A Chongqing Girl's Zhangjiajie Travelogue and Guide
After a full day on the train, we finally arrived in Zhangjiajie. Our guide, Xiao Li, a Tujia girl, came to meet us—much younger than us. The ultraviolet rays had given her a very healthy look! We bought tickets and left each person's fingerprint (so if you commit a crime, you can't escape), then entered the forest park. A small stream welcomed us, its water clear and transparent...
This article is compiled from the original travel notes on the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com); it is a record of trips from earlier years. Time-sensitive information such as ticket prices, schedules, and accommodation prices is subject to the latest announcements from scenic areas and transportation authorities; the itinerary ideas and attraction introductions still have reference value.
After taking the train for a whole day, we finally arrived in Zhangjiajie. The guide who came to pick us up was Xiao Li, a Tujia girl! Much younger than us. The ultraviolet rays had given her a very healthy look!
After buying tickets and leaving each person's fingerprint (if you commit a crime, you won't be able to run away), we entered the forest park. A small stream welcomed us head-on. The stream water was clear and transparent, with small fish playing among the water plants, and a gentle breeze brushing past our temples, making us feel refreshed! This is 'Golden Whip Stream.' Legend says it was formed from the whip thrown down by the Tujia hero 'King Xiang.' We scooped up a handful of stream water with our hands, washed our faces, washed our hands—ah! The coolness immediately spread through our bodies. In that moment, I was intoxicated by the green mountains and waters! Along Golden Whip Stream, we viewed 'Welcome Rock,' 'Golden Whip Rock,' 'Divine Eagle Guarding the Whip,' 'Cleaving the Mountain to Save the Mother,' 'Sea-Calming Needle,' and 'Two Turtles Exploring the Stream.' At 'Two Turtles Exploring the Stream,' we met a Tujia girl in full dress and were stunned by her beauty! But later we found out she was a shill selling silverware, which was a big turn-off. By the roadside at 'Purple Grass Pool,' the descendants of the Monkey King reached out to us. The male monkeys disdained begging and hung high in the trees, while the female monkeys squatted by the roadside holding their young and staring warily. Unfortunately, we only had instant noodles. Sorry, monkey brothers and sisters. At 'Meeting After a Thousand Miles,' we began climbing.
This stretch of mountain road is called 'Rushing About Slope.' Zhangjiajie is really grand—it calls a mountain with more than two thousand steps a slope. Fortunately, Chongqing also has many mountains, so what are these steps? Let's climb. A sister traveling with us was a bit 'peng' (Hunan dialect, meaning 'fat'), so she gave her bag to a porter for ten yuan. That porter uncle (over seventy) did not speak standard Mandarin, and 'ten' sounded like 'four,' which made the 'peng' sister happy for nothing. Along the way, the uncle kept saying I should let him carry my bag. I told him I was a 'power walker' and did not need it, and that I should save a few coins if I could. He told me that because of the earthquake this year, there were very few tourists, and today was his first job, so he could only earn a little drinking money. But people in Zhangjiajie get 400 yuan from birth, so they have money for food. Occasionally working as a guide, porter, or sedan-chair bearer earns a little cigarette and drinking money, so life is still not bad. Finally, after climbing more than two thousand steps, sweating all over and exhausted, we entered Zhangjiajie's back garden—Yuanjiajie.
Yuanjiajie is known as the finest part of Zhangjiajie. The first place we saw was the 'Back Garden.' There are no flowers in the garden, only strange mountains and bizarre rocks, deep valleys, and clustered peaks. There, you can fully use your imagination, seeing each strange peak and rock as a tower, pavilion, terrace, or waterside kiosk, or as birds, fish, and insects. Hey, over there it looks like a monkey squatting by the cliff; here there is a sea turtle swimming; there a general holding a halberd guards the back garden. Past the 'Back Garden' is Soul-Enchanting Terrace. Because the mountains there are so varied and magnificent, often wrapped in clouds and mist like a heavenly palace floating in the clouds, it is called 'Soul-Enchanting Terrace.' It is said that many people who saw the scenery there left their souls behind. A male friend traveling with us spoke incoherently for the next few days, and we joked that he had lost his soul there, calling several times for his soul to come back. Not far ahead, a stone bridge flew between two peaks. The introduction said the bridge is 2 meters wide and has a span of 50 meters. This is the 'Number One Bridge Under Heaven.' Seen from the side, the bridge is very spectacular, but once you walk onto it, the feeling disappears, probably because railings were added on both sides. On the opposite peak there is a large plaque inscribed 'Tianqiao Suoji,' and the railings on both sides are covered with brass locks, symbolizing locking in happiness. We walked around the peak once, saying this would bring good luck. I hope so. While circling the mountain, we found countless small wooden sticks under many rocks. We did not understand, but after guessing for a while we decided: this can bring good luck. So we copied it and propped small wooden sticks under the rocks too. 'A group of peacocks!' Xiao Li led us to a cliff and pointed to the opposite peaks, saying it was 'Five Women Going to War.' Among our group happened to be five women, so we absolutely had to take a photo here. Posing, we were also 'Five Women Going to War' in Zhangjiajie. Just after taking the photo, we heard speech beside us that we could not understand—'bird language'! Turning around, it was a group of Koreans. After asking Xiao Li, we learned that Zhangjiajie and Seoul, South Korea, are sister cities, and Zhangjiajie is very famous in South Korea. On the rest of the journey, we kept meeting elderly Korean men and women, no young people. We guessed that young Korean men are busy making money, and young women are oppressed at home by their mothers-in-law doing housework. Wu—how pitiful! After 5 p.m., we ended the first day's journey and arrived at our lodging place, 'Mountain Family.'
I woke from a dream after 6 in the morning. Outside it was already bright. Breathing the fresh air, I could not help forgetting yesterday's fatigue and soreness. After 8, we set off again. Today's itinerary was 'Grand View Terrace' and 'Yangjiajie.' Grand View Terrace is a place to watch the sunrise and sea of clouds. Unfortunately, we wasted a perfectly good sun. By the time we reached Grand View Terrace, the sun was already high, and the sea of clouds can only be seen in the afternoon. What a pity! Following the stone steps down, we came to a place called 'Immortal Bridge.' This place has a similar charm to the 'Number One Bridge Under Heaven.' The bridge is only 2 meters thick and 1 meter wide, with no railings, and now people are not allowed on it. Further down we reached 'Emperor's Seat,' said to be the throne of King Xiang. Looking up at Tianzi Peak from here, the peak was wrapped in clouds and mist, and we never got a glimpse of King Xiang's true face. The next stop was 'One Step Difficult to Walk.' Along the way, we not only found daylilies but also spring bud trees. Aha, we could add dishes at noon, and they were natural and pollution-free!
Yangjiajie is said to be the place where the Yang family generals of the Northern Song Dynasty set up camp while suppressing King Xiang. Because they could not take it for a long time, the Yang family multiplied here and turned it into Yangjiajie. Yangjiajie has crisscrossing ravines, ever-clear streams, and dense vegetation. If Yuanjiajie is the finest part of Zhangjiajie, then Yangjiajie is the ultimate. Walking on a path where sunlight could not be seen, without a backpack, without sweat, it was truly relaxed and pleasant. No matter how long the road, it felt like nothing much. Beside the path stood a sign: 'Walk without looking at the scenery; look at the scenery without walking.' I even muttered: aren't scenery meant to be seen while walking? After climbing one mountain, we began descending again. The path suddenly became steep, and we had to hold the railings beside us to go down, turning halfway up the mountain toward another mountain. I stuck my head out over the railing—oh, below was a bottomless cliff. Xiao Shi told us this was the 'Sky Corridor.' Now I understood the meaning of that sentence. After turning a corner, the view suddenly opened. A small platform hung in the air on three sides, taking in all the scenery before us. Looking out, strange peaks rose abruptly like stalagmites in a karst cave, with uneven green covering the pale rocks. At this moment the sun hid behind the clouds, and the sky above us darkened. Mountain rain came as soon as it was mentioned. Mist rose from the foot of the mountain, curling around, and dark clouds surged in the sky with menacing momentum. How could one word 'beautiful' be enough? The rock overhead became our harbor from the wind and rain. I walked into the wind and rain and shouted, 'When I reach the summit, I see all other mountains small.' The mountain wind blew, and I shivered, shrank my head, and added, 'It is too cold at the top.' It made our friends roar with laughter, but the feeling at that moment was really good: broad vision, broad heart! We stayed there a long time, unwilling to leave. Do you know what that place is called? 'One Step to Heaven.' Having reached heaven, who would still want to leave? But we had to go. Better scenery was waiting for us. Let's go—next stop, 'Wulong Village'!
What does 'Wulong Village' make you think of? That's right—bandits! 'Wulong Village' was originally a bandit den. Entering Wulong Village, the path became narrow. What a bandit stronghold—truly one man guarding the pass and ten thousand unable to open it. No wonder the history of Xiangxi is a history of bandit suppression. The scenery here is truly one of Zhangjiajie's best. It is said that this was the place where descendants of the Yang family generals of the Song Dynasty lived in seclusion. Here is Zhangjiajie's most famous scenic spot, Tianbo Mansion. After seeing it, we returned to Mountain Family.
On the third day we got up early, ready to watch the sunrise, but the weather would not cooperate. What a pity. We first came to Shentang Bay. Xiao Li told us this was where their Tujia hero King Xiang jumped off the cliff and killed himself after his defeat. On the rock where King Xiang jumped, his footprints and the hoofprints of his warhorse were still left. This is a very beautiful viewing platform. The opposite peaks rose and fell in waves—what a fairyland on earth. Such scenery should only exist in heaven, yet it was scattered in Zhangjiajie. When Pangu created the world, he must have favored Zhangjiajie too much. No wonder friends who had been to Zhangjiajie before told me that Zhangjiajie is an enlarged bonsai and a reduced fairyland. These words are absolutely true. Next, Xiao Li took us to a place called 'Pointing General Terrace.' Xiao Li said that below were the 48 great generals under King Xiang, who gathered here after King Xiang jumped off the cliff and turned into stone peaks. We saw some shouting at the sky, some bowing their heads in thought, and some silently weeping. Their unwillingness to accept defeat was fully revealed.
Next we came to Helong Park. When we saw that Marshal Helong's bronze statue was not facing us but had its head turned to the side, we did not understand why and asked Xiao Li. Xiao Li told us that Helong Park used to be under the jurisdiction of Sangzhi County, Marshal Helong's hometown, and later, for easier management, it was assigned to Wulingyuan District. After the Long March, Marshal Helong never returned to his hometown, so Marshal Helong's head is turned toward his hometown, Hongjiaguan.
Next, Xiao Li said we should go see the rivers and mountains and the beauties. Only after arriving did we learn that these were two scenic spots, 'Fairy Scattering Flowers' and 'Imperial Brush Peak.' But we wanted both the rivers and mountains and the beauties.
In the afternoon we exited the park from the Wulingyuan ticket station and returned to Zhangjiajie city to take the train back.
My thoughts on this trip:
1. Overall, I think Zhangjiajie is a very beautiful scenic area. It seems that all the mountains in Zhangjiajie are rock, but vigorous trees grow on the rocks.
2. Scenic spots that must be visited: in Yangjiajie Scenic Area—One Step to Heaven, Olympic Torch, Tianbo Mansion. In Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area—Immortal Bridge, One Step Difficult to Walk, Sky Garden, Divine Soldiers Gathering, Shentang Bay, West Sea Grand Bonsai (here we also discovered a scenic spot—American Soldier; I hope the Zhangjiajie Tourism Bureau will put up a sign). In Yuanjiajie Scenic Area—Number One Bridge Under Heaven.
3. What is not worth seeing is Huangshizhai and Ten-Mile Gallery.
4. The core of Zhangjiajie's core scenic area is Yuanjiajie and Yangjiajie Scenic Areas.
5. It is suggested that Zhangjiajie travel choose independent travel. Many beautiful scenic spots are not visited by tour groups, such as One Step to Heaven, Olympic Torch, Tianbo Mansion, One Step Difficult to Walk, Sky Garden, Divine Soldiers Gathering, Shentang Bay, and so on.