Fenghuang: Your Ultimate Guide
Updated: Sep 20, 2023
All the best things to do in Fenghuang, the must-see ancient town lined with stilted houses!
Fenghuang is a stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site ancient town with a river running through it, lined by many, many stilted houses and some lovely coffee shops. It also has lots of very bright lights, crowded night markets, and more karaoke bars condensed into such a small area than I have seen in a while.
I suggest adding this to your Zhangjiajie itinerary!
How many days?
At least 1 full day (2 nights). It is a bit of a pain to get here, so I recommend spending two nights so that you can take it easy, and make the trip worthwhile. We spent only one night, and it felt a bit rushed – I definitely didn’t feel ready for another 4-hour bus ride the day after taking one!
So, why visit?
A lovely, vibey, and unique ancient town filled with stilted houses.
Best things to do
Explore the town – both during the day and at night
It really is a lovely town to explore both during the day and at night. Walking along the Tuojiang River in the morning is a lovely and relaxing way to see the stilted houses and small-town life going on around you.
At night, there will be bars, karaoke, restaurants, and markets to explore. Make sure to walk along the river at night – the houses, river, and city wall all get lit up beautifully!
Hop along the Jumping Rocks
Make sure to visit (and hop along) the Jumping Rocks walkway that goes across the river. It’s as basic as it sounds, but it’s a fun thing to do… and more importantly, it's fun to watch everyone else hopping along the rocks – you can spend ages people-watching here. Also, at night, it’s a lovely spot to see the beautifully lit-up town from.
Best areas to stay
The majority of stilt houses are along the riverside. While I recommend staying in the ancient town, I suggest steering clear of the stilted houses along the river. While in theory, it sounds like a lovely place to stay, they looked pretty run-down, and probably pretty noisy due to poor insulation. I recommend finding somewhere more modern (preferably with decent sound insulation) in the ancient town.
Although things change and develop so fast in China, we found that the area on the Bijiashan Park side of the river was a bit quieter (read: fewer karaoke bars).
Getting there
From Zhangjiajie
There are three main ways to get to Fenguang from Zhangjiajie:
Take the bus from the Central Bus Station (near the Zhangjiajie Railway Station). The fare is about RMB 80, and it takes 4 hours to Fenghuang. If you are coming from Zhangjiajie, this is the route I recommend.
Take a tourist bus from Wulingyuan Scenic Area to Fenghuang. It leaves at 8:30 or 15:30 and takes 3.5 hours.
Take a train from Zhangjiajie to Jishou (2 hours), and then get a tourist bus to Fenguang (1.5 hours).
From Tongren
There are three main ways to get to Fenguang from Tongren:
You can take a bus from Tongren Tourist Bus Station (near Tongren Railway Station). Buses leave every hour (ish) and take about 1.5 hours.
Alternatively, you can take a 1-hour bus from Tongren Airport.
Getting around
It's small enough that you can explore it on foot.
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