DIY Zhangjiajie Travelogue—A Beauty Ventures Alone into Zhangjiajie
This year I went to Changsha, Hunan on business and took the weekend to visit Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. I'd read a travelogue online beforehand, and that useful info made my whole trip go smoothly. I'm writing up my own trip here in hopes it helps others going to Zhangjiajie. Overall the trip was great—a girl alone...
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.
This year I went to Changsha, Hunan on business, and took the opportunity to visit Zhangjiajie National Forest Park over the weekend. I had previously read a travelogue online, and all this useful information made my whole trip very smooth. Here I'll also write an article about this trip, hoping it will help friends who go to Zhangjiajie in the future. Overall, I felt quite good about this trip. Going out as a girl alone, it was still fairly exciting.
I took the 3 p.m. bus to Zhangjiajie on June 2 (Friday), arriving around 7 p.m. The first night I stayed at the Noble Hotel on Huilong Road in the city, booked through Ctrip for 210 yuan. Friends in the future can try first checking a satisfactory hotel through Ctrip, then asking a guide for a price (it may be a little cheaper)—a method more advantageous to yourself.
I met Guide Luo in the hotel lobby at 8:00 a.m. on June 3 (Saturday). Everything was arranged by her. She accompanied me to eat local breakfast, then we walked 5 minutes to the bus station and took a minibus to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (10 yuan fare). The bus drove for about an hour and reached the park entrance. We bought tickets (248 yuan), quite an exquisite IC ticket; inside you still had to press your fingerprint.
After entering, we walked along a tree-lined path for a while and reached an open square. To the left was Huangshizhai, in the middle was Golden Whip Stream, and to the right was the newly developed Yaozi Village. We went directly to Golden Whip Stream. There were many scenic spots along the way, generally with written explanations, but there were too many peaks, and I still often couldn't find them. Sometimes I also wanted to deliberately "make things difficult" for her, constantly troubling the guide to point them out clearly to me, and she would explain very carefully, which moved me. In the middle of Golden Whip Stream there is a mountain path you can climb for over an hour, going up directly to Back Garden, but I estimated there wasn't enough time, and I also wanted to focus my energy on Yangjiajie in the afternoon, so we continued walking the full 15-li Golden Whip Stream.
Along the way, besides seeing many monkeys, we saw countless Koreans. I heard Zhangjiajie and Seoul are friendly tourism cities, and 15% of Koreans have already been to Zhangjiajie. The guide also told me how to judge whether a Korean woman is married and has children: if she has short curly hair, then she is.
Walking 15 kilometers was still very tiring. When we came out, I ate a very delicious spicy tofu. Then we went to Shuiraosimen to take the eco-friendly bus to Bailong Elevator. For 56 yuan, it took just over a minute to go up to Yuanjiajie, and then another bus took us to the No. 1 Bridge under Heaven station. There were restaurants and family inns there, and it was fairly lively.
Because we decided to stay near the No. 1 Bridge under Heaven at night, in the afternoon we first took a bus to Yangjiajie to avoid having no bus back too late. We went to see the famous Tianbo Mansion. It was a former bandit stronghold; entering required passing several checkpoints, very distinctive. Too few visitors came, and walking in the woods was eerily gloomy. At this point the guide wanted to tease me again, always telling scary stories, making me stay close to him every step. At the end was a small hilltop; we climbed up the iron ladder using both hands and feet, but the view was truly infinitely good. I could see my favorite "ancient city wall" of this trip, with a desolate, timeless charm. After climbing down, I drank a bowl of sweet fermented rice at the village entrance, and the mountain breeze felt so comfortable. Returning by the same route, near the station I bought myself a locally hand-woven apron. Although I don't cook often, occasionally I still have to play the virtuous wife:)
Then we took a car back to the Tianxia Diyi Qiao (No.1 Bridge under Heaven) station to see the No.1 Bridge under Heaven, Mihun Tai (Bewildering Terrace), and Houhuayuan (Back Garden). There were a lot of people near the No.1 Bridge under Heaven. Actually, standing on it, you can't feel how scary this natural stone bridge spanning a deep valley is, but walking to the side and looking at it, you still marvel at the power of nature. Next to Mihun Tai is Shouhun Tai (Soul-Retrieving Terrace), said to be for those who are so bewildered that they need to come back and collect themselves. Because the sunlight was very good that day, we couldn't see the sea of clouds at all, but the staff at Mihun Tai said that on the previous rainy day there was a beautiful sea of clouds. Oh, we missed it. The location of Houhuayuan is said to face Huangshizhai, so from there what you see is Qianhuayuan (Front Garden). Along the way there were some other small scenic spots. I remember that next to a spot called 'Five Women Going to Battle' there was actually a stall run by a Korean mother and daughter.
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The next day (Sunday, June 4), we went for breakfast at 8 a.m. and took a bus around 8:30 to Shentang Bay. There was no sun that day, and because it was early, the sky was very misty and there was a strong wind. It was so cool. Only my guide and I got off the bus. We followed the stone steps down by the roadside, and at the end was the place where King Xiang jumped off the cliff. Surrounded by mountains, one can imagine how tragic and solemn the scene was at that time. The explanation at the entrance to Shentang Bay says it is a mysterious canyon. Guide Li also said no one has ever gone down there. In the Ming Dynasty, someone went down and died not long after returning. I also heard that on thunderstorm days there are sounds of warhorses neighing. Some say the magnetic field here is very special, and others say it is caused by the special shape of the valley. What he said made me both scared and curious. In short, it made me very interested in these mysterious things. We turned back to the place where we had gotten off the bus and walked forward for 3 to 5 minutes, then there were stone steps down to Dianjiang Tai (Reviewing Stand). The scenery was similar to Shentang Bay, but the view was more open, though all very steep and dangerous. Reviewing troops there really had the flavor of 'The wind sighs and the Yi River is cold; once the brave man departs, he will not return.'
I heard that there used to be hotels around Shentang Bay, but later they were all demolished due to planning. However, because the location is remote and inconvenient, there are very few tourists. Along the way we also saw many abandoned vendor stalls. Returning a pure natural environment to travelers is certainly good, but these desolate remnants should not be left behind. That day, because the weather was gloomy, watching several old black wooden houses in the misty mountains in the breeze really had the feel of filming Liaozhai. After that we took a bus again and went to Helong Park, saw the scenic spots of Xihai, and climbed up Tianzi Pavilion to look around in all directions. Below Tianzi Pavilion there are many places selling souvenirs, mostly similar to ordinary tourist attractions, but some things are still very special. There was a wood carving called 'Three No Monkeys,' carved as three monkeys respectively covering their eyes, mouth, and ears, representing 'see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil.' It speaks of a certain realm of conduct in life. There was also a local specialty stone called 'turtle-pattern stone.' The stone naturally has many patterns like turtle shells. A famous local scenic spot, 'Stone Turtle Emerging from the Sea,' is said to be made of this kind of stone too, and the scenic area's explanation boards are also carved from this stone. The little turtles carved from this stone are really lifelike.
Afterward we went to take the Tianzi Mountain cableway, 52 yuan downhill. In about 10 minutes we reached the foot of the mountain. Along the way you can see countless strange peaks of Wulingyuan. The guide said that if you take the cableway up to Tianmen Mountain, which has a famous cave, in the urban area, the one-way ride alone takes 45 minutes.
Because we saved the time of climbing up and down five times, we finally reached the foot of the mountain at noon. Then we had lunch at a restaurant in Shili Gallery. It was still the previous standard, but we could eat wild vegetables, which were really delicious. The guide secretly took a few photos of me looking like a starving wolf (and then showed them to me). I did not look ladylike at all. But I really was too hungry. After the meal, we went to Shili Gallery. I took the small train in (23 yuan one way), listened to the commentary, and then walked out, so I could take photos beside the scenic spots I liked. Shili Gallery is very similar to Jinbian Stream; both involve looking at scenery from below upward. Unfortunately, there is no stream water anymore, but the good thing is that the view is more open.
After coming out, we directly took the eco-friendly bus to the Wulingyuan ticket station and left the park. Along the way we saw a very beautiful reservoir. After looking at mountains for two days, suddenly seeing such a large expanse of water was really exciting.
Then we walked for another ten minutes and reached an intersection in Wulingyuan Town, where we caught an express bus back to Zhangjiajie City. This kind of express bus is faster. For the same price, it got back in just over 30 minutes. The only thing is that the vehicle was very small, so it was not as comfortable to sit in as the minibus we took when coming.