The next destination on our China Trip 2024 was Feng Huang, one of the most famous old towns in China. Feng Huang means Phoenix. After breakfast in Fu Rong we took a taxi to the station and boarded the train to Phoenix, where we arrived 43 minutes later. Nice countryside with padi fields.

We took a taxi to the entrance gate of the old town, where a lady from the hotel staff was waiting for us. She brought us to the hotel, only a short walk away.

Another room with a view! On the 7th floor, no lift, the lady asked me if climbing the stairs was no problem for me ;-). I managed 😉 .

The lady gave advice how to spend our time, there is a lot to see and we had only one day. We went out for food, instead of going to a restaurant, we bought snack food. Delicious prawn crackers and later very nice corn cakes

We followed the road along the river, admiring the houses on stilts that are chacteristic for the Tuija architecture. The Tuija are a recognised minority in China, living in this region. More information about them can be found here.

A pleasant walk, beautiful weather

A statue of a running man (not a phoenix) and a decorative water wheel.

We walked until the water wheel and took pictures of two bridges. There are many more across the river. The first picture, looking backwards, shows the bridge we passed on arrival. The other picture shows two bridges we were planning to visit later, after sunset. Notice in front of the bridges there are two stepping-stones crossings!

Nore pictures, walking back to pur hotel. No wonder that Phoemix is a very popular tourist destination in China. The many cruising boats let visitors explore the town in an easy way.

We wanted to be back in our hotel not too late, so we could look at the scenery when it got darker, hoping that the lights would come on. Our room had the luxury of a private balcony.

Another bridge.Zoom photo from our balcony.

The sun sets early and it gets dark fast. Two photos one at 5:57 pm, the othet one at 6:27 pm. At 6 pm the lights came on, so beautiful.

Around 7 pm we went out again for another walk

Also here in Phoenix there were many people who rented a traditional costume. The package often included a photographer who instructed the ladies hwo to pose elegantly 😉 .

Again we had snack food as dinner. The restaurant fare (pork and more pork) got boring. These are potato cakes, so tasty that we took two.

The bridge we had photogtaphed earlier was now brightly lit. On a platform in the river a lady was dancing and singing.

The second bridge, for motorised traffic gave us a nice vier of river and town.

We walked back, using one of the stepping-stone crossings.

Delicious pork sausages for me and smelly taufu for Aric.

The next morning we had time enough to visit the old town at the other side of the bridge. It was still quiet except when a tour group was passing.

Looking for a breakfast place, Aric found a beef noodle stall. Nice after so much pork.

Here are some photos of the old town.

We visited the Thean Hou temple. An impressive complex. Many phoenix sumbols

The Queen of Heaven and Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. Taoism and Buddhism.

We continued until we reached the main signboard of the town,

Many nice houses.

Embroidery and needle work are a speciality of the region.

Walking back to our hotel.

Crossing the bridge from the other side.

Checking out with a last look of the view we had.

After checking out and leaving the hotel we came across this wedding procession. Not real, a show for tourists, but quite interesting,