Currency Update The dollar continues to fall against the yuan. As of May 12, 2009, the exchange rate between the American dollar and the Chinese yuan was 1 dollar to 6.8 yuan. When the book was written the rate was 1 dollar to 8.2 yuan. For the current rate go to http://www.x-rates.com
Corrections p. 136, line 7: Wulian instead of Zitong pp. 220-223 the heading on should read Hanzhong-Mian Xian instead of Hanzhong-Mei Xian p. 304, 10 lines from bottom, width not length
2009 Updates
Prices Prices have not increased much since the big increase in 2008. Rice has actually gone down and is now ¥1 per person instead of ¥2 . Guides The only guide I visited this year was Zhai Tianxing for Hike 15. He has raised his price to ¥80 per day, so don't be surprised if the other guides are higher as well. See their 2008 prices below. He also now takes in lodgers for ¥10 a day including meals (which are mostly varieties of noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.) I took the night train from Chengdu to Fengzhou which arrived about 7 a.m. If you don't care about seeing the scenery en route, this is a very convenient way to take this hike. Visa The visa ordered online as listed in the guidebook nows costs $130 for the consulate and $29 for the service. Chengdu p. 75 Buying train tickets: 8 on the map, the Passenger Transport Center, is now the Tourist Information Center. They no longer sell train tickets, but will tell you to buy them around the corner at the "Tour Supermarket" which is located where W is on the map, the site of the former hot pot restaurant. New hot pot restaurant: Located on Hongxing Road one block south of the B4 bus station on the southwest corner opposite the Bank of China. It is called the Wuming Hot Pot 吴銘火锅 and is on the second floor.
2008 Updates
Rising Prices
Food: The continuing price rises in China (over and above those caused by the continuing weakness of the dollar against the yuan) are most dramatic when it comes to food. Prices listed in the book have now doubled and will probably continue to rise into the future. Lodgings: The cost of lodgings have increased to some extent and to varying degrees. In general a hotel listed in the book for ¥100 will now cost ¥125 and a cheap room listed for ¥20 will now cost ¥30 to ¥50 . Guides: Except for the Puan and Jianmenguan guide whose prices remain the same, all the other guides have increased their cost to ¥50 per day, except the Ningshan guide who charges ¥60. Transportation: Some taxis add a ¥1 increase to the meter reading to cover the increase in gas prices and both train and bus tickets are up about 10%. Visa: A visa ordered online as listed in the guidebook now costs $100 for the consulate and $29 for the service.
Specific 2008 Updates Listed by Destination Below Guides Hike 14 Xiaoba to Guanba p. 283 Chengdu p. 75 Xi'an p. 287 Jianmenguan p. 141 Jiangkou p. 325 Zhaohua p. 161 Ningshan p. 331 Guangyuan p. 169 Shiquan p. 335 Hanzhong p. 205
Guides I visited all the guides in the spring of 2008 and wrote out a list of questions and answers in Chinese and English that I though might come up as you arrange the hike. You can just point to the question in English/Chinese and the guide will point to the answer in Chinese/English. Note the two new numbers are cell phone numbers. When calling outside of the local area, add a zero before all cell phone numbers. Hikes 5-12 Guide: Price and phone number remain the same. Hike 14 Guide: His phone number is 1389-268-1028. His price is now ¥50 per day. Hike 15 Guide: Price per day ¥50. Hike 16 Guide: Price per day ¥50. Hike 17-18 Guide: Price per day ¥50. Hike 19 Guide: Her phone number is 1377-224-3739. Her price per day is now ¥60.
Chengdu p. 75 The biggest change is there are no pedicabs near Hotel D for a quick run to the mall. Everyone I asked said there are still pedicabs in Chengdu in other areas, but I did not see any in other parts of town either. If they really are gone, Chengdu has lost one of its nicest features. Lodging The phone numbers I gave for all the hotel listings in the guidebook were those listed on their business cards and those in Chengdu begin with (86-28). I have since learned that 0086 is the number you dial if you are outside China and 028 is the number you dial if you are outside of Chengdu. Once in the city, the final eight digits are all that you need to use. Food W. is gone X. has moved. Even though the building was brand-new, it has already been ripped down to make room for an extra row of stores. The restaurant has moved just around the corner, however.Beginning where X is marked on the map, head into the mall, turn right on the first side street and walk about a block and you will see it on the left with its name written on bright red squares. The ¥18 snack is now ¥28 and the ¥28 snack is ¥38.
Jianmenguan p. 141 Jianmenguan has been officially designated as a gucheng, old town, and the local government, in anticipation of an increase in Chinese tourists, has been making a lot of improvements. The highway between Puan and Jianmenguan has been repaved, an exit off the expressway now goes directly to Jianmenguan, and a tunnel is currently under construction that will detour traffic away from Sword Gate Pass. In addition, many of the new concrete houses lining the highway into Jianmenguan have been spruced up by the government free of charge by painting them white with browntrim which looks like half-timbering at a distance. This means, of course, that prices will be rising. Lodgings Hotel A will be changing its name to Sanguowenhua Jiudian (Chinese characters to the right) and replacing its dorm building with a very up-scale hotel. The staff told me that a new rule has been instituted saying all new local hotels can only have double rooms so dorm rooms are going to disappear here and possibly in other tourist areas as well. Hotel B ¥20 doubles without bath now cost ¥50. Cheap Lodgings There is now a wonderful new alternative to replace the dorm room for cheap lodgings which has come into existence to serve the Chinese tourist traveling on a budget. They are called Nong Jia Le (Chinese characters to the right), meaning Enjoying Farmhouses. Farmers open up their houses to tourists who pay a very modest ¥30 for one night’s lodgings plus breakfast and dinner with the family.For photos of the one recommended by my guide and owned by Yong Desheng (phone 135-471-73206), click on the link below. It sleeps 12 people in three rooms. Some of the beds have soft mattresses, others just woven mats. My guide can help you find this place, or one of the many others, but if you want to find it on your own, head north on the highway, passing the fort, the chairlift, and the northern exit of the new tunnel. At the first bend to the left of the highway, take the dirt road heading off to the right down the hill. The farmhouse is within a quarter of a mile along this road. SwordGatePass has increased admission: ¥55 entrance fee for lower half of the mountain ¥45 entrance fee for top half of the mountain Chairlift is ¥20 one-way either up or down and ¥30 round trip Cuiyunlang Green Cloud Corridor Admission has increased to ¥50 Hike 8 Bridge to Heaven Hike The neglected flagstone road in the beginning of this hike has been repaired to lead to a second parking lot for the Green Cloud Corridor. You head to the northeast corner of the old parking lot, as before, but now you will see the rebuilt flagstone path that will carry you down the hill through the old cypress trees and you can ignore all my directions for finding what was once a very overgrown path. Pick up the directions for the rest of the hike at the bottom of page 395 beginning: “Once you join the highway, turn right headed toward Jianmenguan down the hill.” Note after the recent repair and widening of the highway the kilometer markers are now all slightly different so ignore any reference to them in the guidebook. Hike 9 Wulipo Hike The houses at Wulipo have all been repainted white. The highway heads downhill just after leaving Wulipo at the 1944 marker. If you have passed this marker, you have gone too far. Photos For some 2008 photos, click on the link below.
Zhaohua p. 161 Zhaohua has changed beyond all recognition. It is in the process of being “restored” as a major tourist attraction. The ugly modern buildings, happily, are either being ripped down entirely or concealed by a new façade. The sad thing is that some of the original wooden buildings that were still standing have been ripped down as it would have been too expensive to restore them. The three Qing dynasty houses are still standing, though, although one has been given a new facade. Money is being spent on constructing new things, some of which once existed. These include two stone memorial arches, wooden gate houses on top of the three original gates, and a new stone wall encircling the city (the original wall I am guessing was a more modest dirt one.) I would have preferred it if they had simply forbidden the building of the new ugly structures and just left the original town alone as the sleepy outpost it once was. Now it is going to be mobbed with tourists and there will be an admission fee to get in once the project is finished. Already an unsightly new parking lot has been built just northeast of the town. If you travel there by bus from Baolun, the bus will let you off in the new parking lot which is at the eastern end of Taishou Street outside the east gate. Head for the new stone memorial arch and follow Taishou Road through it west into town. Lodging Hotel A is still there hidden behind a fancy new wooden façade. It has a new name, but I can't make out the characters and although the landlady wrote the name down for me, I couldn't read her writing either. But show the actual characters to the right to a local and they will know where it is. Inside the new facade, the hotel itself has remained basically the same. The one improvement is that the squat toilet has been moved from the backyard to the second floor where the rooms are. The higher prices refect the improvements to the town rather than an increase in comfort at the hotel. Basic doubles without bath now cost ¥60 and dorm beds ¥30. There is one double with bath for ¥80.There is also still a nice restaurant on the premises. I am sure some upscale hotels will soon be built for the new tourist trade. Hotel B (and Qing dynasty house 3b) is no longer a hotel or restaurant and now charges admission to get inside. Hotel C is either concealed by a new façade or no longer there. The Qing dynasty house, 3a., still has several families living inside and does not charge admission as yet anyway. You can just walk in and look around as the courtyard sections of the house are considered public rather than private property. Photos For some 2008 photos, click on the link below.
Guangyuanp. 169 Lodgings There is a very nice new hotel right next to Bus Station B1 called the Lijingshangwu Binguan. It has doubles with bath for ¥96.
Hanzhong p. 205 Hotels B.is now known as theXìng Hăi Dàjĭudiàn 0916-282-3790 The cheapest double with bath is ¥100. C. Cheapest double with bath is now ¥150. D & E. Cheapest room without bath is ¥50. Food V & Yare gone. E-mail No longer at the railroad station. It is now just south of the railroad station on the left side of Renmin Road as you are heading south just before you reach Tianhan Road.
Hike 14 Xiaoba Hike p. 283
Transportation to Xiaoba There is now a bus from Hanzhong that runs straight to Xiaoba. This means you no longer have to stop at Moujiaba and switch to a van. The bus does not leave from the Hanzhong Bus Station (B1), however. You must catch a cab south along along the N-S road by the bus station to Dahekan, which is south of the city just over the bridge that crosses the Han River.Show the cab driver the name of the bus (click on the Hike 14 link below to see the Chinese characters) and he will know where to drop you off.There is only one bus a day leaving Dahekan at 1:30 p.m. If for some reason you don't take the hike and have to return to Hanzhong, there is one bus a day leaving Xiaoba at 7:30 a.m. Lodgings in Xiaoba Even though Li Ming does not drive the van anymore, you can still stay at his house in the village of Xiaoba. Dinner, sleeping, and breakfast cost ¥30 per person. You can also sleep in Dai Shaolun’s farmhouse which is about a ten-minute walk out of town. Sleeping over and two meals at his house cost ¥30 per person. Beds at both locations now have mattresses. Dai Shaolun now has a cell phone (1389-268-1028) so you can call him directly to arrange the hike. Hike 14 Guide: Dai Shaolun His price per day has risen to ¥50 and if you want someone to carry your backpack it will cost ¥ 40 per day. After the hike is completed, pay Dai ¥150 for bus fare and expenses to return home. In addition, don’t wait until the end of the two-day hike to pay him his daily salary. Pay it at the end of each day. Photos For photos of Dai's farmhouse and characters for the Dahekan bus stop, click on the link below.
Xi’an p. 287 Lodgings Hotel E. I mentioned that the manager, Jim Beam, would soon be opening a new hotel and it is now up and running. Located just down the street from Hotel F near the south gate it is called Xiangzimen Guoji Qingnian Lushe. Phone: (029) 6286-7888. The front door is at 16 Xiangzi Temple Street and its back door opens onto the alley that runs by the city wall. It has been designed to resemble a traditional courtyard house and succeeds quite well. There are two elegant doubles with bath that face the courtyard for ¥180 and cheaper doubles with bath in the main building. Beds in a dorm go for ¥50. Jim Beam spends most of his time here now and is as helpful as ever. The staff is friendly as well. Music in the bar plays until late at night so if you go to bed early, chose a room near the front of the building.
Jiangkoup. 325 Lodgings Hotel A is still there. Doubles with bath are now ¥60, but this is not a drop in price. My guidebook says ¥80 because he overcharged me the first time, according to my guide. This is still the best place for cheap rooms, but there are two nicer hotels on the side street leading to my guide’s house. See Chinese characters for these hotels, the Huifeng Jiudian and the Guiqiang Anzhan, to the right.
Ningshanp. 331 Lodgings Hotel C has upgraded and changed its name to Jingshi Binguan. Dorm beds have gone up to ¥30 a night and rooms with bath have been added for ¥70 per night. Food Restaurant Y (SnackCity) is no longer there and this former food stall area is now occupied by a raised terrace. Restaurant W is also gone, but a self-serve hot pot restaurant called Tianfu Huoguocheng has opened nearby.
Shiquanp. 335 Lodgings Hotel B next to the bus station is gone. Take a three-wheel taxi instead to the Youzheng Binguan which has doubles with bath for ¥90 and doubles without bath for ¥50. Food There is a very nice new hot pot restaurant called Shunfeng Feiniu which has individual hot pots for everyone at the table for ¥3 each and then you pay for whatever ingredients you order. Just show the three-wheel taxi driver the Chinese characters to the right.
