Lijiashan Cave Dwellings 李家山 窑洞
(photo of the week)
Lijiashan 李家山
Amazing cave dwelling in Shanxi Province
Hidden away up an eroded valley a few kilometers from a remote stretch of the Yellow River is Lijiashan 李家山. It is one of Shanxi Province’s hidden gems. A village almost exclusively made up of traditional cave dwellings 窑洞. It’s a place to spend a few days disconnected from the modern world, read a good book on one of the sunny terraces of the local home-stays and sip a cold (or lukewarm) beer. All the home-stays are cave dwellings built into the side of the mountain. If the sky is clear, you’ll be rewarded with spectacular starry nights (full article coming soon).
Looking forward to your posts! I’m planning a second trip to China (I was in the south 20 years ago) and am going to spend 3 weeks going from Xi’an to Beijing.
Which brings me to a big picture question–if you could only choose two of these three area to go, what would you choose: Qikou/Lijiashan, Jincheng (Castles), and the sites around Shijiazhuang (e.g, Zhending/Yujicun) what would you choose? Assuming two days in each.
Thanks!
Hi
I would you choose: Qikou/Lijiashan, Jincheng (Castles). They are more remote and quite special. Qikou is under going quite a lot of tourist renovation but until they build a decent road the hoards will be kept at bay. The castles near Jincheng are great. Mr Chen’s is quite touristy but get there when it opens and you’ll have it to yourself while the chinese tourists watch a show. The other castles hardly have any visitors. In qikou stay at the Qikou Kezhan it is an amazing place.
To visit the castles well you might want to hire a taxi for the whole day. We paid 400 yuan for about 9/10 hours.
Zhengding can be visited in a day trip from beijing if you use the high speed trains between beijing and Shijiazhung. If you do go that way you should go to Cangyan Shan Holachina.blog » Cangyan Shan 苍岩山 (Hebei Province, 2006, redone and updated)
Adam
Thanks for the insights! Do you know if it is possible to book Qikou Kezhan online or should I just show up (it would be a Saturday night in September).