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The Glossary

shan - "means mountain. If you see a shan at the end of the name of a place, it means that it is a mountain in which you may hike, camp, or make a temple visit if it is a sacred mountain."

From China Glossary

A town in Hunan Province, Hongjiang has two faces. One side of the face is a developed, modern city that dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). This contemporary side of Hongjiang is home to light industries, guesthouses, a railway station, and buses plying to and fro Haihua. Cross an ancient bridge over the Wu and Yuan Rivers, however, and travelers might just find themselves in a totally different world. This side of Hongjiang is called Hongjiang Gushangcheng or Old Town, whose grey houses, ashy peaked roofs, and narrow alleyways are intact reminders of its heydays as an affluent Qing Dynasty financial center.

Old Town's aged appeal starkly contrasts with bright-red Chinese lanterns hanging over Antique wooden posts. The town is a minor spectacle, but shutterbugs interested in rustic ghost towns with specks of simple Chinese daily living might find Hongjiang Old Town an interesting subject. A ferry or an open-air bus ride down the Yuan River is also worth a try to see the town's spiraling hills and hilltop White Pagoda.

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