湖南省湘西的凤凰古城 The old town of Feng Huang in Hunan, China.

WS 138: 湖南省湘西的凤凰古城  The old town of Feng Huang in Hunan, China.

凤凰古城位于湖南省，湘西土家族苗族自治州的西南部。人口约五万，苗族，土家族和汉族聚居。现有的布局始建于清康熙四十三年，历经300多年，古貌犹存。

凤凰古城分为新旧两个城区，旧城依山傍水，沱江穿城而过，以回龙阁古街为中轴，连接无数的石板小巷，沟通全城。旧城有百多栋明清时代的民居，有的已改为商店，酒吧或小客栈。还有三十多座祠庙馆阁。凤凰古城是中国的著名的古城之一。

我们在2009年曾来此旧城区一游。最先的照片所示是沱江两岸，水车。一条小巷的景色和一间有名的祠庙：天后宫。还有一位师父在制作凤凰特产：姜糖，和苗族服饰的小玩偶.

这里较特别的建筑是沱江两岸的土家吊脚楼，依山就势而建，上中层通风防潮，阳光充足，适居。下层是杂室或家禽栏。都是明清建筑。在清浅的沱江上泛舟是经典旅游配套之一。最后两张照片是这里的夜景，在沱江上放莲花灯也是一个旅游节目，看这些卖灯的女孩子都愁眉苦脸，生意该是很差。

(照片质量较差，毕竟2009年的数码相机像素有限)

The old town of Feng Huang (meaning: phoenix) is located in western Hunan Province in China. It has a population of about 50,000, with Miao, Tujia and Han people living together. The existing layout of the town is dated to the Kangxi period in the Qing Dynasty, or about 300 years ago. 

The old town is located at a valley dominated by the main street. There are more than a hundred houses from Ming and Qing Dynasties, some of which have been converted into shops, bars or small inns. There are more than 30 temples and pavilions here. It is in fact one of the famous old towns in China.

We visited this old town in 2009. Shown some typical scenes. A master is shown making the special ginger candy. A feature worthy of special mention is the stilt building on both sides of the main Tuojiang River built by the Tujia people. The upper levels are ventilated, with plenty of sunlight and are living quarters. The lower floors are stores and livestock pens. Cruising on the clear and shallow Tuojiang River is one of the classic tourist packages. 

The last 2 photos show the blurry night scenes here. Floating lotus lanterns on the main river is also a tourism attraction. The girls who were selling the lanterns looked very grim. Business must be poor.