Changsha, China

Our trip to Zhangjiajie, China in October 2011

Memories might have faded and translation of places may not be exact.

Day 1 & 2

This was the first time that we used XO Tours for our trips. We have heard many good things about XO Tours and wanted to personally experience it first hand. We have no complaint for the 9 days and 7 nights traveling with them. As promised, this was a NO SHOPPING tour, which was what we wanted. Spending time seeing sights instead of inside stores and factories buying things we don't really need is much appreciated. 

Our plane was to take us from LAX to Beijing where we changed planes to Changsha, China. 

We were greeted at the Changsha airport by the guide and driver and were taken to the hotel for the night. The hotel is conveniently located near a highway. Room was a little tight but clean and comfortable. The problem we had was the noise from the trains passing through. Apparently we had left one of the windows opened and did not close it properly for the disturbing night. I don't remember the name of the hotel.

Spacious bathroom

The next morning, after the usual scrumptious breakfast buffet that one can find at the hotels in China, we began our tour. A quick shot of the city from the bus. 

"Walls of Poems" in Chengde. 

"Walls of the Thousand-year Poems"

We had cloudy weather throughout this trip.

I believe this is the "Shiang Jiang"--Shiang River 湘江.

Then we came to "Liu Yeh Lake" 柳葉湖which is suppose to be three times bigger than the West Lake in Hangzhou.

Rest stop on our way to Fenghuang (Phoenix). A huge parking lot.

Buying freshly roasted chestnuts

Our room at the Fengtian International Hotel in Fenghuang.

Some members of the tour went out to the night market but we decided to stay in and rest up for the next few days of travel.