Hunan – My first real travel experience in China

As some classes got cancelled (not all of them, but I mean everyone needs a break from time to time…) we, 3 girls and I, decided to travel to the Hunan Province.

Arrived at the train station I quickly wanted to buy myself some street food because the night train ride would take us about 13 hours.. (way back 17 hours… ufffaaahhh). In front of the station I bought some muslim bread and some fresh made noodles… the funny thing is / was, that street food cooking is nowadays forbidden in many parts of Guangzhou, so as soon as I ordered my noodles a police man entered the square and all street food vendors started to move away from the police man… So did the woman who was still cooking my noodles… it was like in “catch me if you can”: the police man running after the vendors in circles ;) and me also following the lady who was cooking my noodles…

When I finally “caught” my food we quickly entered the railway station and waited until the Gates to the train were opened!

Question 1:
What happens in Switzerland if you have a train ticket WITHOUT seat number? à Yes, you go to the platform, enter the train, search for a ticket and sit down….

Question 2:
What happens in China if you have a ticket WITH seat number? à Well as soon as the gates open, everybody starts to run, kick, beat….. Result: some bruises on my arm and leg….Thank you!!!

I need to admit that the journey in the night train wasn’t as bad as I thought (At that point I would like to adjust myself: the sentence above was written before my “Night-Train-Back-To-Guangzhou-Experience”…. I don’t want to think or talk about it…The only thing I can say is: hooooorriiiiiiblee!!!!! But I am thinking of a German saying: “Was dich nicht umbringt, macht dich stärker” – Consequently that would mean that I am Superwoman now… just that you understand what I have been trough..)

Anyway a picture of the inside of the Night Train! (The 1 meter fish that someone brought with him on the 17 hours ride back to Guangzhou can’t be seen on that picture…also the Chickens in the cage and the 10 crying babies didn’t fit into that pictures… I am sorry…Please also note, that those bed sheets and pillows seldomly get changed....no more comment to add!!)

Our first stop was Zhangjiajie Village. That’s were our first hostel was. It was my first hostel experience in China and the room was really ok… unfortunately the standart dropped with every other hostel we tried… until the final hostel with a stinky Squatty Potty Shower (Plumpsklo mit Dusche drüber…).. That’s when I almost couldn’t take it anymore… (Good or Bad News??? my friend who was travelling in China before, told me, that all of the hostels she stayed in before, where way better than those we had in Hunan...there’s still hope!!!)

Zhangjiajie – The inspiration for Avatar

Zhangjiajie has a big National Park in Wulingyuan which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage in 1992. We went there hiking for about 6 hours and what we saw was astonishing. Just have a look at the pictures!!

 For those who doesn't want to hike, there are some little chinese men who will transport you to the top of the mountain for a small fee.... poor guys...

Dehang - Old China & biggest Waterfall

Later we travelled to Dehang where we found a cute little chinese village. That’s where the biggest Waterfall (216 meters) of China is…

 

Public Toilet... Charge 1 Yuan!!

 Small Snack... Crab-, Shrimps- and "Ohrengrübler"-Stick

Fenghuang – Place where chinese go to on holiday

Fenghuang (Phoenix) is an ancient town in Hunan. This place was very beautiful but also very loud in the evenings as a lot of chinese tourists go there. In the evening there are a lot of pubs and nightmarkets to visit, situated around the river

Night Market with a lot of yummi food...

 

Fiiiiishhhhhhhhhhh......

Disregarding the night train ride and the bad hostels, the trip was a full success and helped me to prepare for my “3 week travel” around China in December…