ZHANGJIAJIE BAJIE YOUTH HOSTEL IN CHINA

At the end of a long train ride we arrived in Zhangjiajie early on a rainy morning and, using the directions given, caught the local #6 bus into town. Thanks to a heads up from an English-speaking local, we found our stop and next home- Zhangjiajie Bajie Youth Hostel.

Sweating up numerous flights of stairs we eventually arrived in the hostel, which is laid out nicely on the fourth floor of a large building, (it takes plenty more stairs just to reach the entrance to that building). Once we finally completed checking in, which seemed to take far longer than it should have, we climbed another set of stairs to find our private room.

After living in reasonable comfort in Shanghai, Zhangjiajie Bajie Youth Hostel fell short in may ways, (except the WiFi, which cruised compared to our previous stop). But the stunning landscapes surrounding this city, the whole reason we were there, still made the stay worth while. Here’s how Bajie Hostel ranked.

Private Room:

A spacious, private room but no private bathroom and maybe too firm a mattress. Being upstairs from what seemed like the small club/bar scene Zhangjiajie had, provided us with plenty of unwelcome, not-so-great, open-mic night performances. The constant slamming of bathroom doors right outside our room also became an annoyance. The air conditioning cost extra but thankfully the weather was cool enough that we only needed it one of our two nights there. Oh yeah, and the black mold growing on the ceiling directly above our bed wasn’t a very welcoming sight upon arrival.

Amenities:

The hostel has an open setting, allowing one to relax and socialize in reasonably cool comfort at the bar, game room, quiet reading room, or in one of many other comfortable nooks, (all of which have open balconies). However, it did become a little frustrating playing pool without chalk, not finding a decent English book to trade for in the reading room or getting little help from the day staff. Also, ordering a drink from the bar might be a gamble as my mango-orange juice tasted bad.

Although in a private room, we shared bathrooms with everyone on our floor in which one showered directly next to the squatter toilet complete with trash can for used toilet paper. Like the rest of the building, the plumbing seemed a little old and a good funk permeated from the sink/toilet.

On the upside, the WiFi was excellent and an English speaking guide, who came at 7 p.m., was a great help arranging rides Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and helped us plan our return trip via bus.

Pricing:

At 93CNY a night, Zhangjiajie Bajie Youth Hostel was super cheap but we got what we paid for. The combined map of the city and Zhangjiajie National Forest Park cost an extra 5CNY but was a great help. Drinks at the bar were reasonably priced but, as I said earlier, quality could be a gamble. There is a small store in the hostel selling souvenirs and snacks, but we did all our shopping at the nearby grocery store so never used it. Air conditioning in the room also cost extra.

Location:

A shot bus ride from the train station, Zhangjiajie Bajie Youth Hostel was well located downtown with plenty of bars, grocery stores and good restaurants within a minute or two of walking. A 15 minute walk, (or much shorter taxi ride), got us to the cable car station for Tianmen Mountain. One hour by POV, driven as much on the wrong side of the road as the right, got us to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. While the streets outside the hostel were quite crowded and chaotic, (there was even a fist fight/grappling match between two women outside on our second day), we felt very comfortable walking around during the day and into the evening.