A Long Self-Driving Itinerary: Five Thousand Years Feels Far, Shanxi Feels Close

·
🤎Route planning: I originally planned to go to the grasslands, but it unexpectedly started snowing. So, I changed my destination. Having visited most of the ancient architecture in northern and central Shanxi before, and with southern Shanxi being too far, I decided to go to southeastern Shanxi this time.
·
🤎Actual self-driving route:
1⃣️Driving directly from Tianjin to Changzhi is too far, so we first drove to Handan to visit the Southern and Northern Xiangtang Grottoes and the Shuiyu Temple Grottoes. We stayed at the Ji Feng Hotel in Fengfeng Mining District for the night.
2⃣️From Handan to Changzhi, we drove through the Zhuozhang River Valley, making a pilgrimage to the "Eight Great Guardians" of ancient architecture. It was perfect, except for the winding mountain roads. We stayed at the Home Inn in Changzhi for the night.
3⃣️In the morning, we visited the Guanyin Hall in Changzhi, then drove to Faxing Temple and Tiefo Temple. We stayed at the Gaoping Fanfan Hotel in Jincheng for the night.
4⃣️In the morning, we drove straight to Yuhuang Temple, then went to the Erxian Temple in Xiaonan Village. This section of the road was not easy to drive, with many mountain roads and large vehicles. In the afternoon, we went to Qinglian Temple, and in the evening, we visited the Huangcheng Xiangfu and Xiangyu Castle. We stayed at the Home Inn in Houma for the night.
5⃣️From Houma, it was a half-hour drive to Xinjiang, where we visited the ancient city of Jiangzhou. In the afternoon, we went to Fusheng Temple and the Fencheng Ancient Architectural Complex. We stayed at the Hongtong Grand Tang Hotel for the night.
6⃣️In the morning, we went to Guangsheng Temple, and in the afternoon, we went to Xiaoxitian Temple in Xixian County. We encountered the largest crowds of tourists that day. We originally wanted to drive back to Tianjin in one go, but we were too tired, so we stayed in Huozhou for the night.
7⃣️We returned to Tianjin in the morning, passing by Pingyao, where we visited Shuanglin Temple and Zhenguo Temple. Then we drove straight back to Tianjin, perfectly concluding our trip.
·
🤎Summary:
1⃣️Impromptu trips are so much fun! I didn't find many guides or itineraries before departure, relying entirely on real-time searches and asking friends. As a result, I saw many ancient buildings that were not part of the original plan, such as the Fencheng Ancient Architectural Complex.
2⃣️Refuel when half a tank of gas is used. Many gas stations along the way were out of gas.
3⃣️Prices were quite low. Even during the Golden Week holiday, hotel rooms could be booked for around two or three hundred RMB. Most of the ancient buildings didn't charge admission fees, only requiring registration at the entrance. The cultural and creative refrigerator magnets were so beautiful that I bought several hundred RMB worth. The return trip coincided with free highway tolls, saving us another few hundred RMB.

Post by AveryMaguire13 | Apr 16, 2025