Beautiful Scenery and Extremely Friendly People - Enshi, Hubei
We stopped in Enshi on our way back to Shanghai from a long China road trip. This was supposed to be quick stop along the way, but we were pleasantly surprised by this beautiful city. It was a little strange that we as foreigners were not able to get an alias green code, but everywhere wanted the itinerary code anyways, so it was not a big problem.
We stayed near the Grand Canyon and the people were incredibly friendly toward us and our dogs. We were able to take our dogs with everywhere, not that we explored too much outside our area.
SiJi Shanju Guesthouse
This guesthouse was great and the family that owns it was very friendly and went out of their way to accommodate us. When we arrived, it had just started snowing (February). The snow was so fun to let the dogs play in, but it went down to -6 Celsius and the roads froze. The owners drove us to the Grand Canyon and picked us up because our car did not have chains on the tires. The family was also completely fine with our dogs (we had 4 dogs with us).
The location is very nice, there are a few shops and small restaurants within a 10 minute drive of the guesthouse. The view from the rooms is beautiful mountains. The guesthouse has a small yard in the back with a tea field that would be gorgeous in the spring. The dogs were able to run and explore with no problems.
The rooms were spacious and clean. The only downside was that it was so cold some of the pipes froze, so we had to shower in adjacent rooms where the pipes were not frozen.
Book on Ctrip
Enshi Grand Canyon
I was surprised that Enshi Grand Canyon was dog friendly. When we called information, they asked us about our dogs’ sizes. My dog is 43 cm and had no issues getting into the canyon.
When entering the park, you will need to sign a waiver which basically states that you ar responsible for anything for your dog does. This protects the Canyon from any liability if your dog was to cause damage or bite someone. Once you sign the waiver you can enter the park. You will be led to a tram to take you to the first section of the scenic area. The staff did not seem phased with our dogs getting on the tram. We were also able to take our dogs on the cable car to the top of the mountain. You can also hike up the mountain, but we went the day after heavy snowfall, so the paths were not cleared. When we went to the park it was not busy and we were able to have our dogs off leash running around in the snow.
Note: When we called the Grand Canyon, they told us big dogs are not permitted to enter the Grand Canyon.
