On or about my 11-12-2011 the arrival desk personnel attitude was somber, strained, unfriendly and unwelcoming. Miss Young, the manager, smiled only after great cajoling effort on my part and only when she finally perceived that a simple smile was reluctantly required.

She attempted to force the somewhat indolent desk employee (Later, often found lounging immovable on the nearby couch.) to speak English which he was visibly reluctant to do.

Eventually, I took a 4 bed dorm which was bright and more than acceptable although there was only cool warm shower water.

Upon my return to my dorm room an hour or so later I discovered a new roomie’s ash tray with used cigarette. I immediately complained to Miss Young who confirmed it was a smoking dorm room – the 1st I had encountered in 2 months of China travel.

Once she confirmed that the room was unacceptable to me as I was preparing to move hostels, she gave me a single, windowless room at the same price as the dorm bed. I stayed.

The single room adjacent to the hostel proper shared a small courtyard with another single room. The common bath and the small courtyard were also shared with the hostel staff. The shared toilet for these two rooms and the staff included a broken western style toilet flush mechanism with toilet seat lying on the floor. Hot water was only marginally warmer than the dorm room’s – barely justifying a shower at all.

The last night I returned to the room and discovered a continuous dripping stream of water from above soaking the side table, my iPod Touch and my bed. The prior upstairs’ occupant had apparently left the water on. Of course, it was not the staff’s fault and they enthusiastically & apologetically cleaned up the mess and replaced all my bedding which I appreciated.

Later that evening a nearby travel information office (not a for-profit travel agency) confirmed that they had had many complaints on that particular accommodation.

Finally, when I checked out the next morning they refused to return my deposit – I felt angered and cheated, but it is possible that was the result of the confusion, poor management and training as well as the Eng - Chinese language barrier.

On balance, my worst accomodation experience in China and a considerable slight on the otherwise very positive impression I have of the other China IYHs I have stayed in.