Phoenix Town

With a circumference of 2,251 feet, the scale ancient town is one of few well-preserved stone fortresses in China. There are three entrances to the town, in title of Heyu at east, Shicheng at west and Riguang at north. According to Chinese traditional Fengshui, no south entrance was built to the town to avoid fire disaster. The current three entrances still stand with dozen meters high of buildings on wall with beautiful shape of eaves and other architectural decoration.

In 1700, the fortress ran into disuse for not having surrounding water drench. As there was one place called Huangsiqiao to the north of the town, the ancient town was given the name of Fenghuang or phoenix. After the relocation, government of Qing (1644 - 1911) named the town as Fenghuang and defined as town under direct administration in 1797, it became a county in 1912.

Hongqiao or Rainbow Bridge is near the East Entrance of the county, also its main tourist attraction. Built in 1670, the bridge is 367 feet long, 26.2 feet wide and 33.5 feet high with 3 arches and stands made of local Red Rock. As an important traffic pass, the bridge has gone renovation into a covered corridor of three layers of eaves. The path over the river is flanked with small shops for souvenirs. The outside of the bridge is lit up like a phoenix dancing in lights when it gets dark.

Further to the east comes a place called Shawan or its old name of Jiangxi Street which used to be gathering place for businessmen from Jiangxi Province. Now it is the best venue for photographers as they can have a good view of the most torrent part of Tuojiang River from Wangjiang Pavilion or Dongguan Gateway. The tallest building in the area is ancient replica of residential house for Mr. Huang Yongyu, the famous painter. The green rivers flow between local houses built on the riverbanks. Every morning, visitors can see white gooses swimming upstream on the river around ancient buildings in the area.

There is a white pagoda on the east of the Shawan, funded by locals under the proposal of Mr. Huang Yongyu to build the Wanming Pagoda. The pagoda is set up on site of original paper burner. Ancient Chinese treasured paper as valuable goods and used to gather the waste paper to the burner. It reflects the long respect for culture and traditions by local people in the area. Nowadays, the pagoda is well lit up in the evening for Miao ethic girls on its platform to perform songs and sing with visitors in drums.

The local residential houses were built with projected part towards river. The building was promoted in a famous novel of Shen Congwen, described as half on land and half over river. Most of the buildings in the area were built in Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing Dynasties or contemporary China. They are with two storeys, the ground floor often occupies irregular shape of land while the upper floor is wider and projected over the river.

 Entrance Fee:
CNY 168 for the 11 attractions (valid within three days)
CNY 148 for the 9 attractions (valid within two days)

 Transportation: 
A. Visitors in Hunan Province can take the long-distance buses to Fenghuang at the local long-distance bus stations;
B. Visitors from other provinces can take airplanes, trains or long-distance buses to Changsha, Jishou or Huaihua first, and then take coatches to Fenghuang.

 Other Famous Zhangjiajie Attraction: Wulingyuan Scenic Area