Zhangjiajie Sightseeing, a Real Avatar Sightseeing Experience
“Oh, so this is Hallelujah Mountain!” “Wow, the floating mountain is right here!” On the Yuanjiajie sightseeing route in the Wulingyuan core scenic area of Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province—the real-life prototype of Hallelujah Mountain—visitors kept bursting into delighted exclamations as they faced the Qiankun Pillar, a peak that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom with a vertical drop of 350 meters. From April 2 to 3, our group visited core scenic spots in Wulingyuan such as Yuanjiajie, Tianzi Mountain, Ten-Mile Gallery, Yellow Dragon Cave, and Baofeng Lake…
“Oh, so this is Hallelujah Mountain!”
“Wow, the floating mountain is right here!”
On the Yuanjiajie sightseeing route in the Wulingyuan core scenic area of Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province—the real-life prototype of Hallelujah Mountain—visitors kept bursting into delighted exclamations as they faced the Qiankun Pillar, a peak that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom with a vertical drop of 350 meters.
From April 2 to 3, our group visited core scenic spots in Wulingyuan such as Yuanjiajie, Tianzi Mountain, Ten-Mile Gallery, Yellow Dragon Cave, and Baofeng Lake, and found that domestic and international tourists coming to Zhangjiajie for the “Avatar Discovery Tour” were packed in everywhere. Because the Laomuyu Tunnel was under construction, all tour group vehicles had to detour via the Changzhang Expressway and Longyang Highway to enter the Wulingyuan core scenic area for sightseeing. As a result, the number of visitors choosing to stay in Wulingyuan District rather than the city proper increased noticeably, and hotels and guesthouses in Wulingyuan District even experienced a delightful situation of tight room supply and hard-to-get beds.
Pandora is too far away; Zhangjiajie is much closer. Tourism industry insiders all say that this year’s peak season in Zhangjiajie has arrived early, and the current overall visitor reception volume is nearly double that of the same period last year. Many positive factors contributed to this encouraging situation, such as the opening of the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway bringing Zhangjiajie closer to out-of-province tourism markets, but the most important factor was the remarkable effect of marketing Zhangjiajie with the American sci-fi blockbuster “Avatar.” Most tourists came to Zhangjiajie for sightseeing because of the “real-life planet Pandora.” Major scenic areas in Zhangjiajie have already made full preparations for multiple tourism reception services for the “Avatar Tour” based on visitors’ interests.
Joining a tour group can save you a lot of trouble, such as food, accommodation, and transportation, but it definitely does not mean that all that remains is sightseeing. Relatively speaking, after joining a group, many optional paid items and necessary shopping stops are unavoidable. Moreover, if guests do not contribute, the guide may not even give them a pleasant look. There is no way to change this, because all mature scenic areas nationwide now receive tour groups at cost or at a loss due to competition among local ground operators, and the remuneration of local ground operators and guides basically all comes from the guide’s secondary revenue generation. Also, joining a tour group is very unfree; every place is just a quick glance. It is precisely these restrictions of joining tour groups that have made independent travel so popular today, because independent travel has no restrictions, is completely unrestrained, and is very free. As long as you choose your destination well and contact a local independent guide or hotel, you can easily arrange everything.
Compared with other scenic areas nationwide, Zhangjiajie has even more advantages for independent travel. That is because, due to time constraints, joining a tour group absolutely cannot take you to Zhangjiajie’s most attractive attractions, such as Tianbo Mansion in Yangjiajie, Wulong Village, the One-Step-Hard-to-Pass at Daguantai, Immortal Bridge, Tianzi Seat, the Divine Soldiers Gathering at Laowuchang, the Sky Garden, Mandarin Duck Waterfall, and other essential scenic spots. If you do not believe it, friends who have joined tour groups can recall whether they visited these places.
Below is a recommended three-day Zhangjiajie independent travel itinerary for everyone’s reference. Those interested, please take a look:
On the first day, visit Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Huangshizhai Scenic Area, Arhat Welcoming Guests, Vase Peak, Overseas Visitors, Point General Terrace, Heavenly Book Treasure Box, South Heaven Gate, Sea-Calming Divine Needle, South Heaven Pillar, Star-Picking Terrace, Liuqi Pavilion, Five-Finger Peak, Daguantai, Natural Wall Hanging, Sea of Fog Divine Turtle, Baisha Well, Stay for a While, Conch Emerging from Water, Iron Wall, Golden Whip Stream, Golden Whip Rock, Situ Learns the Scriptures, Purple Grass Pool, Meeting After a Thousand Miles, Back Garden, Soul-Enchanting Terrace, Five Women on Expedition, and the Number One Bridge Under Heaven, and finally stay at a Tujia mountain village in Yangjiajie.
On the second day, visit Yangjiajie Scenic Area, Golden Rooster Crowing at Dawn, Rooster Beak, Wulong Village, Three Ghost Gate Passes—the first pass, One-Step-Hard-to-Pass; the second pass, Who Dares Not Bow; the third pass, Weight-Loss Valley. It is really very interesting…, Tianbo Mansion, Liulang Peak, Maze, Great Wall Peak, Dancing Man Worshipping Buddha, One Step to Heaven, Sky Corridor, Daguantai, Tianzi Seat, Divine Chicken Pecking Food, and Sky Garden. Stay at a Tujia mountain village in Yangjiajie.
On the third day, visit Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area, Shentang Bay, Point General Terrace, He Long Park, West Sea, Fairy Presenting Flowers, Imperial Brush Peak, Walking in a Painting, Stone Boat Setting Out to Sea, Tianzi Peak, Yunqing Rock, West Sea Divine Turtle, Jade Flower Stone, Tianzi Pavilion, Heavenly Terrace, Pagoda Peak, Ten-Mile Gallery, Old Man Rock, King Xiang Reading, Three Sisters, Candle Peak, Golden Mouse Watching the Sky, Camel Peak, Reunion Tree, Nanmu Flat, and Four Gates Surrounded by Water, ending the pleasant journey.