Enshi is the part of Hubei that feels like a different country. Western Hubei belongs geographically and culturally to the mountain world of the Wuling range, and the city of Enshi — prefectural capital for a region where 45 ethnic groups live, with Tujia and Miao making up roughly 40 percent of the population — is the gateway to some of the most dramatic karst scenery in central China.
The Enshi Grand Canyon (Enshi Daxiagu) is the main reason to come. A 108-kilometre system of gorges and karst formations running through the mountains, it opens up into a landscape of needle-peaked towers, sheer limestone walls, and clear green rivers. The Qixingzhai section at the northern end has the most dramatic peak forest scenery, with stone towers rising like organ pipes from the valley floor. The Yunlong River section offers a combination of canyon walking and river drifting. Allow two days to do both sections justice.
Tusi City (Tusi Cheng), on the eastern edge of town, is the remains of a fortified palace complex built by the Tujia tribal chieftains who ruled this corner of the mountains for five hundred years. The site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage property in 2015, jointly with similar tusi sites in Hunan and Guizhou. It is a rare surviving record of China's system of indirect rule over minority peoples during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The city itself is pleasant and unassuming. The old streets around the traditional quarter have Tujia wooden-framed buildings with overhanging eaves, and the covered bridge at Xuanen is worth a trip. The local specialty is Enshi Yulu tea, grown at high altitude and made by a steaming process borrowed from Japanese green tea production — it is excellent and not well known outside the region. South of the city, the Sidu River Bridge — one of the world's highest bridges, its cables installed using rockets — is an engineering spectacle worth a detour.
Enshi connects to Wuhan and Yichang by high-speed rail in two hours. Direct trains also run to Chengdu and Chongqing.