Central China
华中
The Yangtze's middle reaches, sandstone pillars and Hunan's fire-hot table.
Photo: chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0
Central China is the country's hinge — the Yangtze's middle course, the lake country of Hubei and Hunan, and the quartz-sandstone pillar forests of Zhangjiajie that Hollywood borrowed for Avatar. It is less travelled by foreigners than it deserves, and the food, especially Hunan's dry-fried chillies, is among the best in the country.
Provinces & regions: Hubei · Hunan · Henan (south) · Jiangxi (west)
Best time to go: April to June and September to October.
03Covered in depth
3 destinations in this region
Fenghuang Ancient Town 凤凰古城
Stilt houses on wooden legs over the Tuo River, lit red at night, in a Miao and Tujia town the writer Shen Congwen made famous.
The Yangtze Three Gorges 长江三峡
Two hundred kilometres of gorge on the world's third-longest river, ending at the largest hydroelectric dam ever built.
UNESCO
Zhangjiajie 张家界
Three thousand quartz-sandstone pillars rising out of the cloud — the mountains Avatar borrowed and never gave back.
+Also worth knowing
7 more from the full index
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Shennongjia神农架 UNESCO Hubei
Old-growth forest reserve with golden snub-nosed monkeys, alpine meadows, and China's most persistent wild-man legend.
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Wudang Mountains武当山 UNESCO Hubei
The Daoist counterpart to Shaolin and the home of tai chi, with Ming palace-temples strung up to a bronze hall on the summit.
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Wuhan武汉 Hubei
Three cities on the Yangtze and Han: the Yellow Crane Tower, a Republican-era waterfront, and hot-dry noodles for breakfast.
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Hunan Provincial Museum湖南省博物馆 Hunan
Home of Lady Dai — a 2,100-year-old Han body preserved so well her joints still flex — and the Mawangdui silk manuscripts.
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Hengshan南岳衡山 Hunan
The southern peak of the Daoist five, wooded and temple-strewn, and much gentler than Hua or Tai.
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Furong Ancient Town芙蓉镇 Hunan
A Tujia town built directly over a waterfall — stilt houses on the lip of the drop. Two hours from Zhangjiajie.
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Enshi Grand Canyon恩施大峡谷 Hubei
A 108 km karst canyon with a free-standing 150-metre stone pillar, in Tujia minority country west of Yichang.