Getting to Feng Huang County from Singapore (从新加坡到凤凰古城)

FengHuang county is a well-known ancient town that is in Hunan province of China. In the first half of 2012, more than 3 million people visited FengHuang. There are plans to "upgrade" or build another similar town to handle this influx of tourists. I decided to visit this place during Christmas 2012 before it got changed too much.

The journey from ChangSha, Hunan to FengHuang is more than 5 hours by bus. Therefore, people usually stay a night in ChangSha before moving on towards FengHuang.

However, I decided to make a straight run towards FengHuang from Singapore. With the many recent improvements in the transport network in China, I managed to reach FengHuang in 20 hours after taking off from Changi Airport, Singapore. The route I chose may not be the cheapest because I mainly opted for the most convenient.

1. Singapore -> Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific has a flight that leaves Singapore at 01:15. My flight was delayed and only took off about 02:00. In this early hour, it was not too crowded at the Hong Kong immigration. It was 06:25.

2. Hong Kong Airport -> 落马洲 (Lok Mau Chau)

After exiting the baggage claim, I turned left towards the taxi stand. Chose a green taxi and headed towards Lok Mau Chau. Let the taxi driver know that you are going to cross over to ShenZhen 福田 (Fu Tian). There was slight jam towards the destination due to some road blockage. The trip took about 45 min and cost me HKD300.

3. 福田 (FuTian) -> 深圳北站 (ShenZhen North Station)

After getting down the taxi at the alighting point, crossed over and walked up the stairs. Go through Hong Kong immigration. The foreigner counter at the chinese immigration is in the middle. You need to fill in an entry form which is inconveniently placed near the officer counter, instead of away from the queue. And bring your own pen. I did not see any APAC lane here.

After Chinese custom, take escalator down to the Metro. You can purchase tickets from the automated machine. Take the 龙华线 (previously No 4 line) to 深圳北站 that cost RMB 4. The stop is 9 stations away and took me about 20 min.

4. 深圳北站 (ShenZhen North Station) -> 长沙南站 (ChangSha South Station)

This part of journey will cover more than 800km. The direct train, that was available from Apr 2012, will take about 3 hours. However, buying train ticket can be tough. The normal train ticket will cost RMB 390. You will need your passport to buy the train ticket. I had to purchase the special class ticket that cost RMB 721. I hopped on the 8:30 high speed train towards ChangSha. To get through the turnstile, just insert the train ticket. Locals may have to scan their Ids first. Because many did not know, there is usually a jam at the turnstile.

The ride is fast and comfortable. The high speed rail can reach about 300 km/h.

5. 长沙南站 (ChangSha South Station) -> 长沙汽车西站 (ChangSha West Station)

ChangSha West station has more buses that goes to Jishou and FengHuang. After coming out of the rail station exit, bought a ticket from the bus terminal on the LEFT. The trip took about 45 mins and cost RMB7. It may be faster to grab a cab instead. It was a very old and small bus. The whole trip was very bumpy.

6. 长沙汽车西站 (ChangSha West Station) -> 吉首 (Jishou Station)

This would be the longest journey for the whole trip. The distance from ChangSha to Jishou is about 380km. I got on the 2pm bus, and only reached Jishou at about 830pm. At the start, the bus had to turn back because of faulty gear box. Fantastically, the repair took only 5 mins, and we were on the way again.

There are actually direct buses to FengHuang, but during off-peak, the timings may be far apart. The bus fare was RMB 140.

7. 吉首 (Jishou Station) -> 凤凰古城 (FengHuang)

When I reached Jishou, it was dark already. And I found out that there was no more bus to FengHuang. So I had to take a cab to FengHuang. The journey took about 35min. The cab driver took the new highway to FengHuang. Overall fare was pretty expensive at RMB 170.

And finally at Feng Huang