Steve and I have made the effort to see China while we’vd had the opportunity to live here, and it has paid off big time! Our explorations have shown us that China is very big, fairly well-populated ;), quite contradictory, and extraordinarily beautiful. This month we journeyed to the mountains of Hunan to spend four days in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. Zhangjiajie (pronounced jahng-jeeah-jeeay) is most well known as the place that inspired the floating mountains in the movie Avatar, but, as you’ll soon find out, it’s so much MORE than that!
We arrived at the airport to be greeted by our guide Lynne. Now, as we are generally the backpacking sorts of travelers, we normally don’t hire tour guides…and this time was no exception! We did however, use Lynne to book our transportation, which turned out to be the best decision ever! Little did we know how much she would impact our ZJJ experience for the best! Apparently our transportation had fallen through, so Lynne had hired her sister to drive us around for the weekend! And even though we didn’t hire her as a tour guide, Lynne made it her personal mission to make sure that we did all the best things in the best timing possible, which allowed us to see everything while avoiding the crazy crowds that inevitably flood every corner of everywhere during a national holiday in China.
We arrived at the airport to be greeted by our guide Lynne. Now, as we are generally the backpacking sorts of travelers, we normally don’t hire tour guides…and this time was no exception! We did however, use Lynne to book our transportation, which turned out to be the best decision ever! Little did we know how much she would impact our ZJJ experience for the best! Apparently our transportation had fallen through, so Lynne had hired her sister to drive us around for the weekend! And even though we didn’t hire her as a tour guide, Lynne made it her personal mission to make sure that we did all the best things in the best timing possible, which allowed us to see everything while avoiding the crazy crowds that inevitably flood every corner of everywhere during a national holiday in China.
Our first day in the park started epically. We woke up early, hopped on a gondola, and glided up between the enormous fingers-pointing-towards-the-sky peaks to reach the ridge where our trails were to begin. The ride itself was breathtaking, and we couldn’t stop taking pictures through the glass of the giant peaks rising up around us as the rice terraces faded away into the distance.
Once at the top, our adventure really began! We climbed up, down, in and around the edge of our first peak, and we loved every second!
For the rest of the day, we stayed up on the 650 ft high peaks, “oohing” and “aahing” at the amazing sandstone and quartz formations around and below us. We panorama-ed a garden of peaks, appreciated the officially re-named “Hallelujah Avatar Mountain,” walked over a natural bridge connecting two peaks, braved a manmade suspension bridge, and finally, took the world’s highest glass elevator (1070 ft ) down to a canyon where we could fully take in the magnitude of it all.
The next morning started off with one of my favorite parts of the trip! The “George!” Actually, it was a gorge, but Lynne kept pronouncing it like the name of Jerry Seinfeld’s best friend. Nevertheless, it was the most gorgeous george we had ever seen! We started at the top, and then descended flight after flight of stairs down through the gorge. Midway down, we tied an apron around our backsides, strapped on some gloves to use as brakes, and plopped down in a metal tube to slide the rest of the way! Haha, only in China.
Then we proceeded to discover a dreamlike land of waterfalls, caves, and unexpectedly vibrant colors. Our path led us by a stream through a narrow canyon, where each turn brought some amazing new wonder. It was magical!
After a traditional boat ride, the rest of the day consisted of basically the opposite of the first day. Instead of viewing the forests of peaks from above, this time we “oohed” and “aahed” from the ground perspective. We took in the Ten Mile Gallery, which sounds like an art show…and it is! Not art that any human has created though ;) It’s basically a one-way stretch of amazing scenery. We decided to see it “Mama and Papa” style and took the train up :) (My grandparents love trains!)
Our second day concluded by following the path along the Golden Whip Stream. While we took lots of pictures of monkeys, other tourists took lots of pictures with us! (Hmmmm what does that say about us?!) Later that night Lynne’s sister even urged her daughter to take a photo with us (at McDonald’s of all places, haha), so proud that it was her first photo with westerners! We just took it all as a compliment, because what else can you do? Anyway. the views were all amazing, and we were so refreshed to be able to be surrounded by nature again.
Our third day was our cultural day…and it all started with rafting! We knew it wasn’t going to be quite what we were used to, but, we’re living in China and we love rafting, so we just had to see what it was all about! Well we definitely weren’t ready for what it was! White lace dresses, high heels, cigarettes, iPhones, plastic ponchos, a motor…..these are all things that we didn’t expect to see on the boat, but on the boat they definitely were! Hilarious. There were a few good rapids, an amazing waterfall, and dozens of egrets flying around the canyon, but mostly our enjoyment came from the absurdity of the experience!
That evening, Lynne’s sister invited us over for dinner. We were so honored, and, even though we’ve lived in Shanghai for almost three years now, we haven’t actually had that many cultural experiences. Welp, the food was yummy! Not as spicy as we would have liked, (since she thoughtfully left it out, thinking we wouldn’t have been able to handle it) but still delicious! Lynne told us that in Hunan they actually eat the rice before or during the meal, whereas everywhere else in China eats it afterwards, to “fill in all the cracks.” We like the Hunan way :)
That evening, Lynne’s sister invited us over for dinner. We were so honored, and, even though we’ve lived in Shanghai for almost three years now, we haven’t actually had that many cultural experiences. Welp, the food was yummy! Not as spicy as we would have liked, (since she thoughtfully left it out, thinking we wouldn’t have been able to handle it) but still delicious! Lynne told us that in Hunan they actually eat the rice before or during the meal, whereas everywhere else in China eats it afterwards, to “fill in all the cracks.” We like the Hunan way :)
Day four was up on 4,980 ft-high Tianmen Mountain! Apparently this mountain is famous for the windsuit competitions it hosts, where people jump off the peaks in squirrel suits to fly down, insanely close to the cliffs! Not a smart hobby if you want to stay alive, which we agreed on when Lynne told us about someone who died doing it last year. While we didn’t strap any squirrel suits on, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a terrifying experience! The bus ride up was actually the worst part for me, on the “Heaven-Linking Avenue.” As Steve said, “It might be the link to Heaven, if you fall off!” The narrow road rises from 200m to 1300 m in less than 11km, and consists of 99 terrifying turns to get there! From the top, the twists make an amazing scene, but from the bus window, the ever-increasing drops down the cliff beside me were a little less inspirational, and a lot more petrifying.
Once we reached the top alive, we climbed the 999 steps up to the cave, which is basically a huge 100m hole cut out of the mountain. Apparently stunt planes and squirrelmen fly through there, which would be cool to see!
We ventured out onto our first railing on the side of a cliff wall and did the mandatory “oohing” and “ahhing” before proceeding to take the longest escalator ride we’ve ever been on. Oh, actually, that’s a lie. The escalators in Hong Kong are longer. Nevertheless, we took 7 sets of long escalators up to get to the top of Tianmen Mountain! Then the real fun/terror began!
The best part of exploring the loop at the top was walking on the platforms that jutted out from the cliffside. It felt really safe until I thought about the fact that the only thing separating us from the ground hundreds of feet below was a slab of concrete. Creepy! Fortunately, the views were definitely worth it! We were literally standing above the clouds and looking down on mountain peaks!
The craziest and coolest part was the glass walkway! The floor was completely made of glass, and we could see allllllll the way down….all the way that we could see, that is, since we were too far up to see the ground. Steve was unaffected by the craziness of it all, but I guess I inherited some of my parent’s fear of heights in this regard (or maybe it’s more like “wisdom of heights!”), so I was definitely appreciative of how far we were from the ground below ;) At least I wasn’t like some of the tourists, who were literally hugging the rock wall behind to try to avoid stepping on the glass, haha. Too funny!
After an amazing day, we took the gondola down through the clouds and ate at a delicious Korean BBQ place before saying goodbye to Lynne and family, and hopping on a plane back to Shanghai.
Zhangjiajie is an incredible place like no other, and we are so blessed to have been able to go! If you are interested in going there someday, be sure to ask us for Lynne’s contact info. We couldn’t have done it without her!
Zhangjiajie is an incredible place like no other, and we are so blessed to have been able to go! If you are interested in going there someday, be sure to ask us for Lynne’s contact info. We couldn’t have done it without her!