Fenghuang Ancient Town, formerly known as Zhen'gan City, is located in the southwest of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province. Covering an area of approximately 10 square kilometers, it is composed of 28 ethnic groups including Miao, Han, and Tujia, and is a typical ethnic minority settlement area.
The town is situated in the southern part of the Wuling Mountains and on the eastern side of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It is named after the green mountain it backs onto, which resembles a phoenix spreading its wings to fly. Fenghuang Ancient Town was built in the 43rd year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1704), and the East Gate and North Gate ancient city towers still remain. Within the town, there are bluestone-paved streets, wooden stilted houses along the river, as well as Chaoyang Palace, the Ancient Town Museum, Yang Family Ancestral Hall, Shen Congwen's Former Residence, Xiong Xiling's Former Residence, Tianwang Temple, Dacheng Hall, Wanshou Palace, and other buildings, all of which reflect the characteristics of the ancient town. The ancient town currently has 68 cultural relic buildings, 116 ancient sites, over 120 distinctive residential houses from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and more than 30 temples, shrines, and pavilions. It has the most extant cultural relic buildings among all counties in southwestern China.
At the end of 2004, the ancient town was selected as one of the Top Ten Cultural Heritage Sites in Hunan. On May 25, 2006, Shen Congwen's Former Residence within the ancient town was announced by the State Council as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (Sixth Batch). On November 17, 2012, the ancient town, as part of the Fenghuang Regional Defense System, was included in the Tentative List of China's World Cultural Heritage. On February 6, 2024, the ancient town, together with the Nanhuashan Shenfeng Cultural Scenic Area under the name of Fenghuang Ancient Town Tourist Area, was selected as a National AAAAA-level Tourist Attraction (41st Batch).