Xiangxi - West Hunan

 Xiangxi - West Hunan

I. Phoenix Ancient City

Phoenix Ancient City, formally called Zhengan, is located in the south of Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in West Hunan (Xiangxi), and borders Tongren City of Guizhou Province to the west and Huaihua City of Hunan Province to the south. Covering an area of 1751km2, it has a population of around 380,000, with the Miao Ethnic Group accounting for 51.4%.

Phoenix Ancient City, boasting clear water and green mountains, has many places of historic interest, abundant talents, colorful folk customs and rich historical and cultural background. The antique stilted buildings, temples with upturned eaves and gorgeous pavilions, terraces and towers in the ancient city forms a antique and solemn atmosphere of culture. No matter which places of the ancient city you are staying at, you can feel the extensiveness and profoundness of the land.

Phoenix Ancient City is a glorious place that has nurtured outstanding people, especially in modern times. Such celebrities renowned at home and abroad as Xiong Xiling (Prime Minister of the Republic of China), Shen Congwen (a literary giant), Huang Yongyu (a famous painter), Xiao Jimei (the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) are from Phoenix Ancient City. There are more than 100 scenic spots, including Phoenix Ancient City, Great Wall in South China, Huangsiqiao Ancient City and Qiliang Cave. It is the Chinese Famous Town of History and Culture.

Ticket of Phoenix Ancient city costs RMB 148 per person, covering Shen Congwen's Former Residence, Xiong Xiling's Former Residence, Yang's Ancestral Temple, East Gate Tower, boating on the Tuojiang River, Wanshou Palace, Chongde Hall, Chen Baozhen's Old Residence, and Rainbow Bridge;

Ticket of Phoenix Ancient city costs RMB 168 per person, covering Shen Congwen's Former Residence, Xiong Xiling's Former Residence, Yang's Ancestral Temple, East Gate Tower, boating on the Tuojiang River, Wanshou Palace, Chongde Hall, Chen Baozhen's Old Residence, and Rainbow Bridge, Great Wall in South China, the Miao Valley scenic spot;

Ticket of Great Wall in South China costs RMB 45 per person 
Ticket of Qiliang Cave scenic spot costs RMB 60 per person 
Tel: 0743-3222440
Fax: 0743-3222445

Notes: 
As there are several ethnic groups living in Phoenix Ancient City, we have some suggestions for visitors: 
1. We suggest you visit Phoenix Ancient City before or after the National Day holiday and the Labor Day holiday in any season, as there are crowds of visitors in these two holidays. The best seasons are spring and autumn. You can enjoy the spring days in the beautiful mountains of Phoenix Ancient City, or experience the ice water bathing in the natural baths of the Tuojiang River, or join the special holiday for men and women to express their romance, or sense the antique scene of the stone streets on a chilly winter day.

2. There are many mountain villages of the Miao Ethnic Group, but the quality of services provided by them are not at the same level and thus we suggest you choose those certified by the local tourist bureau.

3. You can buy tickets at the entrance of Phoenix Cultural Square (at the gate of Fenghuang (Phoenix) County Tourist Bureau), Tourist Service Center of Fenghuang County, Yang's Ancestral Temple, or at the outer of North Gate Tower. We suggest you not buy tickets from individuals in case of being deceived. 

4. After you reach Phoenix Ancient City either by driving or bus, we suggest you do not follow the suggestion of those importunate people. You can either take a taxi or walk to Fenghuang County Government Hotel or Fenghuang County Post Office (these two places are very close to the ancient city). There are many family inns in the ancient city and near the river. You can check one by one until you found the satisfactory one. Except the golden week (holiday like the National Day), you can choose a satisfactory inn or hotel easily here. Except in the golden week, the price of hotel/inn ranges from RMB 50 to RMB200, depending on the location and conditions, and you can also bargain with the hotel/inn owner.

5. Taboos: do not enter others’ house with an unfold umbrella; do not step on the thresholds of others' house; female should not live with male in the same bedroom when you visit as guests; do not step on the tripod or sit on the seat of the host (in line with the tabernacle) when visiting the Miao family; try not to cotton up to married woman in Miao villages; do not whistle in Miao and Tujia villages.

6. Thanks to hardworking sanitation workers, the streets and lanes in Phoenix Ancient City are very clean. Please show care and protect the environment of the ancient city. 

7. Coins are not accepted inside Phoenix Ancient City, please prepare paper money.

1. Boating on the Tuojiang River

The Tuojiang River is the mother river of Phoenix Ancient City, which travels around the city wall, and raises generations of people for the ancient city. Sitting in a black roof boat, listening to the songs of the boatman, and watching the Tujia stilted buildings with hundreds years of history on both banks, it would be a wonderful experience. Boating downstream and passing through the Rainbow Bridge, you will see the sceneries of southern watery regions presented in front of you just like a painting, such as Wanshou Palace, Wanming Pagoda and Duocui Tower. There is an ancient Great Wall that is made of purplish red sand and stones standing magnificently on the south bank of the Tuojiang River. The East Gate Tower and North Gate Tower, weather-beaten but still magnificent, are standing defending the city together with the city wall. The Tuojiang River is very clear, and the watercourse near the city wall is shallow. With the creeping water, you can enjoy boating and will see water weeds dancing in the charming waves. The stilted buildings built along the Tuojiang River are close to Rainbow Bridge at the east gate and “Jumping Rock” (the only exit of the city) at the north gate. Standing in water with thin stilts, the stilted buildings look like scenery never to fade. 

2. Wanshou Palace
Huang Yongyu, from the Tujia Ethnic Group, was born on July 9, 1924, in Tuojiang Town, Fenghuang County, Hunan Province. Living in a poor family, he did not finish middle school, and had to leave his hometown to earn a living at the age of 12. He once worked in small porcelain workshops in Anhui Province and Fujian Province, and went all the way to Shanghai, Taiwan and Hong Kong. He published his first piece of work at 14. For quite a long period after that, he was working on woodcut printing. With a unique style, his woodcut printing was famous both at home and abroad. From the age of 16, he earned a living by painting and wood engraving. He once worked as worker in porcelain workshops, teacher of primary school and middle school, staff of Jiazhong Education Centre, art probationer of troupes, newspaper editor, scenario writer, and is professor of Central Academy of Fine Arts and Vice Chairman of Chinese Artists Association. Besides painting, he is also an expert of seal carving. He has wonderful seal carving techniques, but he never carve seals for anyone all his life, except two seals for his friends. In 1978, the Times made a special report about Huang Yongyu and his works on six pages. In 1980, Hong Kong Artist Press published Album of Paintings by Huang Yongyu. Domestic publishers also published his album of paintings, including Sketch of West Hunan, Sceneries Never to Return and Huang Yongyu. CCTV Oriental Son program also reported Huang Yongyu, and many other media of China also covered his report. His works has been toured in Germany, Norway, French, Japan and Southeast Asian countries. Mr. Huang was awarded the honor of Commander (Commendatore dell'Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana), the highest honor from Italy.

Huang Yongyu learned arts and literature all by himself. He is really a wizard. The monkey stamp and package of Jiugui liquor designed by him are widely known.

The first floor of Wanshou Palace is the museum of folk customs and merchant gathering hall of a hundred years’ history. Yu-Shi-Shan-Fang, the residence of Huang Yongyu in Fenghuang County and the bronze door of the hall are exhibited on this floor.

The second floor is Huang Yongyu’s art gallery, which exhibits four of his paintings created in Fenghuang County, including Lotus Flower Rose from under Water, Hometown Lotus Pond, and Both Banks of the Tuojiang River.

3. East Gate Tower

East Gate Tower, in the east of the city and close to the Tuojiang River, was named “Shengheng Gate” and is one of the four gates of Phoenix Ancient City.

East Gate Tower was built in the 54th Kangxi year of the Qing Dynasty (1715). The gate (the wall) is made of purplish red sandstone, and the gate tower (the upper part) is made of ancient bricks. The gate, 3.5m wide and 4m high, is a semicircular arch. The two plates of the city gate are wrapped by iron sheets and are intensively nailed with roundhead iron nails, which make the gate very solid and firm. The city wall is made of red sandstone in strips, with delicate construction and even size. The city wall, 0.8m thick, is built by using boulder strips and lime slurry at two sides of lower part of the wall. The internal space of the wall is filled by gravels and clays, compacted layers by layers. The top of the city wall is filled by mixture of lime, cobblestone and loess, which is around 0.33m thick, and is covered by blocks of red sandstone. The gate tower is 11m high. There are 8 holes for guns upon the gate. With gable and hip roof, waist eaves and upturned eaves, the gate tower is delicate and spectacular.

4. Shen Congwen's Former Residence

Phoenix Ancient City was known to the public because of Shen Congwen. On December 28, 1902, Shen Congwen, the famous writer, historian and archaeologist of China was born in a typical quadrangle in south China. The quadrangle was built by his grandfather Shen Hongfu (once a provincial commander-in-chief of Guizhou in the Qing Dynasty) in the fifth Tongzhi year of the Qing Dynasty (1866) at the site of an old house that had been bought by the grandfather. The quadrangle is a single-storey house made of fire brick. It has the front and back parts. In the middle, there is a small yard made of red sandstone blocks. On both sides of the small yard, there are 11 side houses.

The building is column and tie timber structures. With the turtle head ornament on the horse-head wall, ornamental engravings on doors and windows, the building is antique and delicate. The whole building is featured by ancient Xiangxi building styles in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Shen Congwen, who had been famous in the 1920s in literature circle and is recognized as “the top-grade modern literature writers after Lu Xun” (Jefferey C. KinKley, the Odyssey of Shen Congwen) spent his legendary childhood in this ancient city. Shen Congwen has a life of frustrations but  also contributions. He stayed at the Yuanshui Basin of Xiangxi from 1917 to 1922, went to Beijing in 1923, and earned a living by writing in Beijing from 1923 to 1928. He served as a lecturer in China Public School (Shanghai) and chief editor of literature editions of Ta Kung Pao and Yishi Daily from 1928 to 1930. From 1931 to 1933, he served as a lecturer in Qingdao University. From 1934 to 1939, he was the chief editor for Chinese textbooks of nationwide primary and middle schools, working in Beijing. From 1939 to 1947, he was the professor of National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming. From 1947 to 1949, he became the professor of Peking University. From 1950 to 1978, he served as a researcher of cultural relics in the National Museum of Chinese History in Beijing. From 1978 to 1988, he worked as a researcher in the research institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

His literal works, including the Border Town, West Hunan and Autobiography of Congwen, have significant influence both at home and abroad. His works have been translated and published in more than forty countries, including Japan, the U.S., the U.K. and the former Soviet Union, and have been used as textbooks for university students in more than 10 countries, such as the U.S., Japan, Korea and the U.K. He was nominated as candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature twice. Shen was not only a famous writer, but also a famous historian and archaeologist. He wrote and published several research works, such as Chinese Silk Patterns, Bronze Mirror in the Tang and Song Dynasties, The  Dragon and Phoenix Art, Lacquer Ware in the Warring States, and A Study of Chinese Ancient Costumes. In particular, the A Study of Chinese Ancient Costumes fills the blank in China's culture history.

Shen Congwen's Former Residence has been regarded as the Key Cultural Relic Site under the Protection of Hunan Provincial People's Government since 1991. The government has allocated fund to repair the building. In the residence, the ink, manuscripts, belongings and photos are exhibited. And the residence is one of the most attractive sites in Phoenix Ancient City.

5. Xiong Xiling's Former Residence

Xiong Xiling's Former Residence is in a lane of Wenxing Street, in north of the ancient city. About 200m to the east, it is the Tuojiang River. The residence is an ancient quadrangle in south China that has timber-tilt structure. The quadrangle is low but delicate. The four houses of the residence are preserved with the original appearance, showing styles of the Miao Ethnic Group. The residence is the Key Cultural Relic Site under County-level Protection.

On the 25th day of the sixth lunar month of 1869, Xiong Xiling was born in the residence and spent his childhood here. He was smart and was recognized as the “Wonder Child of Hunan Province”. He passed the imperial examinations at the county level at the age of 15, passed the imperial examinations at the provincial level at 22, passed the highest imperial examinations at 25 and then was assigned as member of the Imperial Academy. In 1913, he became the first elected Prime Minister in 1913. But as he opposed to Yuan Shikai's Monarch Restoration, he was forced to quit. In his later years, Xiong committed himself to charity and education. He established the famous Beijing Xiangshan Charity School in 1920. On December 25, 1937, this influential man passed away in Hong Kong at the age of 68. A state funeral was organized for him.

6. Yang's Ancestral Temple

Yang's Ancestral Temple, built in the 16th Daoguang year of the Qing Dynasty (1836) is a two-storey timber-structure quadrangle, covering a land area of 770m2. The rectangular building consists of gates, stage, hallway, houses and the main hall. The stage, 16m high, has gable and hip roof with single eaves. The interlocking wooden brackets in Ruyi style are ornamented under the eaves. Dragons and phoenix are carved on the four stands. The stage is column and tie structure, and the main hall is post and lintel construction. The whole temple is delicately constructed, and is of great ethnic features. The temple is the Key Cultural Relic Site under County-level Protection. Yang's Ancestral Temple is near the ancient city wall, in the northeast of the city. It was funded by the donation by Yang Fang, Advisor to the Crown Prince, Marquis of Decision and Bravery, Commanding Officer of Garrison Troops in Zhengan.

The temple, a typical quadrangle covering a land area of 770m2, consists of gates, stage, hallway, houses, the main hall and side houses. The stage, 16m high, 7m wide and 8m deep, has gable and hip roof with single eaves. The interlocking wooden brackets in Ruyi style are ornamented under the eaves. Dragons and phoenix are carved on the four stands. The stage has gable and hip roof with single eaves and is column and tie structure, and the main hall is post and lintel construction. The gable wall is a cat-back arch. The main hall has three rooms, one with good natural lighting and the other two with less natural lighting. On both sides of the main hall, there are side houses. The temple has delicate design and construction. Cut-out engravings are ornamented at windows, gates and eaves. The temple has obvious ethnic features and has very high architectural values.

II. Great Wall in South China

The construction of Great Wall in South China commenced in the 33rd Jiajing year of the Ming Dynasty (1554), and completed in the 3rd Tianqi year of the Ming Dynasty (1622). The Great Wall starts from Tingzi Pass, on the boundary Tongren City in the south, and ends at Xique Military Camp, Jishou City on the north with a length of 191 km. As one grand ancient civil works, Great Wall in South China was called “Great Wall of Miao Territory”. Most of the Great Wall passes through Phoenix Ancient City and passes Xinfenghuang Military Camp, Ala Military Camp, Gushuang Military Camp, Desheng Military Camp, Zhenxi Military Camp and Zhenwu Military Camp.

The Great Wall in South China is around 3m high, 2m wide at bottom, 1m wide on top. Curved round mountains and spanned over rivers, the Great Wall in South China is mostly on precipitous mountain ridges. Along the Great Wall, sentry platform, sentry post of tower, fort barbette and passes are furnished. At that time, a troop of around 4,000~5,000 soldiers was garrisoned, and the troop once expanded to around 7,000 soldiers at most. In the Ming Dynasty, the people of Miao Ethnic Group living at the boundary of Hunan and Guizhou are separated into disobedient Miao Ethnic Group people and obedient Miao Ethnic Group people. Disobedient Miao Ethnic Group people refer to those who disobeyed the governance of the government and stood to arms against the exorbitant tax levies and oppression from other ethnic groups. To settle the boundary and suppress the revolt, the then government allocated 40,000 taels of silver to build the Great Wall, so as to separate disobedient Miao Ethnic Group people from obedient Miao Ethnic Group people. In the Qing Dynasty, the rulers also repaired and extended the Great Wall.

Perhaps it is because the military strength of the invading minority living in south is not as powerful as that in the north, so the Great Wall of Miao Territory is not as high and large as the Great Wall in North China. The stone blocks size of the Great Wall in South China is only 1/10 to 1/6 of that in north China. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasty, the stone blocks of the Great Wall were always removed by the native to build house or cooking oven. Today, we can only see some relics of great wall and some well preserved towers. It is no doubt that Great Wall of Miao Territory is an integral part of Great Wall of China, and thus it should be on the list of World Cultural Heritage too.

Address: Fenghuang County 
Tel: 0743-3502059
Ticket: RMB 45/person

III. Qiliang Cave

Qiliang Cave, around 4km to the north of Fenghuang County seat, is a typical carbonate cave. Famous for being marvelous, beautiful, wide and quiet, the cave is more than 6,000m long, and has five scenic spots, including the Ancient Battlefield, Gallery, Heaven, Dragon Palace and the Yinyang River. The cave has small hills inside, and inside these hills, there are also caves. The cave also has grotesque rocks, springs and waterfall. The different shapes of stalagmites, peristeles and stalactites are like magnificent paintings. A calm stream passing through the cave reflects the folds. From colorful neon lights, you can see a brilliant world of stalagmites, sheet and cave flowers. There is a hall in the cave. It is said that the cave is where the Miao Ethnic Group gathered. In the hall, there is a stone with a small hole. Blowing through the hole, a sound of low clarion will be heard in the hall. This is the way how the then Miao transmit orders.

Ticket: RMB 60/person.

IV. Dehang Miao Village

"Dehang” is Miao language, meaning a beautiful canyon. This is a wondrous land. There are 6~7 magnificent canyons. Walking in the deep valleys and canyons, you will feel the clear breeze and see the green and high mountains on both sides, and clear streams passing though. There are winding paths on the steep cliffs. The magic nature creates precipice, cliffs, peak forest and waterfall. The lofty “Tian-Wen-Tai” is surrounded by majestic mountains in clouds and mists. The Miao Ethnic Group in this area had a happy life. For hundreds of years, they express emotions with songs and enjoy free love. The Miao Ethnic Group, friendly and hospitable, will show you an ancient and gorgeous fairy tale world.

Address: Dehang Folk Custom Village, Jishou City 
Tel: 0743-8665350

V. The Mengdong River

The Mengdong River, 112km long, originates from Longshan County and meets Youshui River in Yongshun County. The river has narrow river course, rapid stream and steep shoal in the upper stream, which provides visitors a great opportunity for drifting. Fei Xiaotong praised that it is the best place for drifting. The river is wider and is as calm as a mirror in the lower stream. Visitors can boat on the river. The whole drifting is 47km long and the most exciting part is 17km long upstream. The drifting starts from “Hani Palace”, and passes through lots of scenic spots like “Sanjiao Rock”, “Jilong Gate”, “Nietu Waterfall”, “Yanwang Shoal”, “Luoshui Pit”, “Mengsi Valley”, etc.. Visitors will see lofty and stretching mountains, calm caves, winding water channel, clear water and high ancient trees. The natural reserve, from Wangcun Village to Houtiao Valley, has over 190 rare animals and over 500 rare and valuable trees. Visitors will enjoy the beautiful sceneries and peace in mind. 

Address: Yongshun County 
Tel: 0743-8303028