Handan Three Days Two Nights
Handan Three Days Two Nights|Stay in the millennium-old Zhao capital for about 800 yuan per person, check in at Nuwa Mends the Sky, the Idiom Capital, and Cizhou Kiln—this is the proper way to explore the "Central Plains Secret Realm"!
Can you believe it?
There is a city in China with 3,000 years of history, yet 99% of people can’t even name it!
It’s not Xi’an, not Luoyang,
but it is the Idiom Capital, the hometown of Tai Chi, and the birthplace of Nuwa.
One street takes you through the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, one well lets you taste the Zhao King’s palace feast! This is the seriously underrated treasure city: Handan, Hebei!
This time, I’ll take you on a three-day, two-night journey
back to the "capital of the Zhao state,"
stay in an artsy guesthouse next to the ancient city,
taste authentic zhuaimian noodles, listen to the war drums of Wuling Congtai,
all for less than 800 yuan, exploring a "living history museum"!
📍 Destination: Handan, Hebei
✅ Suitable for: family study tours, history buffs, cultural travelers, photography enthusiasts
✅ Best seasons: April to June / September to October (pleasant climate, avoid the heat)
✅ Keywords: Origin of idioms × Zhao culture × Tai Chi origins × Ancient kiln fire
📅 Itinerary: Three days two nights|Relaxed pace × Cultural immersion × High photo opportunities
Day 1: Arrive in Handan|Congtai Park + Huiche Alley + Night tour of Fuyang River
- Arrive at Handan Station/Handan East Station (high-speed rail)
- Beijing → Handan high-speed rail about 2 hours, ticket 188 yuan
- Zhengzhou → Handan about 1.5 hours, super convenient!
- Recommended accommodation:
💡 Congtai District/Handan District (city center, convenient transportation)
- Budget: Home Inn, Hanting, 200-280 yuan/night
- Unique guesthouses: "Congtai Courtyard," "Handan Memory," around 300 yuan
- Afternoon:
✅ Congtai Park (must-visit! Zhao Wuling King’s review stand)
- Ticket: 15 yuan (half price for students)
- Climb "Wuling Congtai," overlook the whole park, see "Seven Sages Temple" and "Stele Forest"
- Photo spots: ancient platform, small bridge, lotus pond, like a mini royal garden
- Evening:
✅ Huiche Alley (site of the idiom "Bearing a Thorn to Apologize")
- Free! A short alley but the historical scene of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru
- Night:
✅ Night tour along Fuyang River: lights reflecting, ancient bridges and flowing water
✅ Dinner:
- Recommended: "Old Handan Restaurant" for Handan zhuaimian noodles + crispy fish + pork cracklings, about 50 yuan per person
Day 2: Idiom Capital Walk|Handan Road + Xuebu Bridge + Nuwa Palace Day Tour
- Morning:
✅ Handan Road (Chuan Cheng Street):
- Antique-style pedestrian street, check in at "Idiom Riddle Wall," "Mao Sui’s Self-Recommendation," "Hu Clothing and Horse Archery" sculptures
- Experience: wear Hanfu for photos, write calligraphy, listen to Peking opera excerpts
- Noon:
✅ Lunch: street snacks
- Must-eat: Nanyancun hand-pulled noodles, Guo Ba baked flatbread, Daming Ermao roast chicken, about 40 yuan per person
- Afternoon:
✅ Xuebu Bridge (origin of the idiom "Learning to Walk in Handan")
- Free! Babbling water under the bridge, great for family check-in
✅ Nuwa Palace (legend of Nuwa mending the sky, 1.5-hour drive)
- Ticket: 80 yuan (including scenic area transport)
- Red-walled temple on a cliff, known as the "Ancestral Temple of China"
- Climb to see the "Cliff Engraved Sutras," breathtaking!
- Evening: Return to city
- Night:
✅ Dinner: restaurants near Cizhou Kiln Cultural Street, try the "Three Wonders of Linzhang"
Day 3: Cizhou Kiln Exploration + Tai Chi Origins|Return Trip
- Morning:
✅ China Cizhou Kiln Museum (free! must-visit!)
- See millennium-old black-glazed white floral porcelain, hands-on pottery wheel/color painting (50 yuan/person)
✅ Yongnian Guangfu Ancient City (hometown of Tai Chi, 40-minute drive)
- Ticket: 60 yuan (optional)
- Cycle the ancient city wall, see the moat, visit Yang Luchan’s former residence
- If you come early, watch a thousand people practicing Tai Chi, magnificent!
- Noon:
✅ Lunch: "Ancient City Family Banquet" inside Guangfu City, eat donkey meat flatbread + crucian carp soup, about 50 yuan per person
- Afternoon:
✅ Return according to high-speed rail schedule
💰 Budget reference (per person)
- 🛏️ Accommodation: 2 nights (budget hotel)|about 500 yuan
- 🍜 Meals: 60 yuan/day × 3 days ≈ 180 yuan
- 🎫 Tickets:
Congtai 15 + Nuwa Palace 80 + Guangfu Ancient City 60 + Cizhou Kiln experience 50 ≈ 205 yuan
- 🚗 Transportation:
- Round-trip high-speed rail: 376 yuan (from Beijing)
- City bus + taxi: about 100 yuan
- Nuwa Palace/Guangfu charter or group tour: about 150 yuan
- 🛍️ Souvenirs + pocket money|about 100 yuan
✅ Total: about 800~1000 yuan/person
👉 Student budget version: stay in hostels + public transport + skip scenic area meals, can be controlled within 600 yuan
👉 Comfortable version: charter car + stay in ancient city guesthouse + more experiences, about 1300 yuan
✨ Blogger’s private tips:
- Handan is the "Idiom Capital," with over 150 idiom sculptures citywide, super fun to learn while walking!
- Want to try Hanfu? You can rent on Chuan Cheng Street (30 yuan/2 hours)
- Cizhou Kiln paintings can be taken home as meaningful souvenirs!
- Download the "Handan Tourism" WeChat official account to check free guided tour times
Handan,
is not a small city to just "pass by and ignore,"
it uses the war drums of the Zhao King, Nuwa’s sky-mending stone, and kiln-fired porcelain thousands of years old,
to tell you:
what it means to be a "living fossil of Chinese civilization."
Three days two nights, not too long, not too short,
just enough for you to:
hear a historical echo at Congtai,
make a sky-mending wish at Nuwa Palace,
paint your own bowl at Cizhou Kiln...
Then smile and say:
"Turns out, all the idioms we memorized as kids started here." 🏯📜🖌️
This holiday, don’t just visit trendy cities,
come to Handan and walk through the "childhood of Chinese culture"!