After arriving in Changsha I was picked up and driven to Zhuzhou, where some of my family live. While there is one Hilton and Marriott hotel in town, they are pretty far away from my relatives so we ended up staying at the "Yintian International Business Hotel" (株洲国际商务酒店). The hotel itself is a nice hotel by Chinese standards with large fresh rooms.
room
toilet level: western
walk-in shower
Breakfast was included in our rate as well, and served the typical chinese breakfast. Breakfast food in China isn't really a thing and is treated just like another meal, though there are some foods that are more prevalent at breakfast such as porridges. This hotel did have a couple of western options like cereal, sausage, and some type of hash browns.
different porridges
hot food selection
part of a complete breakfast. PS apple juice in China contains vinegar...
The smog in Zhuzhou was better than Beijing, but that's a pretty low standard. Upon arrival the AQI was about 250, and approached 300 by the time we left. This is sort of expected since Zhuzhou is a highly industrial city.
smog on the first day
I suppose that's correct
Most of the time spent in Zhuzhou was hanging out with family and, most importantly, eating.
kids these days stuck on their phones at the dinner table
Grandma's toilet level: hole in the ground
all you can eat hot pot
some of the food at Xiang Nong Zhai (湘侬寨) before my hands got too oily, which serves classic/traditional Hunanese food (and puts together cultural shows)
There isn't particularly much to do in Zhuzhou, and excitement is primarily limited to walking along the Xiang river (湘江) and visiting the Shennong area (神农城) named for the "agriculture god".
looking through the smog across the river
selling their wares along the riverside
bins of fires across the street to keep warm in front of snake restaurants (their marketing tactics)
That giant statue of the agriculture god in front of the TV tower. Unfortunately the fountain show behind the tower wasn't playing that night due to all the smog...
