Well, in March-2019 I was travelling to Hunan province of China, where I visited quite a few interesting provincial level cities. My trip started from Suzhou (I’ve been working in China for over a year now) and I stopped in Yueyang, Changsha, Hengshan, Fenghuang, Zhangjiajie, etc. My first stop in Hunan was Yueyang city (岳阳- that also happened to be my 30th Chinese city since I moved to China).
So, in this post, I’ll cover some of the interesting Yueyang city travel attractions and the top things to do. For all other Hunan trip related posts, you can jump over to my China index page.
Yueyang city brief
Yueyang city is located on the southern side of the Dongting Lake. It has a sociopolitical history of nearly 3000 years. In the ancient times, Yueyang was known by the name Baling (or Yuezhou). During the Song Dynasty (960- 1279), Yueyang witnessed a massive military presence and the city used to be heavily fortified. You can still find the remains of the old city wall along the Yueyang tower. The city, famous for the Yueyang tower, now serves as a provincial level city.
Yueyang railway stations
There are two railway stations serving Yueyang city-
- Yueyang Railway Station (岳阳站)- for the slow-speed trains,
- Yueyang East Railway Station (岳阳东站) – mainly for the high-speed bullet trains.
The Yueyang Railway Station is very close to the city center.
During my trip, I took a bullet train from Suzhou to Yueyang. Obviously, the train stopped at Yueyang East Railway Station. Then, I took the bus number 55 (55路, RMB 2) to get to the downtown. In fact, bus 55 connects the two aforementioned railway stations (it takes ~40 minutes to complete a one way journey).
Yueyang transportation
The main Yueyang bus station is located right in front of the Yueyang Railway Station. Here you can find the buses heading to the different parts of the city. The city bus fares are usually fixed to RMB 2 (bring enough RMB 1 coins/cash). Although there is no subway line operating in the city (March, 2019), the taxis are rather omnipresent. As such, as long as you are using the Baidu Map, you don’t need to worry about the public transportations in any Chinese city. 🙂
Yueyang Hotels and accommodations
Yueyang is not a very touristy city and there are not too many backpacking options available over here. However, you can find a good accommodation for a reasonable price. I was staying with the Jinjiang Inn (锦江, RMB 140/night), and it was a pleasant experience. You can also try Hanting Express or Home Inn chain of hotels.
Yueyang weather
Well, the atmospheric conditions in Yueyayang were quite nice as the spring was in full swing. In fact, the air pollution throughout Hunan province looked much better than in Wuhan and Jingzhou. Frankly speaking, March is indeed a good time to travel to Hunan province.
Top things to do in Yueyang city, Hunan
Now let’s quickly dig some of the top travel attractions in Yueyang city!
Yueyang tower scenic area
If you are traveling to Yueyang, you have to visit the Yueyang tower (岳阳楼), it’s simply a must see travel attraction in the city. It’s also known as Yueyang Lou or Yueyang Pavilion. The tower, made entirely of woods, faces the Ddongting Lake and looks up the Junshan Island. There are only four pillars to support the whole structure.
The pavilion used to serve as the city gate in its earlier phase. Now, the tower is considered to be one of the three great towers in southern China (other two being Wuhan’s Yellow Crane tower and Nanchang’s Pavilion of Prince Teng).
In particular, the tower is also famous because of the book Memorial to Yueyang Tower (岳阳楼记), authored by Fan Zhongyan (989-1052). In case you are new to Chinese history, Fan Zhongyan was a famous Chinese philosopher and thinker from the Song dynasty (960–1127). He is widely respected in China and it seems every Chinese person knows him and his most famous book.
Here you’ll also see how the shape of tower changed from dynasty to dynasty – there are replicas to demonstrate the changes in the shape. Also, there are souvenir shops, and cafeterias inside the scenic zone. In fact, the whole Yueyang pavilion scenic area looked very serene and tranquil.
Don’t forget to climb the tower up (no escalator). The view of the Dongting Lake from the upper floors looked mesmerizing.
Entry fee: RMB 70 (some discounts are available for the students and elders).
Opening hours/timings: 8am-6.00pm.
Baling square
Just next to the Yueyang tower scenic area, there is this Baling square (巴陵广场). It’s full of activities in the evening. Here you will see the elders doing dance practices. I was surprised to see one of the local groups dancing to the Hindi audio songs. When I asked them if they knew the meaning of the song, they replied negatively.
In the center of the Baling square is the famous post-battle statue (后羿斩巴蛇雕像), popular among the tourists and locals for taking photos. The statue looks more beautiful in the night when the lights are turned on.
Dongting lake
The Dongting Lake gives name to the Hubei (north of the lake) and Hunan (south of the lake) provinces of China. Although the lake is a huge fresh water lake, unfortunately the lake water was not very clean near the Yueyang tower.
Junshan Island
If you have time you can take a ferry to the Junshan Island (君山岛景区). It’s another scenic zone in Yueyang with a variety of trees, wells, etc.
Hunan Institute of Technology
I also visited the Hunan Institute of Technology. I had breakfast here and interacted with some of the students.
While returning from the Hunan Institute of Technology, I stopped into the Nanhu square and visited the South Lake (Nanhu).
Yueyang museum
This is definitely an interesting museum in the city. Although the entry is free, you’ll need to obtain a free ticket by showing a valid ID card (Passport, student ID, etc.).
The museum has a huge collection of wood crafts-
Yueyang Jin Eshan Park
This was the last attraction that I visited in Yueyang before heading to Changsha by a slow-speed train. Quite nice park. Free entry. There was a little girl playing with her grand mom and I spend some time playing with her. 🙂
Yueyang food and Night Markets
There are a couple of interesting night markets in the city to enjoy the local Chinese food. In fact, one of the night markets has been just besides the Bailing square. In case you didn’t know, Hunan province is famous for the stinky tofu (Chau doufu, 拆豆腐). You can find them everywhere in the provincial cities. So, you should definitely try the stinky tofu if you travel to Hunan (RMB 10/bowl).
The Yueyang Pedestrian Street (岳阳步行街) is another great place to explore the local food. It’s not that active like the food streets in Suzhou, still plenty of food. If you want to do more shopping, Taihe Wholesale Market (泰和批发市场) is also worth checking out. There are some nice shops along the Nanhu square (南湖广场) as well.
Yueyang nightlife
Well, there is not too much to do in the city at the night time. However, a visit to the night markets is absolutely recommended. You can also stop by the Baling square. Along the pedestrian street, you can find some KTVs and bars as well.
In summary, I had a memorable time exploring Yueyang. It’s not a big city from the Chinese standards, but definitely worth stopping by. The Yueyang tower would certainly inspire you to learn more about the Chinese history and culture. The city also offers plenty of authentic Chinese food.
That’s all in this post about traveling and top thing to do in Yueyang city. If you have any question about traveling, living or working in China, do let me know in the comments! 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!
If you find the write-ups useful, don’t forget to buy me a beer!
Hope you’ll enjoy travelling to Yueyang city!
Cheers!
Last updated: Thursday, March 28, 2019