Zhangjiajie Landscapes (2)
Huangshizhai Tour Route: Located in the center of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Huangshizhai is the largest viewing platform at 1,080 meters elevation and 1 square km, formed of red sandstone mixed with gray sandstone. Surrounded by cliffs, it is the best spot to overlook the sandstone peak forest, offering panoramic views of countless peaks and valleys.
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.
Huangshizhai Tour Route
Huangshizhai is located in the central part of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. It is the largest viewing platform, with an elevation of 1,080 meters and an area of 1 square kilometer; its rock is composed of red sandstone interbedded with gray sandstone. Surrounded by sheer cliffs, it is the best viewing platform for looking down on the sandstone peak forest landscape. Looking down from the village, thousands of peaks and valleys are all taken in at a glance. Historically, Huangshizhai had four names: First, Huangshizhai, named because the ancient Daoist Huang Shigong once lived here. The Qing Dynasty "Daoguang Yongding County Gazetteer" says that Zhangjiajie belongs to the range of the Eighteen Mountains, one of whose peaks is named Huangshi. The gazetteer also says: "The tomb of Zhang Liang, Marquis of Liu of the Han, is at Qingyan Mountain. Liang obtained the book of Huang Shigong... roamed with Master Red Pine; in the mountains of Tianmen and Qingyan in Yongding there are many surviving traces." Second, Huangshi Village. At the top of Huangshizhai there was originally Qingping Temple, built by Zhang Wancong, commander of the Yongding Guard in the Ming Dynasty. His mother, Granny Huang, died and was buried on the village; in order to sacrifice to his mother, he built this temple also as a tomb lodge, enshrining inside a statue of Granny Huang, Zhang Wancong's mother of the Ming Dynasty, hence the name Huangshi Village. Third, Huangsizhai, because the village was overgrown with thatch, and in autumn the withered yellow leaves looked like yellow silk. The Qing Dynasty "Daoguang Yongding County Gazetteer" records: "Huangsizhai, eighty li north of the county. Surrounded by sheer cliffs, its top broad and level, with water springs, cultivable and plantable. It is said that people in ancient times took refuge here from soldiers." Fourth, Huangshizhai, named because the village resembles a male lion. People in the tourism industry believe: "If you don't go up Huangshizhai, your trip to Zhangjiajie is in vain." However, many guides and tourists do not know whether it is really called Huangshizhai or Huangshizhai? Opinions vary and no consensus can be reached. Therefore, leaders of tourism administrative organs and scholars in scientific research departments believe: we should respect historical geography, continue the established name Huangshizhai, and uniformly call it "Huangshizhai," in order to standardize the place names of Zhangjiajie scenic spots.
Huangshizhai is surrounded by sheer cliffs on all sides, with many viewing platforms extending into the air. Huangshizhai has two stone slab tour routes for climbing and descending, south and north. Walking up from the south, the main scenic spots along the way include: Arhat Welcoming Guests, Heavenly Book Treasure Box, South Heaven Pillar, Star-Picking Platform, and Five Finger Peak. If tourists take the Huangshizhai cableway from the bottom valley of Baishajing, it takes only three minutes to reach the top of Huangshizhai. Along the way you can both enjoy the delightful scenery and experience the thrill of flying through the air. The mountain-circling tour path of Huangshizhai is more than 2,500 meters long, and circling the mountain allows a bird's-eye view of the entire Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.
[Guimen First Opening] Starting from Luoguta, the first scenic spot is "Guimen First Opening." The first thing that comes into view is a garden gate; on the stone pillar of the gate are written the nine large characters "Zhangjiajie National Forest Park," inscribed by Gao Dezhan, former Minister of Forestry. On both sides of the garden gate, sheer cliffs tower into the clouds, and the mountain path in the middle is narrow, just like a mountain gate; hence the name "Guimen First Opening."
[Secluded Fir Forest Path] Two hundred meters northeast of Laomowan. The stone path winds through the forest, with bursts of cicada song, dappled light, blooming flowers, and cool breezes on the face.
[Arhat Welcoming Guests] Three hundred fifty meters northeast of Laomowan, a mountain peak rises abruptly, its upper half formed by several strangely shaped rocks piled together. It looks like an arhat sitting cross-legged in solemn meditation, hands clasped before the chest, head slightly forward, smiling, as if nodding in greeting and welcoming visitors.
[Great Rock Shelter] One hundred fifty meters up from Arhat Welcoming Guests, there is a rock canopy 3 meters high, 3 meters deep, and more than 20 meters long. It was once a shelter for hunters and is commonly called the Great Rock Shelter. In the middle there is a horizontal stone bench; tourists can not only rest but also look far into the distance. The highway is like a ribbon fluttering in the wind, winding and twisting into the depths of the white clouds. Village cooking smoke curls upward, streams and ravines are dark green, and the surrounding peaks form one enchanting picture after another.
[One-Armed General] Standing at the Great Rock Shelter and looking up to the northeast, you can see a rock standing upright in the canyon, handsome and mighty, wearing a helmet on its head and armor on its body, with the left arm hanging down and the right arm not visible.
[Overseas Visitor] One hundred meters up from the Great Rock House, a human-shaped stone peak 80 meters high stands facing you. Its figure is well-proportioned, with all facial features complete; creeping shrubs resemble its curly hair, it wears a swallow-tailed coat, its left arm hangs down, and it raises its head gazing southward—every bit the bearing of a European or American gentleman.
[Sky-Piercing Blade] One hundred fifty meters above the Overseas Visitor, turn and look south, and you can see a slender, solitary peak about 100 meters high and 20 meters in diameter. Round below and pointed above, it thrusts straight up from the ground into the blue sky. The peak's body is covered with shrubs, congealed in emerald and pouring out green, glittering with silvery light—easily evoking the fine scene of "piercing the blue sky with the blade still unblunted."
[Lion Turning Its Head] On the northwestern ridge more than 30 meters from the Sky-Piercing Blade stands a huge rock shaped like a lion, come galloping from the west. It turns its head to peer south, baring its teeth and grinning, eyes wide open, full of majesty.
[Pointing-General Terrace] Going up more than 10 meters from the Lion Turning Its Head, on the northwest side of a huge rock there is a hollow forming a terrace about 1 meter long and more than 1 meter wide. Legend says the Pointing-General Terrace is where the Tujia King Xiang reviewed his troops and commanders. Standing on the terrace, directly below lies an emerald valley and a secluded stream; on the left, two giant peaks tower against the sky, facing west like generals issuing military orders; on the right, ten stone peaks run from north to south, from high to low, like officers and soldiers awaiting orders.
[Entertainment Terrace] Walking right from Zhaiwan Pass, you come to a rock-shelter path arched by a stone wall—this is the "Entertainment Terrace." Here you can see scenic spots such as "Golden Rooster Crowing at Dawn."
[Heavenly Book Treasure Box] Going up 50 meters from the Pointing-General Terrace to Zhaiwan Pass, then east along the pass to a hollow terrace on a stone wall, look up to the right and you can see a round stone pillar standing about 20 meters high, with a platform at its top. On it, five green pines surround a rectangular stone block 3 meters long, 1.5 meters wide, and 0.8 meters thick, resembling a box. The stone block is covered by a stone slab equal in length and width to the box, exactly like a box lid, 10 centimeters thick, half resting on it and half appearing to be pulled out. The two stones look just like a book box with its lid half drawn out. Legend says the box contains the Heavenly Book of Huang Shigong.
[Heavenly Book Hanging High] Walking a hundred meters along the tourist path from Zhaiwan Pass, turn and look south, and across the valley you can see a sheer cliff. On its smooth face are mottled, speckled cracks, exactly like more than ten columns of seal-script writing arranged vertically. The strokes are faint, the paragraphs distinct, seeming real yet illusory, impossible to make out clearly.
[A Jade Seal] To the left of the Heavenly Book Hanging High is a stone peak 50 meters high, with a platform at its summit. On the platform lies a stone 3 meters long and 1 meter each in width and height, with sharp edges and corners, just like a seal.
[Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle] More than a hundred meters north of the Entertainment Terrace stands an umbrella-shaped stone viewing platform that captivates visitors. Looking down eastward from the platform, more than ten groups of stone peaks in Golden Whip Stream form a grand landscape painting. In the deep ravine nearby is a stone peak like a bamboo shoot, pointed above and broad below, about 100 meters high, inserted amid the emerald peak forest. Whenever mist and clouds surge, the stone peak stands like a pillar in midstream above the clouds, closely resembling the "Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle" amid the waves of a sea of mist.
[South Heavenly Gate] Walking 20 meters forward from the Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle viewpoint, look up and you can see the South Heavenly Gate, 30 meters high and 4 meters wide, formed by two rock peaks on either side of the mountain path leaning together to arch over it. The top of the gate is clustered with green trees, and various trees grow from the stone crevices on both sides. On the stone wall to the right of the gate, an old vine as thick as a bowl grows clinging to the rock and wall, coiling like a dragon. Not far away is a peak 20 meters high whose summit looks like a human head, mighty and majestic, closely resembling a warrior guarding the South Heavenly Gate, hence the name "Gate-Guarding General."
[South Heaven Pillar] Going up 120 meters from the South Heavenly Gate, look down to the southeast, and among the peaks of the secluded valley a rounded solitary peak more than 200 meters high props up the blue sky, just like a jade pillar supporting heaven. Its upper part is dotted with shrubs, its middle section is bare rock, and its lower body is rounded; because it stands below the South Heavenly Gate it is named South Heaven Pillar.
[Bronze Wall and Iron Rampart] Going up 200 meters from the South Heaven Pillar, in the valley to the east you can see a stone wall 300 meters high and 400 meters wide. The wall is bronze in color, smooth and vertical, with crisscrossing veins. Its top is level and covered with shrubs, in striking contrast to the bare wall surface.
[Natural Mural] Standing at the top of Huangshizhai and gazing east, on the sheer cliff along the western edge of Yaozaizhai a thousand meters away, the traces of wind-and-rain erosion and the shrubs dotted among them form a natural mural rich in Tujia flavor. On the scene one can faintly make out Tujia stilted houses half-hidden among green trees, and a shepherd boy leading a cow along a stone-stepped path toward the stilted houses.
[Star-Picking Terrace] At the top of Huangshizhai stands a pillar-shaped rock 20 meters high rising at the edge of the summit. The base rock covers an area of 20 square meters and is 5 meters high. The rock stacked on top is 10 meters high, and its top is a platform 5 meters in diameter, extending 1 meter out over the deep valley to the east. When the bright moon is in the sky, standing on the terrace, one seems able to pick the stars and grasp the moon. In November 1983, State Councilor Zhang Jinfu ascended the terrace to enjoy the view, named it "Star-Picking Terrace," and recited two poems.
[Front Garden] Standing at the southeastern edge of the top of Huangshizhai and looking down to the left, you can see a secluded valley formed by dozens of stone peaks. In the valley, emerald greens congeal and pour forth, flowers cluster in brocade-like profusion, and the peaks' summits and walls are covered with green trees, like a natural garden, hence the name "Front Garden."
[Hei Cong Nao] On the northeast side of Huangshizhai is a stone peak more than 200 meters high called Hei Cong Nao. On the mountain top, an area of more than 60 mu is covered with dark, primeval secondary forest, mainly ancient pines, hence the name "Hei Cong Nao." Because no one goes there, this green labyrinth has become a natural zoo; macaques, flying squirrels, and other rare birds and animals often forage and frolic along the edges of the dense forest.
[Remains of a Heavenly Bridge's Piers] In the deep valley between Huangshizhai and Yuanjiajie stand seven peaks like bridge piers, more than 200 meters high, just like the piers left after a bridge collapsed, hence the name "Remains of a Heavenly Bridge's Piers." The stone pillars are similar in size and spacing, and their tops are all platforms, like a row of bridge piers under construction. Legend says this scene is the piers of a bridge built by immortals for King Xiang Tianzi when he fled in defeat, and the bridge deck was made of cloth. After King Xiang Tianzi crossed the bridge, the bridge cloth rolled itself up automatically.
[Liuqi Pavilion] Liuqi Pavilion stands at the highest point of Huangshizhai, named for Zhangjiajie's "six wonders: wonderful mountains, wonderful waters, wonderful clouds, wonderful rocks, wonderful trees, and the wonder of rare birds and animals." The pavilion has four stories, with a yellow-tiled roof, upturned eaves and raised corners, painted beams and colored pillars, and winding corridors with stone railings. A couplet on the pavilion pillars reads: "Emerald hair coiled in mist, green trees sealed in cloud, in former days half a face was still concealed; beauty born of nature, a painting barely known, today at last it intoxicates people from all quarters." Another couplet reads: "Its fame stirs the whole world; arriving here, one truly ought to clap three times; its momentum tops the Five Sacred Mountains; on returning, no need to look at mountains again." Embedded in the pavilion base is a stele inscription of Yang Chunqiu's "Record of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park." On March 27, 1995, General Secretary Jiang Zemin ascended this pavilion to enjoy the scenery. Inside the pavilion is a Tujia song-and-dance hall, where visitors can watch Tujia singing and dancing. Ascending this pavilion, the finest scenery of Zhangjiajie takes in the whole view, and a sense of beauty returning to nature arises spontaneously.
[Golden Turtle in the Sea of Mist] On the northwest side of the top of Huangshizhai lies an oval rock about 5 meters long, 1 meter wide, and 2 meters high, crouching on the platform at the top of a stone peak. The middle of the rock bulges like a turtle's shell, and on the north side a long stone more than 1 meter long extends out over empty space, exactly like a turtle's head; the pointed stone on the head tilts slightly upward like a turtle's nose. Below the turtle, line after line of wave-like stone markings look like turtle feet. After rain, mist spreads over the mountaintop, and the golden turtle appears and disappears, poking its head about and wriggling in the clouds and mist, extraordinarily peculiar, hence the name "Golden Turtle in the Sea of Mist."
[Solitary Dragon Playing with a Pearl] Going down the mountain from the rear gate of Huangshizhai, after about 300 meters, turn back and look up to the left. In front of a stone wall more than 20 meters away, a peak up to a hundred meters high stands thrusting into the sky, its summit like a raised dragon's head; on the slope a hundred meters from the dragon's mouth stands an 8-meter stone pillar shaped like a sphere, like a precious pearl spat out by the dragon, hence the name "Solitary Dragon Playing with a Pearl."
[Palm Peak] Standing at the Solitary Dragon Playing with a Pearl viewpoint and gazing far into the southwestern canyon, there is a peak standing upright like a palm, with five spaced stone pillars in a row, just like the five fingers of a hand. The palm faces the viewpoint, as if waving a greeting to visitors.
[Conch Emerging from the Water] Two hundred meters below Solitary Dragon Playing with a Pearl stands a stone pillar 20 meters high. Its body twists and spirals, its top is relatively flat, and it is shaped like a conch, exquisite and translucent. Mist and clouds often drift among it like a vast sea, and the conch seems to float on the surface of the sea.
[Immortals Playing Chess] Below the Conch Emerging from the Water peak, along its edge, stands a stone pillar 80 meters high, on whose top two peaks resemble people sitting cross-legged facing each other, playing chess on the spot. The players are wholly absorbed, without the slightest weariness.
[Mandarin Duck Spring] Where the cross-mountain path of Pipa Stream meets the tourist path up the rear mountain of Huangshizhai, a spring flows out from the rocks, crystal clear, delicate and slightly sweet. Brewed into tea, it gives a rich color and fine flavor. In the eighteenth year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1753), Ma Sui, magistrate of Yongding County, heard of this spring's peculiarity and sent people to "build a stone path and set up a tea pavilion for the convenience of travelers."