It's time for my quarterly overseas travel... initially I wanted to visit Zhangjiajie. But there was no direct flights from Singapore to Zhangjiajie...have to stop over in another city, making the entire flight taking more than 10 hours. After much deliberation, my wife and I opted for a trip to Guizhou instead. There is a direct flight from Singapore to Guiyang, flight time just slight over 4 hours.
Joined a local tour in Guiyang 贵阳, a 7 days sightseeing trip...savoring the local places of interest.
As usual, booked our flight, confirmed our tour in Guizhou, bought our travel insurance....and we are all set.
First day 15 Feb
Departed early from home at around 2,50am...for our 5.10am flight to Guiyang.
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| 贵阳龙堡洞机场 |
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| waiting for our drive to pick us up |
Picked up by local guide... we were chauffeured to our hotel. Managed to check into our hotel at ~11am. After taking a short break, we booked a cab via Didi (WeChat) to 黔灵山。
Took our lunch 蒋家肠旺面。。。the noodles were delicious.
The entrance to the park was teeming with visitors (mostly local). The road leading to the entrance has many food stalls selling local delights.
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| The Entrance |
Walked through a tunnel to view the lake.
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| posing in front of the tunnel |
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| The lake |
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| Monkey abound in the park |
Then visited the old mansion where 蒋介石met up with 张学良 and the 麒麟洞 where 张学良was under house arrest after the Xi'an incident 西安事变。
For history buffs who are interested in the intricate relationship between 蒋介石/张学良，this park may bring out memories of the tense relationship between them.
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| The guard house |
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| The old mansion is now a 危楼, according to an elderly gentleman idling his time nearby |
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| The walkway and pavilion leading to the mansion |
Other parts of the garden...
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| Senior citizens idling their time away in the park... seems like they are playing BRIDGE |
Then we queued about one hour for the cable car ride to one of the peaks in 黔灵公园。
From the peak, we have to hike up another 100m to 瞰筑亭(for city view), and walked down a slope of 300m for 弘福寺。
My wife didn't visit the 2 places lest the climb aggravated her ankle and knee pain. She waited for me at the cable car station, while I went to explore the 2 places.
The walk to the temple.
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| The slope leading to 弘福寺 |
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| 红墙 - 不过不是故宫的那一片红墙 |
The hike for city view.
We took our dinner 酸鱼汤 at a shop just outside of 黔灵公园。。。it was costly 98rmb, and yet not so delicious.
Book a cab via Didi again. Back to our hotel. Rested early for the night.
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| Our hotel |
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| View from our room |
黔灵山公园 is one of the iconic places of interest in Guiyang 贵阳. It is worth a visit. It is recommended to take a cable car to the peak to have a city view, then walk down the slope to the temple 弘福寺； after that take a leisure walk down the winding path to the lake (supposedly can see many monkeys along the way).
Day 2 16 Feb
After breakfast at 7 am, we checked out from the hotel. Our tour guide was already waiting for us at the lobby by 7.30am. Our tour departed from the hotel just before 8 am for our first destination 黄果树瀑布。
Took the escalator down to view the waterfall 黄果树瀑布。It's the 2nd largest waterfall in the word, or the largest waterfall in Asia. Quite a spectacular view.
We also hiked up to 水帘洞，aka the narrow path behind the waterfall.
The whole journey took us about 2 hours...went for our lunch after that...the lunch 富贵开花was quite sumptuous.
After lunch, we continued on 2nd part of our tour...visiting天星桥 and 陡坡塘. 天星桥 is essentially a landscape of karst rock formations. There are stepping stones covering 365 days ...one may search for his/her date of birth engraved on the stepping stones.
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| DATE of Birth (Month/Day) engraved onto the stepping stones; it covers 365 days |
Some other attractions were: 长縢， 美人榕， 树抱石。The waterfall at 陡坡塘was surprisingly beautiful as well.
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| Waterfall at 陡坡塘 |
On the way back to transfer bus in 黄果树瀑布。
Completed first leg of our tour around 4pm... travelled 2 hours to our hotel.
Dinner not included today. Took 康师傅instant noodles in our hotel for the night.
Day 3, 17 Feb
Today is the highlight of the trip 梵净山, one of the holy mountains in China,
The weather was cold on that day, with temperature in single digit of ~3-4'C. Coupled with rain overnight, the place was shrouded with thick fog when we arrived.
This is how the holy mountain should look like when the weather is clear...
We were told that the two peaks (老金顶， 红云金顶）were closed in the morning. Fortunately, by the time we reached there, they were opened for tourists.
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| the entrance |
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| hiking up to the Mushroom Rock |
First, we had to take a 20 min cable car ride up the hill, then hiked further up to view the Mushroom Rock 蘑菇石. Fortunately, by the time we reached Mushroom Rock, we were told both peaks (老金顶/红云金顶) were open. We opted for 红云金顶 as this is the more iconic attraction, often featured in advertisement. My wife and I were the only two that dared to challenge the 红云金顶，the other 5 tourists from our group opted out.
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| Mushroom rock |
The hike up the peak was quite challenging in the last leg - where we literally have to use all 4 limbs (hands holding onto the metal rope to ascend the near vertical steep slope... about 6-7 steps up). But to reach to top was an exhilarating experience - particularly when we walked across the stone arch bridge that connect between the two peaks - each peak carrying one temple each (one for 释迦牟尼佛 current Buddha, the other for 弥勒佛 future Buddha).
You can imagine how precarious the hike is... this is not the spot where we had to pull onto the metal rope for support... it is too risky to take photos on that spot
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| the iconic arch bridge connecting the two peaks |
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| 2336m... |
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| going down hill |
承恩寺
We took less than 1.5 Hour to complete the task.
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| cable down to the base |
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| the place we took our dinner |
Went for dinner after that... then went for a tour of ancient city 铜仁古镇 at night. The ancient city with its light decors at night is quite commercialized, nothing to shout out for!.
Retired for the nigh in the hotel (Holiday Inn)... view from our hotel room...
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| 彩虹高架桥 |
Day 4, 18 Feb
Visited another ancient city 镇远古镇. Walked through the old lanes to see some of the old building, and also has a look at the river cutting through the ancient city, and 青龙洞（三教合一古建筑群）across the river.（道教，佛教，儒家）。
The highlight of visiting ancient town is cris-crossing various lanes exploring the old buildings.
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| The main street with shops lining both sides is typical scene is almost all ancient town |
A glimpse of 青龙洞 and its surrounding.
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| 青龙洞 in the background, with government tax officers collection taxes in the foreground. |
Took our lunch (sampling the 袁家豆腐脑面) there,
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| charcoal to warm up the place |
before departing to our next destination 西江千户苗寨。This tribal village has also been heavily commercialized - probably worth one visit only, just for the experience.
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| view of the 苗寨 daytime |
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| night view |
Took the 长桌饭 for dinner.
We stayed overnight in the tribal village.
Day 5, 19 Feb
Visited 荔坡大小七孔景区with its cascading waterfall/rapids, lake, and culminating in the famous stone bridge (小七孔桥). The water is clear turquoise green, apparently the scenery is comparable to that of 九寨沟。
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| The iconic 七孔桥 |
Journey on to our second leg of our trip...大七孔景区。
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| taking boat to Natural Bridge |
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| Jetty |
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| In front of the natural bridge |
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| Natural bridge |
荔波大小七孔景区 is another World Heritage Site. It is quite worth exploring - with its clear turquoise blue/green water, and a variety of waterfalls/rapids. The iconic "7-holes-bridge" is actually quite small, but quite pretty for photography.
Dinner not included on that nigh. Hence, we took a cab via Didi to a restaurant nearby to eat 虾汤。
Day 6, 20 Feb
Visited another ancient city 青岩古镇。Took our lunch there ( a set menu for two which includes 5 different local delicacies).
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| 下山狮子 |
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| 包含本地饮食的套餐 |
Checked into our hotel (Home 2 suite by Hilton) by 2pm --> we went to visit 甲秀楼, followed by 青云市集after that. Took our dinner at 青云市集. Took a cab back to our hotel after that.
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| 酒店房间 |
No wonder 甲秀楼 is another not to be missed iconic tourist attraction in Guiyang. The towering pavilion certainly holds historic value. The nearby historic buildings also is worth exploring. We visited during daytime - the night view was apparently much better.
Around 青云市集。This is probably best suited for the hip youngsters, with its neon-lit decor and street food /food court.
Day 7, 21 Feb
Officially, this was the last day of our trip with the tour group. The chauffeur was supposed to drive us back to airport.
However, we had extended our trip for another two days (because return trip to Singapore is only available on Sunday night (11.45pm).
We had planned to visit some of the tourist attractions along the Metro Lines in Guiyang the next 3 days.
First leg of our free and easy trip -
花溪公园 --> 十里河滩 --> 天河潭风景区
We walked over 25k steps this day - legs were aching terribly.
Verdict -
花溪公园and 十里河滩are just like regular gardens (decorated with some lakes, river, trees), nothing fantastic *but free entrance*
花溪公园。。。
十里河滩。。。
We were too tired to explore the Confucius
Institution nearby.
天河潭风景区is a tourist spot - total fees to visit the caves + bus transfer + entrance fees is 80 RMB per person. I was unable to purchase tickets through wechat app - had to go to the ticket counter, and submit our passports for registration - a blessing in disguise was that there was some promotion going on - and I just need to pay 80 RMB for two persons.
The cave tour consists of two segment 水旱溶洞- a wet segment whereby a boat will crisscross pass winding streams inside the cave; the second segment is the dry segment, whereby we have to walk up steps to view the various limestones formation/stalagmite and stalactites.
After that, we went to visit the waterfalls (which is free with the entrance fees of 20RMB per person). The waterfall was quite scenic.
Ate 炖鸡饭for dinner - it provided free flow of vegetables, and meat.
Day 8, 22 Feb
2nd free and easy day - our target destinations today were (1) 镇山村, (2) 夜郎谷, (3) 花鸟市集。
镇山村is a village occupied by two tribal villagers 布依族/苗族。According to website introduction, the village is nearby 石板峭地铁站. But as we came out from the metro station, there was nothing akin to any tribal village in sight. After much inquiry, we realized the village was a few kilometers away i.e took about 10 minutes drive to reach. Hence, we have to engage the service of cab via Didi platform (it costs ~ 10 RMB).
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| 古城墙 |
The tribal village was quite authentic in nature. We were probably one of the rare tourists around in the village that day.
After this, we booked a cab to 夜郎谷 （~50RMB). We were pleasantly surprise that the entrance fees were waived for tourists from Singapore (usual cost is 20RMB/person).
This tourist attraction is hard labor of a solo sculptor /artist - who recreated the sculpture of ancient 夜郎. The place was operating at a loss until after rave review by both CNN/BBC a few years ago. It is not big - but attractive enough for first time visitors.
We booked a cab back to our hotel after visiting 夜郎谷。
Since it was still early, we went to 花鸟市集 - bought some Chinese herbs (天麻，田七，当归). Took 鸡饭汤，湖南面for dinner.
Day 9, 23 Feb
Last day of the trip. Went to 东山寺 near 省人民医院站 for city view. Have to ascend many steep steps to reach the temple at the top. But the view was certain worth it.
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| hawker just outside the metro station |
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| ascending the steps towards the temple |
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| Descending via 栖霞出口 |
After that, we walked down via another exit (栖霞出口). There was a morning market nearby - bought steam duck, dumpling, chicken drumstick for lunch/dinner.
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| 广场舞 |
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| 市集 |
Went back to our hotel by 1pm (walked for over 15 min to 阳明祠地铁站 - had our lunch in our hotel room, and rested till 3pm before we checked out from our room. Deposited our luggage at the front desk of the hotel. Went out for a tour of 深林公园. .. the park was quite a distance from the metro station and difficult to locate - it literally looks like a forest at a glance --> decided to return to our hotel instead.
Loitered around the Coffee and Tea Area at our hotel from 5pm till 7.40pm - booked a cab to airport for our return flight to Singapore. Waited for quite a while till 11.45pm.
Finally reached Changi International Airport at 4am the next day (24 Feb) - CJ came to pick us up from the airport.
In summary, visiting the various tourist spots in China is a truly physically challenging task - be prepared to walk /hike for long distance while exploring various destinations (we chalked up 15-20K steps daily). Ancient towns 古镇 are heavily commercialized. Each site boasts of special features e.g. historical sites, certain architectural styles etc. Otherwise, shop houses line up both side of main walking streets in all old towns. The saying - you saw one, you have seen all - certainly hold true here.
We got to visit two World Heritage Sites, namely 梵净山 and 荔波小七孔.
