Journey to ZhangJiaJie and FengHuang of HuNan, China 2003/04
by Kelvin Khor
ZhangJiaJie National Park is situated in WuLingYan province of HuNan province. It is famous for it unique ravine sandstone pillars and well preserved primitive forest. It has been recognized by NESCO as one of the world heritages in 1992. The whole area includes four parts: ZhangJiaJie National Park, YangJiaJie Scenic Spot, SuoXiYu and TianZiShan Natural Resources Reserves with a total area of 500 square kilometers. FengHuang in contrast, is a historical city built back in year 686 during Tang Dynasty. Her landmarks are the stilted houses built along Tuojiang River and the slab stone streets.
As usual, my trip covered long distance of public transports, I tried to pack as minimum as possible. All personal belongings went into my 55 liters backpack. And I stuffed following gears into a Lowepro SnF light:
Canon D60
Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS F4
Sigma EX 15-35 F3.5-5.6
Tripper portable storage (with 40G hard disk)
Battery charger
Some accessories
Of course, last but not least, my trusty Velbon Carmag640 tripod. I also brought along a top loader bag (it provides fast accessibly than backpack type of camera bag).
Day1 (29 Dec.’03 Shenzhen to ZhangJiaJie)
Direct flight from Shenzhen to ZhangJiaJie’s airport took about one and half hours. The ground temperature was reported at 2 degree C. Cold air of that night refreshed my long stressed mind. In order to save on highway’s toll fee, our driver went around the toll by cutting through a village, but found himself facing a group of villages blocking the dark and unpaved road. That was an illegal “toll” setup by the villages for charging by-passers. Paying RMB2 would clear the road and we were back to highway in no time. The driver just saved himself RMB18.
We checked in our hotel located within walking distance to entrance of ZhangJiaJie NP. This was low tourist season; the only hotel on the mountain was closed for total renovation.
Day 2 (30 Dec.’03 ZhangJiaJie National Park)
It was raining early in the morning. That made me pretty upset. Luckily, the rain reduced to drizzle after half an hour. It was wet and temperature dropped to freezing point. We hit the road with full enthusiasm. Before the main gate, we were surrounded by a group of local tour guides. Each of them was trying to pursuit us to hire them. We decided to hire a guy who claimed know where the best vintage points were for photography. He would also carry our bag and arrange meals for RMB30 per day.
Entrance fee to ZhangJiaJie NP cost RMB160. A bus then took us to a cable car station in mountain region. We had to pay another RMB56 for cable car’s ride. To our surprise, it was snowing on top of the mountain. We were excited and could not believe our luck.
The view of ZhangJiaJie NP was nothing short of spectacular. Clusters of pillar rocks erected from ground up, row upon row. Some were more than 400m tall, making this creation of Mother Nature the weirdest yet truly amazing in the world.
Our first stop was Imperial Writing Brush Peak. Snow continued to fall.
We descended to our hotel that night via one of the tallest elevator in the world (oops, could not remember what was the height). The fee was RMB43. Our guide talked us into staying on the mountain for following night.
Day 3 (31 Dec.’03 ZhangJiaJie National Park)
That morning we checked out another tourist attraction called BaoFeng Lake but did not find it worth the money.
We packed all our belongings and went up the mountain after lunch. No rain but temperature was still near freezing. After throwing our backpack into our room, we took off to TianZi Peak. Snow was completely gone by now. Haze was pretty thick, this reduced contrast greatly.
That night, a girl knocked on our door and asked if we were interested in ‘you know what’. We rejected her offer and said “Happy New Year” before shutting our door.
Day 4 (1 Jan.’04 ZhangJiaJie to FengHuang)
Our plan to shoot sunrise was ruined by thick fog and drizzle. Despite that, we went out. No picture to my liking came out.
Our destination today was FengHuang. Thus, we had to hit the road early to catch an afternoon train. After descending to foot of mountain, we walked between those awesome pillars of rock. For pass two days, we overlooked the pillars from top of mountain. Today, we were down there looking up.
A proper walkway had been constructed for tourists. Cloud was low and covered tips of those pillars. Air was very damp. Therefore, I used a shower cap to cover my camera and lens. And I could have easy access to my camera when needed. I found this a pretty effective and convenience way to protect gears in this condition.
We exited another end of the park and took a prearranged van to train station in ZhangJiaJie city. Boarding the train was a problem. Everyone tried to squeeze into train without any order. We had to do the same in order to get in. Inside our coach, to our disgust, entire floor was covered with litters. People were spitting and smoking too. For next two hours ride, I breathed less than I used to. Train arrived at JiShou town finally. I was so glad to get off the ‘garbage container’.
From JiShou, we took a bus to FengHuang. Another two hours plus on the road. By the time we arrived at FengHuang, it was dark. At off peak holiday session (peak seasons are first week of May and Oct), accommodations were plentiful. Due to increasing of tourism in recent years, some locals had extended their houses with additional rooms for rental. Most rooms were equipped with clean beds, TV, attached washroom, A/C and heater, for around RMB60 per room a night. We found one beside Tuojiang River.
Day 5 (2 Jan.’04 FengHuang)
FengHuang town was small. A clear, shallow river called Tuojiang River gently divided the town into two. From one end to another, I could walk across the town in 30 minutes. This town was developed as an important military base hundred years ago. A wall was built as a defense against upraising of ethnics conflict. Today, most walls were gone and some had been rebuilt as tourist attraction. In the morning (even at night), local women washed their clothing at near freezing water of TuaJiang River. They used a wood to beat their garments.
Life in FengHuang was slow and relaxes. No one seemed to walk faster than...urrrr...me. Food was really cheap and tasty here. For rest of the day, we just shoot, eat, enjoying the calm atmosphere, eat and shoot again. We also enjoyed a slow boat ride in Tuojiang River. What a tiring day ;p.
Day 6 (3 Jan.’04 FengHuang)
There are few minority ethnics living around this region. Majority of them belong to Meow. Every Saturday, they travel from their villages in mountain and gather at designated towns to sell fruits, vegetable, clothing and etc. It is a good time to catch them in traditional clothing. One of the bigger gatherings happens at LaArShan. The flea market starts around 11am and will get very busy after noontime. To go there, you should take bus from FengHuang to ShanJiang, and then change bus to LaArShan. Or you can rent a taxi.
It took about 90 minutes bus ride to reach LaArShan. Bus put us right outside the flea market. It was before noon, but the crowd was very pack already. Practically, we had to walk shoulder to shoulder (front to back?). To our disappointment, we did not see many Meow in their traditional clothing. We did fix in well due to our city look.
We returned to FengHuang before night. After dinner, we walked around for night photography session.
Day 7 (4 Jan.’04 FengHuang to ShenZhen)
We left early in the morning by taking a bus to JiShou, then change to train ZhangJiaJie city, then took a taxi to airport. Taking some free time walking around ZhangJiaJie city.
Well, back to reality and back to work again the next day.
