In January-2019, I was travelling to Hubei province of China. This has been my first ever visit to Hubei and I visited three cities- Wuhan, Jingzhou and Yichang. I’ve already written a detailed travel review of Wuhan. Well, after visiting Wuhan, I took a train to Jingzhou (my 28th Chinese city) for a day-long city trip. The city does have a few interesting travel attractions. For example, Jingzhou is the hometown of the former Chinese reformer Zhang Juzheng and now his residence is converted into a museum.
So, in this post, let’s discover Jingzhou, a destination with nearly 6000 year old history. Initially, I’ll go through some of the general observations about the city, and then I’ll recommend you the top things to do in Jingzhou.
I’m also attaching some of the Jingzhou travel photos that I captured during my January trip.
Jingzhou city in brief
Jingzhou (荆州, Jīngzhōu) city is situated along the Yangtze River (长江, Chang Jiang) in Hubei province of China. The city lies somewhere midway between Wuhan and Yichang. In fact, apart from the historical aspects, I visited the city as it was located along my train route.
Also, the city has a socio-economic history of nearly 6000 years. It served as the capital of the Chu State (楚国). Jingzhou was an important trade center during the Three Kingdoms period.
Jingzhou railway station
My Wuhan-Jingzhou train stopped at Jingzhou Railway Station (荆州站). Next day, I took a train to Yichang from the same station. Although the station is just a normal one, the station building in particular looks very attractive-
Jingzhou station to city center
There is a bus station right outside the railway station where you can find buses heading in all directions in Jingzhou. You can take the bus number 21路 or 15路 from the Jingzhou Railway Station if you are going towards Jingzhou Hotel. As such, the city is not very big compared to Shanghai or Beijing; the bus can bring you to the hotel in less than 30 minutes (~5KM).
Jingzhou transportation
There is no operational subway line in Jingzhou (January, 2019). However, there are sufficient numbers of buses moving people in different directions. As long as you are using the Baidu Map, you don’t need to worry about the city transportation. Bus fares are fixed to RMB 1-2.
Jingzhou Food
If you are travelling to Jingzhou, don’t forget to try the traditional Chu State cuisine. You can ask the vendor about the Chu flavor (楚味, Chǔ wèi) dishes. The city, like other cities in Hubei province, also offers the famous Hot Dry Noodles.
Check out this post-
Jingzhou weather
Well, Jingzhou was really too cold in January. It was difficult to come out, especially during the night time. Due to cold weather, I even struggled to find food in the night.
Air pollution in Jingzhou
Frankly speaking, throughout the Hubei province, the air-pollution levels looked much higher than what you’d usually feel in Suzhou. The rain would often make the situation worse and the buses looked not that clean either. This was the first time during my whole travelling experience in China that I shortened my city trip duration.
Jingzhou accommodation
I was staying in the Jingzhou Hotel, it was priced at RMB 150/night. The receptionist didn’t speak any English; thankfully I did speak some Mandarin. I was asked for RMB 200 security deposit that was returned next day during the checkout time. Also, the room was too cold and the air-conditioner made too much sound. The water heater in the bathroom didn’t work. Most importantly, there aren’t too many eating options near the hotel.
So, overall, I don’t have a very positive review of the Jingzhou Hotel. Nevertheless, the hotel is just a couple of bus stops away from the famous Jingzhou City Wall, and if you are not able to find a suitable accommodation in Jingzhou, you can consider staying in Jingzhou Hotel.
Top things to do in Jingzhou, Hubei
Now let’s go through some of the interesting Jingzhou travel attractions. If you are in the city, don’t miss any of them-
Jingzhou city wall
The city wall (荆州城墙) is probably the most iconic travel attraction in Jingzhou. The area adjacent to the wall is designated as a scenic zone referred as the Jingzhou Ancient City Historical and Cultural Tourism Area (荆州古城历史文化旅游区). You are allowed to climb the Jingzhou city wall. As you walk on the city wall, you’ll see a giant statue of Qu Yuan, and a great view of the Yangtze River. RMB 40.
There are also combination tickets. For a single RMB 120 ticket, you can visit more attractions.
Walk in Jingzhou Ancient City Historical and Cultural Tourism Area
Well, the scenic zone looked very beautiful on the rainy day.
Keep in mind that you can visit the scenic area and take photos of the city wall for free. The fee is however required if you want to climb the wall. A walk in the scenic zone is highly recommended.
Mingyue Park
The scenic Mingyue Park (明月公园) is just next to the city wall. Nice place for taking photos. During my trip, there were only a few people in the park. There are small water bodies, bridges, flowers, etc. in the park. As such, I kept walking alone and took many photos. Free.
Sanguo park
Another interesting park in Jingzhou is the Three Kingdoms Park (三国, Sanguo Park). It’s a good place to stroll around. Free. However, honestly speaking, the park could be maintained in a much better manner. What scared me most were the continuously barking stray dogs in the park – they kept barking all the time.
Jingzhou Museum
I had to walk almost 1km to get to the museum. However, after reaching the museum, I realized that the museum was closed as it was Monday. So, I couldn’t go inside and just took some photos from the gate.
Initially, I didn’t know that the museum would be closed. So, when I tried confirming with the security guard, he appeared to be too rude to me. When asked him if the museum was closed, he literally shouted at me saying 闭关 (Bìguān, retreat). But I didn’t know the English meaning of 闭关 at that time. This was the first instance in my whole China experience that someone literally shouted at me. Anyways, that doesn’t affect my love for China.
Guan Yuzhen temple
I visited the Guan Yuzhen temple (荆州关羽祠) in Jingzhou city. The Three kingdom period temple is well maintained and really a nice place to explore.
The temple is connected to a section of the city wall and you can climb the wall. You’ll see the vehicles passing through the wall. RMB 10.
Zhang Juzheng residence
In Jingzhou you have the opportunity to explore the residence museum depicting the life of Zhang Juzheng (张居正), widely regarded as a reformer, statesman and a high ranked official in the Ming Dynasty. RMB 30. Opening Hours: 9:00 am-4:00pm.
The residence museum is located immediately behind the city wall.
Yuhe Square
A very simple and calm place, hardly anyone was out there. There are some shops nearby, however, the area looked not very happening on the rainy day.
Some more Jingzhou attractions
If you have extra time, you can consider visiting the Zhongshan Park (中山公园), Wanshou Park (万寿宝塔), etc. Although the entry to these parks is free, most of the parks look similar to each other.
Jingzhou nightlife
Well, it was a cold night for me, I didn’t come out to explore Jingzhou nightlife scene. However, during the day time, I saw so many KTVs along the road. So, I’m of the mind that there could be some active nightlife places in Jingzhou. 🙂
Alright, I’ll stop here.
In summary, it was a decent experience to visit Jingzhou. There are quite a few scenic parks, museums, and temples. Although Jingzhou weather and pollution could be disappointing to many, that shouldn’t deter you from visiting a historical city.
That’s all in this post about traveling and top thing to do Jingzhou. If you have any question about traveling, living or working in China, do let me know! Feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook, or follow on Twitter!
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Wishing you a pleasant trip to Jingzhou!
Cheers!
Last updated: Wednesday, February 20, 2019