SSilenceskysAlthough history has repeatedly warned against visiting Arxan during the National Day holiday—due to the fading autumn scenery and overcrowding—city dwellers still flock to the area for an unforgettable experience. This year, Arxan is experiencing unprecedented overcrowding, with rooms in high demand and difficult to find. Even the Hanting Hotel in Yiershi Town, dozens of kilometers from the scenic area, is selling rooms for over 1000 yuan a night, and even then, latecomers can't book. Many tourists, unable to find accommodation, have to make do in bathhouses, property management lobbies, or simply sleep in their cars. There are even rumors that hospital rooms in Arxan are being sold—a truly outrageous claim.
Not only is there nowhere to stay, but food is also scarce. All restaurants are packed with long queues, leaving many resorting to instant noodles. Traffic jams at the scenic area are commonplace; at Wusulangzi Lake, traffic jams start at 4 AM and can last for over six hours. You might think that after all that waiting, you'll finally see the beautiful scenery, but the morning mist just won't appear! Isn't that infuriating?
You always say that you only have time during the National Day holiday, and you know there's nothing you can do about the crowds, high prices, and poor scenery. But I ask you, since holidays are so precious, why not choose something better?
Here's a suggestion: if you can't find accommodation in Arxan and think it's too crowded and expensive, consider Bailang Town to the south. Not only does it offer panoramic views of the Bailang Peak with its vibrant autumn colors, but further south lies the forest waterfall of Aolunbukan. The key is that it's much, much less crowded, and there are decent hotels.
For example, the GreenTree Oriental Hotel is located in a valley forest about one kilometer from Bailang Town. There's a small lake right outside, and you can see colorful forests and morning mist when you open your window. The environment is undeniably beautiful, and its biggest advantage is its affordability—a 55-square-meter room with a view is only a little over 300 yuan.
I arrived in Arxan quite early, on the 17th. At that time, many tourists had already been misled by unscrupulous tour guides who used the ”early autumn, yellow leaves” rhetoric. In reality, Arxan was still in a state of 70% green and 30% yellow, but it was already very crowded. Accommodation in Arxan city, the scenic area, and Yiershi town was scarce and expensive, so I was forced to choose this hotel in Bailang Town. Surprisingly, it was really good and worth recommending.
As shown in the photos, the hotel is next to the Yili factory and a few hundred meters from Bailang Town (about a kilometer by car), making it convenient to find food. Although there aren't many restaurants in town, they are cheap and the food is good, much better than in the scenic area.
The hotel has a large parking lot, and the lobby is quite grand, meeting 4-star standards. There's an elevator, and the elevator lobby is very nice. Before I left in the morning, I saw the cleaning staff cleaning, and they were indeed changing the water after each guest. The cleanliness was acceptable, much better than the hotel I stayed in Yiershi Town after returning from the northern route. My room type was a little more expensive than the basic room, but it was much larger, had a better view, and the shower had plenty of hot water, so I didn't have to worry about running out of water halfway through a shower. The room had a desk, sofa, and coffee table, so I no longer had to curl up in bed to review the footage I shot every day. Overall, I was quite satisfied.
I booked a room without breakfast, but the hotel actually did provide it. I didn't ask how much it would cost to have breakfast extra. For dinner, if I didn't want to go to town, the hotel also had small hot pot options.
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