Southern Hunan

Southern Hunan, made up of Hengyang, Chenzhou and Yongzhou, offers Mount Hengshan (Nanyue), the misty Xiaodongjiang on Dongjiang Lake, Mangshan Forest and the Mausoleum of Emperor Shun at Mount Jiuyi.

Southern Hunan is one of Hunan's four major tourism regions and covers the entire jurisdictions of three prefecture-level cities: Hengyang, Chenzhou and Yongzhou. Note that Yanling County, also in the southeast of the province, belongs administratively to Zhuzhou and is part of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan region. In the north, Hengyang is home to Mount Hengshan (Nanyue), one of China's Five Great Mountains. Zhurong Peak, the Nanyue Grand Temple and Nantai Temple are places for pilgrimage and hiking, and Shigu Academy in downtown Hengyang is an easy add-on. Chenzhou has the region's greatest concentration of scenery: the mist-shrouded Xiaodongjiang on Dongjiang Lake is a famous photography spot, with thin morning haze draped over the water; Mangshan in Yizhang is known for its primeval forest, Wuzhi Peak and stream-fed gorges; and Danxia landforms such as Gaoyiling and Feitianshan have become increasingly popular in recent years. Yongzhou is the heartland of Xiaoxiang culture, rich in heritage, with the Eight Views of Yongzhou made famous by the writings of Liu Zongyuan, the ancient town of Lingling and the Wuxi Stele Forest. In Ningyuan, Mount Jiuyi holds the Mausoleum of Emperor Shun, and Jiangyong preserves Nüshu, a women's script found nowhere else in the world, as well as thousand-year-old villages such as Shangganti. A classic itinerary takes five to six days: one to two days at Hengshan, two to three days in Chenzhou for Dongjiang Lake and Mangshan, then west to Yongzhou, Ningyuan and Jiangyong. For transport, the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway runs through Hengyang and Chenzhou, Hengyang Nanyue Airport and Yongzhou Lingling Airport have flights, and there is also a high-speed rail link from Hengyang to Yongzhou; self-driving is more convenient for Mangshan, Mount Jiuyi, Jiangyong and similar places. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, the mountains are cool in summer, and if climbing Hengshan in winter, watch for ice closing the roads.

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Itineraries