8 Must-See Soul-Stirring Sights in Zhangjiajie
Eight must-see soul-stirring sights in Zhangjiajie. Within the scenic area, three thousand fantastical peaks rise from the ground and eight hundred streams wind in every direction, with dense forests and blooming mountain flowers. Its scenery, praised as "the original of Chinese landscape painting," is both wondrous and precipitous—making a visit one of life's great pleasures.
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.
Eight Soul-Stirring Scenic Spots You Should Visit in Zhangjiajie
Within the Zhangjiajie scenic area, three thousand strange peaks rise from the ground, eight hundred streams wind crisscross, the sea of forest is vast, mountain flowers bloom brilliantly, and the scenery is wonderfully beautiful and precipitous. It is praised as "the original of Chinese landscape painting." Traveling in Zhangjiajie is one of life's great pleasures. Zhangjiajie has too many places worth visiting, but there are 8 soul-hooking scenic spots that you absolutely must visit! Otherwise, you will have to return with regret! However, these places can only be reached by joining an independent tour group, and they also require relatively more time.
1. Golden Whip Stream
Known as a landscape gallery and a well-known golden route, it is the largest stream landscape in Zhangjiajie and different from other scenery in the Zhangjiajie scenic area. Here the valley is deep and the ravine secluded, the water beautiful and the forest green, the stream murmuring, and the cliffs towering ten thousand feet, making one's heart yearn for it! Walking along the stream, you can admire: Camel Peak, with a head and neck, lifelike; Qianli Xianghui, like a long-parted couple whispering to each other, remarkably true to life; Golden Whip Rock, 387 meters high, piercing straight into the clouds, with the segmented stripes on the rock face clearly visible, just like the joints of a whip, which is how Golden Whip Stream got its name. The only pity is that this is almost the only route all tourists must take, so it lacks a bit of leisure and has a bit more noise!
2. Wulong Village
In Yangjiajie within Zhangjiajie's core scenic area, it became famous because bandits entrenched here due to the extremely dangerous terrain. Among them are the three ghost gate passes: One Step Hard to Pass, Who Dares Not Bow the Head, and Body-Shrinking Valley. They are even more highly praised online; also because the mountain path is too steep, many visitors who sigh that their strength is insufficient regretfully turn back halfway. Wulong Village also has another scenic spot, Tianbo Mansion: a typical bandit lair. The heavenly ladder to the top is basically at a 90-degree angle, and you have to use both hands and feet to climb up. It is worth seeing. You will sigh with emotion: the bandits of Xiangxi really knew how to choose a place; the place where immortals live was occupied by them, how awesome! The scenery here is unique!
3. One Step to Heaven
In the Yangjiajie scenic area: the best angle to view the panorama of Yangjiajie, Huangshizhai, and Water Winding Around Four Gates. You can see the "Liuqi Pavilion" of Huangshizhai and the "Tianzi Pavilion" of Tianzi Mountain. The heavenly ladder is likewise very steep. Standing on the platform, the field of view is very broad, "all other mountains look small." You will certainly have the urge to shout loudly and vent yourself; you will feel that the mountains are so tiny, and people are even tinier. What fame and fortune, what worldly strife, all are jokes, and all worries vanish from then on. Nearby is the Sky Corridor; it is the viewing platform with the greatest vertical height in the entire Wulingyuan scenic area. Its field of view is also very broad. The tourist path there is under construction. In the morning, clouds and mist entwine; there is fog in the mountains, trees in the fog, and dewdrops on the trees, very charming. In the evening, under the glow of the setting sun, you can see the peaks glistening, wrapped in patches of gold, with a very special charm.
4. One Step Hard to Pass
Truly dangerous and truly thrilling, because you have to step across from one stone peak to another! Two adjacent stone peaks form a stone crevice, and below the crevice is a bottomless abyss. It is said that before, a tourist once lost his footing and died here! Since then, iron wire netting has been added. Although the original danger and thrill are gone, you can still vaguely trace the past from the wire netting under your feet.
5. No. 1 Bridge Under Heaven
In Yuanjiajie of the Zhangjiajie scenic area, these scenic spots are representatives of Zhangjiajie's geology and landforms. Here every five steps is strange, every seven steps is superb, and beyond ten steps you are dumbfounded! Relatively speaking, the previous scenic spots show Zhangjiajie's more primitive, rough, and grand side, while these are gentler and more delicate. It is one of Zhangjiajie's four great wonders (sunrise, peak forest, winter snow, sea of fog) -- a viewing point for the sea of fog. Here the fog seems both present and absent, appearing and disappearing, no one knows when it appears or when it vanishes; clouds and mist roll, the mountains appear and disappear, unpredictable, making it hard to tell heaven from the human world. This is a place all tour groups must pass, so there are relatively many visitors; you can ask the guide to arrange the visit at a time when the main groups are not concentrated. For leisure travelers there is another advantage: the scenic spots are relatively concentrated, physical exertion is not great, and it is a very relaxed visit.
6. Shentang Bay
Extremely mysterious, you must take a look! Here mist entwines, there are unnamed strange animals, and there are also magical legends. To this day no one has been able to reach this place! It is said that in the early Ming Dynasty, the Tujia chieftain Xiang Wang Tianzi, after being defeated at "Baizhang Gorge," jumped off the cliff to his death here with his troops. Whenever there is a thunderstorm, the sounds of people shouting and horses neighing come from below the cliffs, accompanied by bursts of cold wind, making one's hair stand on end. Visiting here, you can feel the grandeur and mystery of the great mountains!
7. Sky Farmland
At Laowuchang in the Tianzi Mountain scenic area. While we marvel at the myriad transformations of the strange peaks and the rising sea of clouds, experience the tranquility of the primeval forest, and unfold our feelings of returning to nature, we can also see the lifestyle of the Tujia people who for generations have lived here on the mountaintop, working at sunrise and resting at sunset. Enjoy the roosters crowing and dogs barking, small bridges over flowing water, and pastoral scenery full of poetic charm.
8. Mandarin Duck Waterfall
It is the only majestic scenic point in the Zhangjiajie scenic area where you can admire high flowing water. A clear spring folds into two white chains from a mountain more than thirty meters high and flutters down, very spectacular! Especially in July and August when the weather is hot, visitors who come here cannot resist the temptation, loosen their clothes, bare their bottoms, and let the waterfall pour down from overhead. It is just that this scenic spot is rather remote, so there are few visitors; it belongs to an originally developed area.