Return Journey of the Ten-Thousand-Li Coastal Tour: Visiting Ancient Cities of Jingzhou and Xiangyang

May 5th was the last day of the May Day holiday, and also the last day of free highway tolls. That day I had the idea of driving to save on costs. After breakfast, I got on the highway and arrived in Jingzhou before noon. After visiting the ancient city of Jingzhou, I continued driving and arrived in Xiangyang, Hubei, before dinner. I drove about 600 kilometers that day and stayed overnight in Xiangyang. On May 6th, I visited the ancient city of Xiangyang and the Longzhong scenic area, then stayed another night. On the 7th, I left Xiangyang and arrived in Kaifeng, Henan, that same day.

Jingzhou and Xiangyang are both ancient cities in Hubei, with a strong atmosphere of Three Kingdoms culture. Jingzhou’s cultural tourism promotion focuses on Guan Yu, while Xiangyang’s focuses on Zhuge Liang. My feeling is that both cities are very serious and successful in their promotion and cultural tourism development, and they are now becoming emerging tourist cities. At the same time, Jingzhou and Xiangyang are also modern metropolises. The scale of urban construction and prosperity exceeded my imagination. Compared with cities like Anshan and Fushun in Liaoning, Jingzhou and Xiangyang are more vibrant and imaginative.

Jingzhou is the hometown of Zhang Juzheng, the famous prime minister of the Ming Dynasty. Xiangyang is where Zhuge Liang presented the Longzhong Plan and where Liu Bei made three visits to the thatched cottage. It is now a 5A-level scenic area. Both cities have many tourism highlights. A trip to both Jingzhou and Xiangyang is very worthwhile.