Hostels in Enshi, China

Enshi is a remote city in the far west of the Hubei province in western China. It’s most well-known for the nearby Grand Canyon and this is undoubtably the highlight of visiting Enshi. The city lies on the Qing River and is surrounded by heavily forested mountains. The Grand Canyon is about 40km from the city centre and you don’t need to take a tour guide to explore it. To get to Enshi, you can fly to Xujiaping Airport from Wuhan, or you can take a bus. Buses are the predominant way to travel here because of the mountainous roads.

There are a couple of hostels in Enshi including traditional-European style accommodation. In general, though, hostels across China are smaller and not as clean as their foreign counterparts. The word is “su-she” and the Chinese characters are 宿舍. In Enshi, you will likely find a tourist information kiosk that can help you arrange a hostel. If you prefer to splurge on accommodation, Enshi has some hotel+spas, which are popular with travellers and usually somewhat inexpensive. There are some guesthouses as well; you can have your own room but shared facilities.

Enshi is built up along the river on the hillsides, which makes for a good farming region. You’ll see a lot of raw tobacco, coffee, herbs, tea, and more for sale in the markets. When you go to the canyon, you’ll see a lot of locals selling their produce and handmade wares on the cliffs.

The canyon is by far the most exciting feature in Enshi, but once you’ve explored and hiked the pinnacles there, you might want to visit the Tangya Tusi ancient city. This is one of the most well-preserved heritage sites of the Tusi culture. If you feel like a bit of an adrenaline rush, and you’re visiting in the summer, you can go white water rafting on the Qing River.