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Reanne and Ben, a British couple who have spent two and a half years traveling around China, go their separate ways for a points challenge. Each explores a little-known tier three city alone and then heads for Wuhan. In Hengyang, Hunan, Ben finds locals exercising and dancing at 8:00 a.m., uses a Meituan group saver voucher to order the city's signature fish and rice breakfast, walks the Xiang River promenade and visits a 1,200-year-old Confucian academy where locals line up for photos with him. In Ganzhou, Jiangxi, Reanne has the hotel buffet breakfast, takes a 34 yuan taxi to the West Railway Station and spends 4 hours and 36 minutes in a middle seat on a high-speed train. In a hot Wuhan, Ben checks into a cheap hotel next to the station, they count the points, Ben wins, and they talk about traveling alone, safety for a woman on her own and getting around cities with no subway.
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The rules are simple. Each of them starts with 100 points, earns more for trying local food, talking to a local, visiting a local attraction or getting invited somewhere by a local, and loses points for taxis or first class. The winner picks the hotel and plans the evening, and both have to end the day in Wuhan. They have been in China for 2 and 1/2 years, but neither had been to these two cities before.
Morning in Hengyang, Hunan
Ben starts day two in Hengyang, a city few tourists visit. His 77 hotel was okay but not great. At 8:00 a.m. the streets are already busy with people exercising, jogging and dancing. He calls it a tier three city that turned out nicer than he expected, with some rundown areas, some really nice places and aunties dancing in the evening.
For breakfast he buys a Meituan group saver voucher first. He gives two reasons: it is cheaper than ordering normally, and it removes the language barrier, because he only shows the QR code and the restaurant scans it. People who replied to his Douyin post had told him the local staple is fish and rice, so he finds a small restaurant that serves it. It is like a fish congee with egg, fish pieces, vegetables and rice noodles in a fishy sauce. He warns about the bones, and about burning yourself.
Reanne on her own in Ganzhou, Jiangxi
Reanne had never heard of Ganzhou before this trip. Like Hengyang, it has no subway, so getting around means buses or taxis, which are cheap in China. Her hotel breakfast turned out to be on the third floor, served between 7 and 10, and it had cakes, salad, cereal and cola, plus a local rice gelatin snack with meat inside that she ate with soy sauce.
She had booked her train the night before, when few second class seats were left and mostly first class remained. The ride is 4 hours and 36 minutes, leaving at 11:37. At 10:27 she is running late, checks out quickly (she had paid a deposit) and orders a taxi on her phone to the West Railway Station. The app shows 34 yuan for about 25 minutes, and she checks the car color and plate as it pulls up.
The Xiang River and a 1,200-year-old academy
Back in Hengyang, Ben walks the promenade along the Xiang River, historically one of the most important trade routes in southern China. He passes hairdressers, people exercising and a fancy public toilet before reaching an academy he describes as 1,200 years old. It was set up to teach Confucian philosophy, destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt, and it overlooks the river. Entry is free, though he could not work out on WeChat whether he needed a ticket, and staff asked for his passport. Locals from around the province recognize him from Douyin, and many of them want photos.
Stations, security and the long ride
Ben has 3 or 4 hours to spare before his train leaves from the east station, on the other side of the city. He also takes a taxi rather than the bus, waits in a basic station, plans to grab food at the convenience store and a coffee at McDonald's, and nearly misses his gate when the board turns red.
In Ganzhou, Reanne gets flagged for water at security, finds the gate for train G2721 and boards a CRH train with 16 carriages. Her place in car 7, seat 3B, is a middle seat, and the ticket cost about 44 pounds; first class was about 66 pounds. She manages to order a coffee to her seat by herself, and later calls the middle seat the worst part of the day: no armrest, and climbing over people to reach the toilet.
Wuhan, the scores and solo travel in small-town China
Ben reaches Wuhan first. They visited about a year ago and love the city. He says he received about 50 invites from locals in Hengyang through Douyin. He books a hotel in the train station car park, about 5 minutes away, for only 25 pounds. Foreigners must show a passport at every hotel and the details are sent to the police, so Reanne hands hers over at the desk when she arrives. It is about 36 degrees with a heat warning, and she notices that Wuhan taxi drivers speak some English, unlike in Ganzhou.
Ben wins the challenge by about 30 to 40 points; Reanne could not get the bikes to work with her WeChat. She says she felt safe as a woman alone and rode e-bikes back at 8 or 9 at night. The only time she felt stared at was by some men, possibly taxi drivers, at a bus stop after her train came in. Both cities were tier three, relatively unknown to western tourists, and without a subway. Ben says everyone was very nice and he would go back. The next morning they leave Wuhan by train for a new province and city about an hour and 20 minutes away.
FAQs (From the traveler's perspective)
- Q: What should I eat for breakfast in Hengyang?
- A: Locals told Ben the staple breakfast is fish and rice, something like a fish congee with egg, fish pieces, vegetables and rice noodles in a fishy sauce, served at small local restaurants. Watch out for the bones.
- Q: How do you order food in China without speaking Chinese?
- A: Ben bought a Meituan group saver voucher in advance. It was cheaper, and he only had to show the QR code for the restaurant to scan, so there was no language barrier.
- Q: Do Hengyang and Ganzhou have a subway?
- A: No. Neither city had one when they visited, so they relied on buses and taxis, which they say are really cheap in China.
- Q: Is the academy by the Xiang River in Hengyang free?
- A: Yes, Ben says it is free to enter. He could not tell from WeChat whether a ticket was needed, and staff asked for his passport at the entrance.
- Q: How much was a taxi to the railway station in Ganzhou?
- A: Reanne's app taxi to the West Railway Station showed 34 yuan, and the ride was expected to take about 25 minutes.
- Q: How long is the train to Wuhan and how much does it cost?
- A: Reanne's train took 4 hours and 36 minutes, leaving at 11:37. Her second class ticket cost about 44 pounds, while first class was about 66 pounds. Ben's journey was about 2 and 1/2 hours.
- Q: Do foreigners need a passport to check into a hotel in China?
- A: Yes. At every hotel foreigners must show their passport and the details are sent to the police, so Reanne had to hand hers over at the desk even though Ben had already checked in.
- Q: Is it safe for a woman to travel alone in China?
- A: Reanne felt safe and rode e-bikes back at 8 or 9 at night. The only uneasy moment was some men, possibly taxi drivers, staring at her at a bus stop after she got off the train.
- Q: How hot is Wuhan in summer?
- A: When they arrived in August it was about 36 degrees, and Reanne had seen a heat warning online.
- Q: How much was their hotel in Wuhan?
- A: Ben booked a hotel in the train station car park, about 5 minutes' walk away, for only 25 pounds.
