I recently visited Huanglong Dong (stop snickering), a winding cave system in the forested mountains near Zhangjiajie in northern Hunan province. The path leading to the cave’s entrance is lined with what seemed to be an homage to the region’s agricultural heritage, with a garden, small swatches of rice fields, watercress, an idle water buffalo, a few farmers with heavy yokes, and an intricate set of waterwheels.
Shanghai spicy-food restaurant Di Shui Dong specializes in flavor-heavy Hunan food. The joint also doubles as an expat attraction, perhaps in part because the menu is a voluminous photo album full of peppers, cilantro, and chili oil (and therefore easy to order from), but also because it gets some good press in Shanghai’s foreigner lifestyle magazines. None of which really matters so long as the food is tasty.
