Our Itinerary

It is June 6 and we are on a small plane  (84 passengers max) to Guilin—maybe the first familiar Chinese place you’ve recognized except for Shanghai.  This has been our itinerary so far:

We began in Shanghai, then we flew to Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, where we rode the cable car up Tianmen Mountain, A World Heritage site.  I think Zhangjiajie is a city of about a million and a half people. Each of the cities we’ve visited is large and fairly new having grown up in the last twenty years or less from villages and surrounding farms.   The term Zhangjiajie also refers to a large area which comprises not just the city but many miles of surrounding countryside containing villages and small towns as well as the National Park. 

The next day we drove by car from the city to Zhangjiajie National Park where we stayed in a farm hotel. Despite the number of tourists who are flocking to this area to view and photograph the scenic beauty, there are no big and modern hotels.  According to Keren people either backpack or stay in these farm hotels which are run by enterprising farmers who recognized the opportunity and built rooms onto their existing structures.  Our hotel was very simple with fifteen rooms, a central reception/dining/socializing area and a yard with chickens and ducks and debris scattered about.  Our rooms were knotty pine with two beds, a rod in the corner for hanging clothes and…I must confess that when I saw it I experienced severe culture shock—a bathroom with a Chinese style squat toilet and the shower right on the wall.  Now, after having stayed there for three nights, I can say that it was fine and I am truly acclimated to all things Chinese. 

This hotel is completely different from what we are used to.  No towels are provided unless you do what Keren did, which is to purchase the towels, which you are then free to take or leave as you desire.  The towels are about the size of our kitchen towels (or smaller) and he purchased four for each couple.  They are not replaced.  We stayed there for three days.

If I give the impression that the hotel was not modern, I apologize.  It is only two years old and caters mostly to serious photographers.  Thus, inside each room there was not only a television, but a complete computer setup with DVD player, computer screen, and keyboard so that the photographers can edit their pictures at the end of the day.  But no towels.  Go figure—such are cultural differences and why we travel in the first place.

I had noticed that there was a washing machine and dryer off of the reception area.  I asked Keren to ask the owner if I could use them, of course I would pay for their use and for the soap and water, etc.  He asked and the owner said no problem, she would do my laundry.  And so I brought out a bag with our stuff and also the four postage stamp sized towels and gestured could she give us clean ones.  No communication—she wanted to put the towels in with the laundry.  I wanted clean towels, different towels. This was before I understood that the towels would not be replaced with clean ones.  So I acquiesced and left the whole lot with her.  Later, I noticed our clothes hanging on the clothesline in front of the hotel—underwear, towels, and all—and Keren told me not to forget to bring the stuff in when it was dry.  And in the meantime we did without our towels.  Later I tried to find out how much I owed the owner for the service but she said not to worry, it was free.  This is something that would not happen at the Marriott.

This hotel, called the Inn of the Prince of the Heavenly Son, was our base for exploring the region, so in the morning we would meet Keren and Jane and George in the reception, now turned dining room, for breakfast, which consisted of noodle soup with a fried egg on top—quite tasty actually.  I have already posted some pictures of the beautiful park.  We explored several different scenic lookouts and ate all three meals at the Inn because there is no place else to eat.  The food was wonderful, varied and, if not gourmet, deliciously spiced and seasoned all the same.  We couldn’t get over how they were able to offer such an amazing variety of food in such a simple and remote place.  Another mystery.  Keren just shrugs and says it’s normal.

After we left the National Park, we went on to Furong, called Hibiscus Town, for its beautiful setting by a river and its flowered parks and walkways.  This has been the setting for many Chinese movies and really gives the flavor of what it must have been like hundreds of years ago for Chinese peasants.   You pay to get into this national treasure.  At the entrance there is a sign that asks the visitor “to be merciful to the resources” and instructs that “children and incompetent persons must be accompanied.” Once inside we walked along the cobblestone streets, up and down treacherous stone stairs and peered over the edge to the river below.  No safety regulations here and mind your steps says an occasional sign.  Then we came upon a large square full of young children, some on a large stage ready to perform and others standing to the side with a harassed young teacher trying to keep the order.  They were rehearsing for International Children’s Day which was coming up.  Really adorable and very talented!  Chinese discipline.  It was here that we noticed that the diaper industry is not big in China.  Small children have the seam in their little pants opened up and when they need to potty they simply squat wherever they are and go.  We have seen this a lot since then and I’m talking about kids who are under two that wouldn’t be potty trained yet in the U.S. I’m not sure what they do when they are inside.

After Hibiscus Town we continued on to Phoenix Town, another large city—more than three million in the metropolitan area—whose claim to fame is that the movie Avatar was filmed there.  I have already posted some pictures of the beautiful old town on the river with its lovely bridges and sampan boats.  It is much larger than Hibiscus town and crowded with tourists, all Chinese.  We are still the major sight for most of them.