2 Days Tour from Zhangjiajie to Guzhang Red Stone Forest

► This is a guided tour by eco-friendly public transport. If you need a private car, feel free to contact our travel consultants to arrange it for you.
► Note: You are recommended to arrive Zhangjiajie one day in advance and stay overnight at downtown area the day before.
► Route: Zhangjiajie → Red Stone Forest → Furong Ancient Town → Morong Miao Village

This route takes you from Zhangjiajie to Guzhang County, an ancient and mysterious Xiangxi town located at the midpoint of the ‘Golden Passage’ connecting Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang. It is located about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Zhangjiajie, while 100 km further south is the famous Fenghuang Ancient Town. This 2 days tour enables you to explore the geological wonders, cultural towns, and ethnic minority villages hidden deep in the mountains of western Hunan.

Today, our guide will lead you to visit the Red Stone Forest first and stay overnight in the Furong Ancient Town. In the morning, our guide will wait for you at your hotel lobby and accompany you to the railway station by taxi. Let’s enjoy a high speed train ride to Furong Ancient Town.

High Speed Train No. G1367 or No. G6429
► Departure: 7:50 or 8:35 from Zhangjiajie West Railway Station
► Arrival: 8:13 or 8:58 at Furong Town Railway Station
► Duration: 23 minutes

If you prefer to take a bus, here is some information for your reference:
Bus from Zhangjiajie to Furong Ancient Town (Wangcun)
► Departure from: Zhangjiajie Central Bus Station near Zhangjiajie Railway Station
► Bus Hours: 7:00-17:00
► Frequency: every 1 hour
► Distance: 80 km (50 mi)
► Duration: 1.5 to 2 hours

Upon arrival, follow our guide to hire a local car to reach the Furong Town in 10 minutes. Check into your own-booked hotel in the town, and then we’ll start our exploration. The guide will help you hire a local car for a round-trip to the Red Stone Forest, and we’ll get there in 20 minutes.

If you prefer an early trip, please tell our travel consultants to book an early train or bus for you, and then we’ll arrive at the Red Stone Forest between 9:30 and 10:00. The Red Stone Forest National Geological Park in west Guzhang County owns the world's rare red carbonate rock forests formed in the Ordovician Period with a history of about 450 million years. Its location was the Yangtze Ancient Sea, which accumulated a large amount of mixed sediments with rich carbonate, forming a beautiful karst geological wonder after years of crustal movement and erosion.

► Follow our guide to take the recommended touring route:
Entrance → Yangtze Ancient Sea → Earthly Pool → Human Pool → Ordovician Seabed → Wild Boar Gorge → Baishou Lawn → Huaerbao Garden → Heavenly Pool → Lucky Gate → Fossils Area → Small Dragon Gorge → Tiger Leaping Gorge → Altar of Protecting God → Treasure Lawn → Stone Lotus → Undersea Tunnel → Exit
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 2 to 3 hours

► Optional Activity: After a lunch break, you can take a sightseeing boat to have a 1 hour cruise along the Youshui River with beautiful onshore landscape. Starting from the dock of Red Stone Forest, the boat cruises eastward to pass the Laosiyan Village and Hexi Town, and finally reaches the Furong Ancient Town. The cruise costs CNY 138 per person but the schedule is variable depending on the number of visitors. If you would like to take the cruise, feel free to contact our travel consultants to make a reservation for you. If you’re not going to try it, then follow our guide to return to the Furong Ancient Town by hired car.

We’ll spend the afternoon and stay overnight in the Furong Ancient Town, which boasts an advantaged location, beautiful scenery, interesting folk culture of Tujia people, and terrific night view. With a history of more than 2,000 years, the town is famous for being the scene of a Chinese movie. After entering the town, follow the guide to walk along the old flagstone street flanked by old wooden residences. At the street corner, there is a folk museum open to the public for free, housing the Xizhou Bronze Pillar, which is regarded as a sacred relic recording the history of the local Tujia people. Then let’s turn to the pier walkway to see the iconic waterfall in the center of Furong Town. The Tusi King's Palace near the waterfall offers the best place for viewing the panorama of the town, including the stilted buildings, the Big Waterfall, and the Youshui River under it.

► Best Attractions & Top Things to Do: Five-mile Flagstone Street, Tuwang Bridge, Xizhou Bronze Pillar, Big Waterfall, Youyang Palace, Tusi King's Palace, Ancient Dwelling Cave, Baishoutang Stage, watch local opera, taste Rice Tofu
► Opening Hours: 8:00-23:00
► Recommended Time for a Visit: half to one day

Recommended Place to Stay
If you are a photography enthusiast or have enough time, an overnight stay at Furong Ancient Town is highly recommended. The best choice is to live on the top floor of a stilted house by the river with a good view. You can enjoy the beautiful sunset over the quiet town. When night falls, the lights come on and the waterfall is illuminated, making a gorgeous scene of a heavenly palace. You would have a good dream with the sound of the running waterfall.

We are going to spend the morning visiting the Morong Miao Village, which is 50 km (31 mi) south of the Furong Town. As a base for inheriting the traditional Chinese intangible cultural heritage, the Morong Miao Village features Chinese folk culture and the Miao ethnic minority’s folk customs and flower drum art. Entering the village, we will go across a stone bridge and encounter a group of local Miao girls. Learn a Miao song and a welcome drum dance, and drink a bowl of the local rice wine, and then you can enter the mysterious ancient Miao village through a narrow mountain path. The ancient barracks and beacon towers here reveal the vicissitudes of history and wars, while the exquisite crafts and wonderful local performances will amaze you.

► How to Get There: Follow our guide to take a bus from Furong Town Bus Station to Guzhang General Bus Station, and transfer to a bus running to Morong Miao Village. The whole trip is about 50 km (31 mi), taking one hour.
► Recommended Touring Route: Village Gate → Stop Gate → Wolong Pass → Wunuo Hall → Museum of Miao Ethnic Group → Guaiguai Building → Large Workshop → Exhibition Hall of Miao Silver Handicraft (Showrooms 1,2 & 3) → Miao Long Dragon Banquet
► Top Things to Do: interact with the local Miao people, sing Miao songs, drink local wine, playing drum, watch Wonuo stunts, buy Miao embroidery or silver ornaments, taste Guzhang Maojian Tea, eat sour soup fish, join Long Dragon Banquet...
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 3 to 4 hours

After the visit, you are advised to try the local style Long Dragon Banquet for lunch at your own expense. In the afternoon, our guide will escort you on a 2.5-hour bus trip back to Zhangjiajie, with a possible transfer at Guzhang. Here’s the end of our service. Wish you enjoy the trip!

When we finish visiting the Morong Miao Village, you would be at a location giving you a lot of latitude. If you don’t want to get back to Zhangjiajie, you can travel further south to the Fenghuang Ancient Town, or take a bus to Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, where there is a wide selection of flights and trains for you to extend your trip or transfer back home. Just feel free to tell our travel consultants about your requirements.

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