By Train from Guangzhou to Beautiful Zhangjiajie — A Mysterious Journey to Western Hunan
By Train from Guangzhou to Beautiful Zhangjiajie — A Mysterious Journey to Western Hunan. Always ones to take the road less traveled, we chose self-guided travel. With limited time, we wanted to see the most essential parts of Zhangjiajie, so we DIY'd a route: Zhangjiajie→Yuanjiajie→Yangjiajie. The guide who received us arranged the schedule perfectly. Worth mentioning...
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.
From Guangzhou by Train to Beautiful Zhangjiajie: A Mysterious Journey to Xiangxi
Always preferring not to follow the usual path, we chose independent travel, because with limited time we wanted to see the most essential places in Zhangjiajie, so we DIYed an itinerary of Zhangjiajie → Yuanjiajie → Yangjiajie, and the guide who received us arranged the time in perfect order. It is worth mentioning that the guide was a very professional guide and gave us a lot of valuable opinions and suggestions. Regarding travel routes, special scenic spots, local customs, and so on, this young woman was an expert!
We set off by train from Guangzhou and arrived in Zhangjiajie at 6:30 in the morning. The guide was already waiting at the station. After breakfast in the city, we followed the guide and drove to Zhangjiajie Forest Park. As we were winding around the mountainside, a fine drizzle began to fall from the sky. The raindrops gently fell on the car window, giving the misty, rain-veiled mountains a trace of blurred charm. More and more strongly, we felt that we were placed in a sea of fog. After reaching the summit, the weather suddenly turned from cloudy to clear, fully showing the fickleness of Zhangjiajie's weather. The sparse clouds and smoke within reach before our eyes seemed as if a descended fairy might appear at any moment in the hazy immortal mist. That mood made it impossible to tell whether we were in the mortal world or in the Yaochi paradise.
Walking into Golden Whip Stream, it can truly be said that boundless beautiful scenery is fully taken in at a glance. The long mountain stream, clear as teardrops, flows gracefully through lush greenery. The murmuring sound of flowing water by our ears is like a colorful-sleeved maiden whispering beside us, soft and pleasant. A fragrance arrives inexplicably, penetrating the lungs strand by strand; we do not know where the azaleas are softly greeting us tourists. We walked upstream along the stream, and all kinds of fantastic peaks and strange rocks came one after another. Curtain Cave Waterfall, pearls falling onto a jade plate, clinking with sound, is like a naturally grown landscape painting. As the scroll slowly opens, scene after wonderful scene appears before our eyes. Natural scenic spots such as Guanyin Delivering a Child, Divine Eagle Guarding the Whip, Cleaving the Mountain to Save the Mother, Master and Disciples Obtaining Scriptures, Zicao Pool, Wenxing Rock, and Meeting After a Thousand Miles are too numerous to count, so vividly lifelike that people clap in amazement! The lifelike Chenxiang Cleaving the Mountain to Save His Mother shows a huge rock split open abruptly, earth-shaking. Meeting After a Thousand Miles displays a long-separated couple who have traveled a thousand miles on clouds, whispering intimately and telling each other their hearts, making others envious! Just as Guide Shi said, Zhangjiajie is a place that inspires endless imagination. If you truly like it here, you can, like a poet, give each stone peak a name you especially love. After a short rest, in the afternoon we came to Yuanjiajie, another scenic spot where Zhangjiajie's natural essence gathers after the National Forest Park. When going up to Yuanjiajie, one cannot fail to mention the Bailong Elevator, which holds three Guinness records. The giant dragon rises along the sheer cliff, magnificent in momentum, forcing people to submit at its feet. Yet it does not coldly keep people a thousand miles away; its iron arms gently lift you up, instantly straight into the sky. This is exactly "Clouds steam and mist surges like a sea of smoke, treading clouds straight up into immortal realms"! It is said that climbing this mountain road used to take more than four hours, but now in just a few short minutes we reached the top instantly, a silver dragon flying across, turning a natural moat into a thoroughfare!
In Yuanjiajie there is the frost-like, mist-like Flying Rainbow Waterfall, flowing endlessly all year round, graceful and elegant; there are also stream and mountain springs like ribbons and satin flowing joyfully. Look at the ancient vines and spreading leaves on the cliffs that have absorbed the spiritual energy of all things for thousands of years, entwining and winding around. Some climb straight up along protruding rocks, as if rushing into the clouds and reaching the sky, while others coil around the green mountain cliffs and spread along the bottom of the precipices, growing dense branches and leaves. The covered walkway built along the cliff is even more winding and rugged. Number One Bridge Under Heaven on the sheer cliff peak is formed by two mountains linked by a stone corridor, naturally forming a bridge arch, wonderfully made as if by divine craftsmanship. One realizes that human wisdom all comes from these endless natural things. From the Soul-Enchanting Terrace, looking across the wilds, floating clouds rise, and the scenery is extraordinarily superb. Faintly visible, the ridges of the mountains resemble whale backs slightly floating in a sea of fog, and Penglai fairy islands seem transformed within it, such a vast misty fairyland of rising vapor! It makes the heart pound and at the same time suddenly makes one understand why this place is named "Soul-Enchanting Terrace."
At night, the guide arranged for us to stay at the Shi Brothers Inn inside the scenic area. It was clean and comfortable. We city people, who seldom do physical labor and usually take elevators up and down and ride cars when going out, were truly exhausted after a day of mountain roads. A hot shower washed away most of the fatigue, and the owner warmly let us soak our feet to relieve the pressure on our ankles, so that we would have enough strength to continue the journey ahead.
The next day we went up to Yangjiajie. Tianbo Mansion is naturally a place very worth seeing here. Mountain rocks and wall-like cliffs stand layer upon layer, clouds and mist stretch far and wide, partly hidden and partly visible, now hazy, now clear. It was exactly then that we seemed to hear the sound of horse hooves by our ears, sometimes far, sometimes near, as if coming from the horizon, yet also as if close at hand. Before our eyes dust filled the sky and smoke billowed; in an instant, golden spears and iron horses, sword flashes and blade shadows appeared vividly before us. The heroic Yang family generals were fighting to the death in defense of the country. Those shouts, those heroic cries, stirred the surging, heroic feelings of how many iron-boned soldiers who died on the battlefield!
Yangjiajie has towering mountain strongholds and forests of stone peaks. Besides the essential part that is Tianbo Mansion, there are also many enchanting stone forest peaks, the breathtaking Sky Corridor; the Golden Rooster Announcing Dawn with thin mist covering its top and head slightly raised; the One-Step-Hard-Going place where stone walls give rise to life and a turn reveals brightness; the remarkably lifelike Divine Chicken Pecking Food; and in the famous bandit lair Wulongzhai, the "Three Ghost Gate Passes," each pass more dangerous than the last! You can also stand on Daguantai, close your eyes, and enjoy bathing in this wind of heaven on earth. In the distance, the faint boundary line between heaven and earth, the surging and rolling stone mountains in a thousand postures, seem to dance gracefully with the clouds and mist. Lingering like an infant, graceful like a maiden, magnificent like a warrior, billowing like a sea of whales... Zhangjiajie's natural formation, majestic and magnificent, truly deserves to be called a national treasure!
"Come see the Tujia girl, drink this cup; if you drink this cup, sister will go with you..." Accompanied by the sweet singing of Tujia girls, a cup of Tujia rice wine that leaves fragrance on the lips and teeth, and a subtle, lingering song to keep guests, one cannot help but want to get drunk once. Yes, just on this mellow, dreamlike night... Zhangjiajie, a place as beautiful as a fairyland, where the young men and women here are simple, kind, gentle, and affectionate. With bonfires, laughter, and songs they welcome guests from all directions and keep them in Zhangjiajie.
Thank you to our guide for accompanying us all along the way, letting us see the most real and moving Zhangjiajie, one that is not stereotyped. Although my calves are sore and weak, aching faintly, I believe that mountains, rivers, the earth, and all things have life. How many layers of mountains and waters, how many layers of misty rain, how many folk songs, how much love. Intoxicated by this natural scenery, I turn back again and again; layer upon layer of cloud and mist, lingering affection. I have no regrets, yet I would rather leave regrets behind, because with regret in my heart, even after I leave, my heart will still linger long among these clouds and mists, in the streams and gullies, among the green trees.