Things to do in Enshi Prefecture

The Grand Canyon must have been beautiful, but unfortunately, we encountered a very foggy day, so we couldn't see much of the scenery from the mountain. The Yunlong Ground Fissure, which we visited in the afternoon, was unaffected by the fog and was quite spectacular. Even though we bought tickets for the cable car, elevator, and other amenities, we still almost broke our legs from all the walking, which will affect our itinerary for several days. I recommend that if you're not very confident in your hiking skills, you buy a combined ticket that includes the cable car, elevator, and escalator.

Compared to Enshi Grand Canyon, I highly recommend Pingshan Canyon. Don't choose the so-called "lazy person's route" with boats in and out; you still walk quite a bit, and you repeat the same route both ways, going up and down a long stretch of steps inside the cave and missing a lot of scenery! Just take the regular route; even as a lazy person, I thought it was fine. The cliffside views are absolutely stunning!

Very worth a visit. 1.5 hr shuttle each way from nearby the Enshi train station, but the actual site took me less than 2 hr. As a white person in a rural China community, it probably would have been faster but the domestic tourists kept stopping to take photos with me. This region you will probably need to rely on a translator app because most people did not have any English. The site has self serve luggage lockers that require WeChat to scan but are pretty easy to use.

The rebuilt Tusi City wasn't very interesting for us, as we knew nothing about the history of the Tusi system. The scenic area wasn't large, and I took my child and we finished exploring it in a little over an hour. When visiting these kinds of cultural sites, it's essential to have some understanding of their history; otherwise, you won't know what you're looking for.

Tenglong Cave was truly breathtaking; it was the first time I'd seen such a large natural cave. Although I visited during the National Day holiday, there weren't many tourists, making for a pleasant experience. The distance from the front cave to the back cave is about 2 kilometers. We didn't take the shuttle bus; we walked there and back. On the way back, there were noticeably more tourists. The performance inside the cave was quite good, but the kids kept wanting to leave, so we had to leave halfway through. While I felt the cave was a bit overdeveloped, this natural wonder is definitely worth seeing.

I bought the C-line package ticket, and after the whole loop, honestly, the shuttle bus ticket wasn't necessary. It could have driven directly to the park entrance, but the navigation kept setting it to the visitor center. From the visitor center to the main entrance, it's all village roads, and there were no barriers; you could just drive right in. Another thing to complain about is the entire route from the boat to the elevator – it's all stairs, like climbing over ten flights of stairs! The point of taking a boat and an elevator is to avoid walking or being too tired to walk, right? Adding so many stairs is just exhausting! It would have been better to just walk out – at least that's flat ground, not climbing stairs. So tiring! 😫

Visiting in August offers stunning scenery and incredibly cool weather, especially for the car surfing. The floating bridge can be crossed multiple times. The park staff are very friendly; when we couldn't explain the route clearly after driving out of the gate, they allowed us to go back in.

This down-to-earth experience recreates traditional Tujia customs such as the daughter's festival, the weeping wedding ceremony, and the hand-waving dance. Performers invite tourists to dance and interact, creating a highly engaging experience. Combined with the nighttime scenery of the stilted houses and the ambiance created by the red lanterns, the performance offers excellent value for money. The activities are lighthearted and lively, suitable for all ages, and perfect for family outings.

This place isn't very famous. It rained today, and there was a lot of fog on the mountain, but once we got down to the valley floor, the fog cleared, and the canyon scenery was beautiful! Although we didn't see the beautiful views of the mountains above because of the fog, the canyon (crevice) itself was absolutely stunning and definitely worth a visit.

The scenery on both sides of the river was beautiful, but the trip was too long, and I started to experience visual fatigue towards the end. However, the steps for boarding and disembarking were too steep and inconvenient for me.