundreds of thousands of pilgrims every year. [Read more →]

Tags: Hunan Province, Travel by Adam
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Finding Fenghuang

fenghuang-river-scene.jpg

It was one of those early evenings in small-town China in 2001; we’d already eaten and the after dinner entertainment options were conspicuous by their absence. The only fall-back was to retire to our room with a few beers and watch CCTV9, the mildly interesting English Language Channel. We tuned in to “Around China”, a cultural and travel programme dedicated to the promotion of traditional and/or exotic aspects of Chinese culture. On the programme, they were discussing a type of opera that was only found in a remote town in Hunan Province whose name I hadn’t caught. We were immediately drawn to the screen, wondering: “where is this stunning place with covered bridges, ancient houses on stilts and pagodas?” At the end of the clip I managed to catch its name, ‘Fenghuang’. Grabbing the guidebook I tried to find it, but there was no such town. We decided to look for more information about this elusive Fenghuang, so that if one day the opportunity arose, we could visit it.

This opportunity eventually came in 2003……

For More go to: HolaChina: Your Gateway to China

fenghuang-stilt-houses.jpg

Tags: Hunan Province, Travel by Adam
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