A Beauty's Running Account of Zhangjiajie
Because I've been busy, I'm only now writing my travelogue. Before the trip I spent several days browsing related travelogues online and benefited greatly—including Zhangjiajie guides, attractions, and route arrangements, and so on. Truly, predecessors plant trees so later generations enjoy the shade! Now I want to add my own small bit of shade. Also, I especially want to...
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.
Because I've been very busy, I'm only now putting pen to paper to write my travelogue. Before the trip, I spent several days browsing related travelogues online and benefited greatly! Including Zhangjiajie guides, scenic spots, and route arrangements, and so on—truly, predecessors plant trees, later generations enjoy the shade! Now, I also want to contribute a little to this shade.
In addition, I also want to specially thank our guide in Zhangjiajie, Guide Tang. We were lucky to find a good guide for our independent trip to Zhangjiajie, and he arranged everything very well for us. To put us at ease, he even let us travel first and pay later. He also gave us a detailed introduction to Fenghuang, which made our trip there go smoothly too.
Itinerary and travel route:
April 16: Departed in the evening. Three of us took the train (Changsha—Zhangjiajie).
April 17 morning: Arrived in Zhangjiajie at 9:30 AM. Guide Tang met us outside the train station;
Took a taxi to the bus station, then caught the long-distance bus to Tianzi Mountain;
Arrived at the Tianzi Mountain ticket entrance at noon, bought tickets and entered the mountain (RMB 248/person, including insurance, valid for two days);
Lunch was at a Tujia family restaurant, with a 'Sanxiaguo' made from Tujia cured meat, tomatoes, red chili peppers, homemade tofu, and pickled vegetable minced pork.
April 17 afternoon: Visited some scenic spots in the Tianzi Mountain area.
Route: Daguantai—Divine Chicken Pecking—Tianzi Seat (legend says this is where the Tujia King Xiang Wang meditated)—Immortal Bridge—One Step Difficult.
Note: Except for Daguantai, all the spots this afternoon are legendary natural perils, especially Immortal Bridge and One Step Difficult. It's said that tourists have fallen to their deaths from the cliffs there, and were smashed so badly that arms were arms and legs were legs. My companion CC is a bit afraid of heights, and after hearing those terrifying stories, her legs went weak crossing 'One Step Difficult.' But infinite scenery lies on perilous peaks—the views really are beyond words!
April 18 morning: Visited Wulong Village in the Yuanjiajie scenic area (the former bandit lair).
First watched the sea of clouds at Daguantai, had breakfast (noodles with fried eggs), then took the shuttle bus to the Wulong Village scenic area. It's said that the TV series 'Wulong Mountain Bandit Suppression' was filmed there.
Route: Golden Rooster Crows at Dawn --- Animal Gathering --- Wulong Village Gate (there's a very special waterwheel-like thing at the gate, which I call a five-person seesaw, a really fun thing) --- 'Excuse Me' (who dares not bow their head, who dares not bend their waist, one man guards the pass and ten thousand cannot force it open) --- Bandits' Lair --- Tianbo Mansion --- Treasure Cave --- One-Line Sky --- Sky Corridor --- One Step to Heaven.
Note: From the names of the scenic spots alone, you can tell that Wulong Village is easy to defend and hard to attack. Besides, not only is the scenery beautiful, it's also quite fun. We spent time digging for treasure, grinding sand, and even tried out the echo. I even threw a stone to test the depth of One-Line Sky; the sound of the stone bouncing echoed endlessly—this tiny One-Line Sky crevice is unfathomably deep!
April 18 afternoon: Touring Yangjiajie Scenic Area
Route: Number One Bridge Under Heaven --- Divine Turtle Gazes at the Sky --- Five Women on Expedition --- Soul-Enchanting Terrace --- Sword-Testing Stone --- Back Garden
Note: At Yangjiajie we ran into numerous Korean tour groups, mostly elderly gentlemen and ladies, and in extremely large numbers, making me feel for a moment as if I were touring in Korea, and that we few were the foreigners.
April 18 evening: Touring Laowuchang (Laowuchang is located in the Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area and was a spot specially added by the guide at my request)
Route: Valley Echo --- Divine Soldiers Gathering --- Sky Garden --- Bailong Elevator (viewed from afar)
Note: I discovered Laowuchang from recommendations by fellow travelers online. Very few tourists know about it, which made me quite proud. The road was very rough, and JJ gave up and went back to rest. We two women, CC and I, went there enthusiastically, and indeed had no regrets! It was another kind of rare experience, walking along unmaintained mountain trails like a true mountain dweller. When we finally reached the destination after the hard trek, I felt an indescribable pride and satisfaction inside, as if I had successfully challenged myself. The guide said that was because we might have a bit of mountain folk's wildness in our bones. I especially loved the Valley Echo; my shouts reverberated among the surrounding mountains, from near to far, repeating as many as seven or eight times. Absolutely thrilling!!! Actually, at the bandits' lair in Wulong Village, there was also an echo, but although the sound was clear, it couldn't last as long or travel as far.
Dinner was all local specialty Tujia dishes, with a sour and spicy flavor. Naturally I wouldn't let it pass; before eating I photographed all the delicious things, and even didn't spare the image of Sister Xiao Li busy at the kitchen stove! It's all for beautiful memories in the future!
April 19: The last day in Zhangjiajie Scenic Area, so we had to work a bit harder to sweep up all the remaining spots in one go, visiting both Tianzi Mountain and Wulingyuan scenic areas.
April 19 early morning at Daguantai watching the sunrise: Lianzi and I got up in the dark early and walked to Daguantai to wait for the sunrise. We started waiting from five o'clock, and poor us, the sun didn't come out until seven. The early morning temperature in the mountains was very low, and the two of us were so cold—the only way to describe that feeling is 'beautifully freezing.' With nothing to do, we took out our camera and photographed from the stars to the sun, from the morning mountain mist to the sunrise sea of clouds, from the moon between the treetops to the fish-scale-like clouds all over the blue sky, and even didn't spare each other shivering from the cold before sunrise—capturing it all.
After breakfast, we took a group photo with Guide Tang in front of the house. We set off around 8:15, leaving the camp where we had stayed for two nights—I really felt a bit reluctant to leave!
April 19 morning: Touring Tianzi Mountain's Shentang Bay and Helong Park
Route: [Shentang Bay Scenic Area] Giant Tianzi Footprint and Horse Hoof Print --- Shentang Bay Cliff where King Xiang Tianzi Jumped --- Shentang Bay Natural Gate (formed by stone peaks, very spectacular) --- Pointing-General Terrace --- Take the eco-bus to [Helong Park] Helong Bronze Statue --- Love-Testing Stone (the filming location of Journey to the West's Three Strikes on White Bone Demon) --- West Sea Stone Forest (Stone Boat Sailing Out to Sea, Imperial Brush Peak, Fairy Scattering Flowers, etc.)
At noon we had a buffet at 'Tianzi Fast Food' near Helong Park; the taste was pretty good, and once again we took photos as evidence.
April 19 afternoon: Touring Wulingyuan Scenic Area
Route: First take the cableway (Tianzi Mountain --- Golden Whip Stream) --- Golden Whip Stream Grand Canyon (the scenery is beyond words; we even went into the water to catch fish, absolutely merging with nature) --- Suoxiyu's Ten-Mile Gallery (there's Index Finger Peak, Herb-Gathering Old Man, Three Sisters Peak, etc., incredibly lifelike!!)
Note: Around 17:30 we took the eco-bus down the mountain and caught a ride from Wulingyuan back to Zhangjiajie city proper. Around 18:30, with Guide Tang's help, we checked into 'Forest Hotel' (triple room: RMB 90/day). After settling in, Guide Tang took us to Guanghe Supermarket to buy local specialties, to a photo studio to develop photos, and to a food stall to eat very local specialty teppanyaki (I really liked that special kind of fried rice: reportedly called Shefan). The guide even bought our tickets to Fenghuang early the next morning and saw us off at the station before leaving—this guide truly was beyond reproach! Our three-person Zhangjiajie trip was safely and successfully completed with his help. Boarding the long-distance bus, 'Mr. Shen Congwen's hometown, the beautiful border town' Fenghuang, here we come.........
Reflections after the Zhangjiajie trip:
---Super lucky: the day we arrived, it rained heavily in the morning, but after going up the mountain the rain lightened and stopped, and for the following days Father Sun was extremely gracious, showing his face every day. Thanks to that rain, we were able to see seas of clouds in different forms. Zhangjiajie's fantastic peaks and bizarre rocks floated up and down in the sea of clouds, making it feel like a fairyland.
---The air in the mountains is extremely fresh, known as a natural oxygen bar. This is what JJ appreciated most;
---The mountains are rich in products, like a treasure bowl with everything, but only those who know how to spot them can find them. So if you hire a mountain local as your guide, Zhangjiajie will give you many extra surprises. During those days under Xiao Li's guidance, we personally picked and tasted numerous wild fruits. In those days, I ate chestnuts, etc., and also a kind of sweet stalk somewhat like sugarcane. To be honest, the taste was secondary; the brand-new experience was what excited us.
---Zhangjiajie's scenery goes without saying; it seems everyone on Earth knows about it, so I didn't write much about it. Beautiful scenery can only be truly felt and experienced by seeing it yourself; sometimes language simply cannot describe it.
---My impression of the locals is pretty good, not as if every bush and tree were an enemy as before departure, mainly because of having a good guide.
Finally, I hope this running account of mine can also help friends who want to go to Zhangjiajie! Wishing everyone all the best!