"Huaihua" Huaihua by mke1963

Huaihua is a small city with a big influnce over western Hunan, as it is a huge railway junction - seemingly the 21st biggest station in China (these statistics are easy to come by in China!).
The town is dominated by the railway, but there is more to the place than the sound of wailing horns and the rumble of wagons.
Huaihua is a friendly city, built along a peninsular between two rivers. As is common in China, the city turns its back on both rivers, leaving them to flow past unloved.
It is a city with plenty of hotels, mainly 2 and 3 star, so is a good stopping off point for exploring the southern Wulingshan mountains.

North of Huaihua is Fenghuang, then Jishou. To the south is Anjiang, before turning east over the high mountains towards Shaoyang and Changsha.

• Pros:Good location for getting to see western Hunan
• Cons:Heavily polluted landscape to the south of town
• In a nutshell:Pleasant, friendly city