The Secret You Can't Tell: Zhangjiajie Tourism Overview Travel Guide Knowledge
Zhangjiajie City was originally named Dayong City. It was approved by the State Council in May 1988 to be established as a prefecture-level city, and renamed Zhangjiajie City in April 1994. It is located in the northwestern border of Xiangxi, in the middle and upper reaches of the Lishui River, with the Wuling Mountains stretching across it. The city administers Yongding and Wulingyuan districts and Cili and Sangzhi counties. The total area is 9,516 square kilometers, and the total population is 1.6 million, of which ethnic minorities, mainly Tujia, account for 77% of the total population. Zhangjiajie has a pleasant climate, belonging to the subtropical...
Zhangjiajie City was originally named Dayong City. In May 1988, with the approval of the State Council, it was established as a prefecture-level city, and in April 1994 it was renamed Zhangjiajie City. It is located at the northwestern
frontier of Xiangxi, in the middle and upper reaches of the Lishui River, with the Wuling Mountains running through it. The city administers two districts, Yongding and Wulingyuan, and two counties, Cili and Sangzhi. Its total area is 9,516 square kilometers
, with a total population of 1.6 million, of which ethnic minorities, mainly Tujia, account for 77% of the total population. Zhangjiajie has a pleasant climate and belongs to a subtropical mountain-type monsoon
humid climate, with an average annual temperature of 16.8°C. It is an ideal place for sightseeing, vacationing, and convalescence.
Zhangjiajie is endowed with outstanding natural beauty and heavenly craftsmanship, and its tourism resources are complete in variety, distinctive in character, and of high quality.
Zhangjiajie is a masterpiece of nature's skilled brushwork and a paradise for all kinds of wild animals and plants. It possesses unmatched natural landscapes, such as China's
first national forest park——Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, and the World Natural Heritage and World Geopark——Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area. Within the scenic area, peaks vie in beauty, dangerous gorges and deep ravines, flying waterfalls and flowing springs, cliff trees leaning at angles, spiritual grasses covering the ground, birds singing and apes crying, blending “peaks, forests, caves, lakes, and waterfalls” into one
, and combining “seclusion, wildness, wonder, elegance, and danger” into one, so that it can be called “a scene every five steps, a new heaven every ten steps,” and “walking in the mountains is like traveling in a painting.” It has been praised by Chinese and foreign visitors as “an enlarged potted landscape, a reduced fairyland,” a true “Peach Blossom Spring” and “the original model of Chinese landscape painting.”
Around the core scenic area of Wulingyuan, Zhangjiajie also has many distinctive natural ecological landscapes that echo it. Such as the “Number One Karst Cave in Asia”
Jiutian Cave, “Famous Mountain of Southern Chu” Wulei Mountain, “Soul of Wuling” Tianmen Mountain, “Natural Museum” Badagongshan National Nature Reserve, and “dancing with the waves”
”Maoyan River rafting, and so on.
Thanks to once being “hidden in the deep boudoir and unknown to others,” and thanks to the simple nature of Zhangjiajie people in loving and protecting nature, in modern society where conflicts between humans and nature
continue, Zhangjiajie is like a pure land on earth, a Peach Blossom Spring. The city's forest coverage rate reaches 67%. The forest coverage rate in the scenic area is even higher
, reaching 98%, making it a veritable natural oxygen bar. The negative ion content in the air here is 100 to 400 times higher than in ordinary environments, and the number of days each year with air quality
reaching Grade II or above is nearly 90%, among which the scenic area has steadily reached the national Grade I standard. More than 90% of the sections of major water areas meet the national surface water
Class I and II standards.
Zhangjiajie is also a “paradise of wild animals” and a “gene bank of plants.” It has 31 species in 15 endemic plant families and 7 endemic wild animal species.
In 2006, biologists discovered in Zhangjiajie another major new species in China——Tianmen Mountain rhododendron. In the Zhangjiajie scenic area, it is not hard to find clouded leopards
, macaques, forest musk deer, wild boars, civets, Cabot's tragopans, pangolins, and others moving through the dense forests, while giant salamanders (commonly known as baby fish) play in the clear
streams and mountain ravines, and dove trees (scientific name Davidia involucrata), known as “living plant fossils,” dance gracefully against the leaves, along with long-stamened rhododendrons, lobster flowers
, and spring orchids, and so on, dotting the boundless green sea.
Zhangjiajie is not only a famous scenic area at home and abroad, but also an old revolutionary base area. This is the hometown of Marshal He Long and the departure point of the Long March of the Second Front Army of the Red Army. In the long revolutionary struggle, more than 100,000 people from Zhangjiajie joined the Red Army and local armed forces, throwing themselves into the struggle of blood and fire, and as many as 20,000 martyrs gave their lives heroically for the revolution. It can be said that throughout the mountains and rivers of Zhangjiajie, there is no place without the footprints of Red Army soldiers and revolutionary masses, and no place not sprinkled with the crimson hot blood of revolutionary forebears.
Zhangjiajie City actively responds to the call of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to vigorously develop the red tourism industry, taking the development of red tourism as the focus of tourism work, and has formulated the “2004-2010 Zhangjiajie City Red Tourism Development Plan,” focusing on building a number of high-quality red tourism scenic areas and routes, and launching a product series combining red tourism and green ecological tourism, so that tourists can receive revolutionary traditional education while enjoying natural scenery, and gain true insight, inspiration for goodness, and enjoyment of beauty. At present, the route “Zhangjiajie-Sangzhi-Yongshun-Jishou-Tongren” has been included in the list of 30 national high-quality red tourism routes; He Long's Former Residence and Memorial Hall in Sangzhi County have been listed among the 100 national “Classic Red Tourism Scenic Areas”; the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Soviet Revolutionary Memorial Hall in Yongding District is one of the national patriotism education bases; Kuzhuhe Town and Maoyan Gorge in the Maoyan River Jiutian Cave Scenic Area, and the Tianzi Mountain He Long Park and Golden Whip Stream and other high-quality tour routes in the core scenic area are all places where the Red Army once operated and fought.
Zhangjiajie has a long history. As early as the Neolithic Age, human beings lived and multiplied here. For thousands of years, people of 33 ethnic groups, including Tujia, Bai, Miao, and Han, have lived together harmoniously on this land. A wide variety of folk cultures, simple and rich folk customs, wonderful and superb ethnic sports, unique ethnic costumes, and distinctive ethnic cuisine, among others, form unique and beautiful pictures that complement the beautiful natural scenery of Zhangjiajie scenic area. In 2006, Sangzhi folk songs, Tujia hand-waving dance, Maogusi dance, and Tujia brocade weaving techniques were all selected for the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection List.
Zhangjiajie also has rich and colorful cultural relic resources. According to statistics, the city currently has 41 Grade I national cultural relics, 186 Grade II cultural relics, 1,183 Grade III cultural relics, more than 20,000 cultural relic specimens, more than 8,000 ethnic relics, and more than 3,000 revolutionary relics. The city has two national-level cultural relic protection units: the He Long Memorial Hall (including He Long's Former Residence) and the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Soviet Memorial Hall. There are five provincial-level cultural relic protection units: Puguang Temple, Yuhuang Cave, the departure point of the Long March of the Second Front Army of the Red Army, the Plum Blossom Hall of Xingguo Temple, and the Old Courtyard, among others. These fine historical and cultural works have given soul to Zhangjiajie's beautiful and magnificent landscapes, making the natural scenery dreamlike and even more magical.
Zhangjiajie is named for its extraordinary mountains and established as a city because of tourism. Since the city was established, the Zhangjiajie Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have unswervingly implemented the tourism-driven strategy, and the city's tourism industry and tourism infrastructure construction have developed by leaps and bounds.
In recent years, Zhangjiajie City has seized the opportunity of the state's proactive fiscal policy and monetary policy, actively sought support, vigorously attracted investment, and accelerated the construction of infrastructure in water conservancy, energy, transportation, communications, environmental protection, and urban and scenic areas. Today, the city's installed hydropower capacity reaches 490,000 kilowatts. Postal and telecommunications have reached the domestic advanced level. A three-dimensional transportation system has been formed with Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport, Zhangjiajie Grade II railway passenger station, highway network, and standard tour roads as the focus. Hehua Airport has been expanded, international flights have been opened, tourist special trains depart in the morning and arrive in the evening, and the expressway from Changsha to Zhangjiajie has been completed. Twelve tourist areas (sites) have been developed, more than 30 tour routes have been built, and more than 300 kilometers of tour paths have been laid. Huangshizhai Cableway, Tianzi Mountain Cableway, Shuiraosimen Sightseeing Elevator, and Tianmen Mountain Cableway have been built successively, and scenic area roads have also been upgraded. Highways from the urban area to various scenic areas and highways connecting different scenic areas have all been completed and opened to traffic.
Zhangjiajie's tourism industry is full of vitality. Almost every year new tourist attractions open to the public, and every month new hotels and restaurants open for business. Twelve scenic spots in the city have been rated as “Hunan's Top 100 Scenes Loved by the People.” New scenic spots such as Longwang Cave and the Old Courtyard have been developed, the first phase of the Jiangya Reservoir tourist wharf has been built, the rafting wharfs and roads of Maoyan River and Suoxi have been renovated, and projects such as the development of Tianmen Mountain Scenic Area and the Yellow Dragon Cave Plaza are progressing smoothly. The city has more than 400 hotels and restaurants of various types, including 73 star-rated hotels. There are 64 travel agencies, including 14 international agencies, more than 3,300 tour guides in various languages, and a daily reception capacity of 80,000 people. There are 4 tourism transport companies and 673 tourist vehicles. Zhangjiajie has successively been rated as one of “China's Top 40 Tourist Destinations,” a “National Civilized Scenic Area,” and a “China Excellent Tourism City.” Zhangjiajie has become a well-known tourist destination at home and abroad.
Driven by tourism, the city's industry, agriculture, and tertiary industry have all made considerable progress. The industrial structure has been further optimized, economic efficiency has improved markedly, the people's lives have improved significantly, and major breakthroughs have been made in poverty alleviation. Remarkable results have also been achieved in attracting investment, gradually forming three major industries: green biomedicine based mainly on plant active extracts, green tourism commodities based mainly on agricultural and forestry by-products, and green clean energy based mainly on comprehensive development of water energy resources. Activities held for several consecutive years, such as the “International Forest Protection Festival,” “Tourism Commodity Design Competition,” and “Tourism Commodity Expo,” have achieved good economic and social benefits. Tourism commodity production has grown to 140 enterprises, with more than 2,220 varieties in 15 major categories. In addition, relying on resource and ecological advantages, the city has developed 160,000 mu of production bases for tourism commodities such as off-season vegetables, kudzu root, and wild mountain vegetables, opening a new path of agricultural industrialization with broad prospects and considerable benefits.
In 2006, Zhang Chunxian, Secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, proposed during an inspection tour of Zhangjiajie to “build Zhangjiajie into a world-class tourism masterpiece.” This is a new goal put forward against the backdrop of world economic integration and a new requirement raised from the height of world tourism development, pointing out the direction for Zhangjiajie's tourism development.
Around the grand goal of building a “world-class tourism masterpiece,” Zhangjiajie is committed to promoting the upgrading of the tourism industry and to urban management and construction. In 2006, with the creation of a national 5A-level tourist attraction as the starting point, the city further increased the intensity of tourism infrastructure construction. The new Zhangjiajie Railway Station, at the domestic leading level, has basically been completed and will be put into operation, and the airport and air port are being expanded. Advocating the provision of humanized services for tourists, a number of advanced models in the national tourism industry have emerged, including Zhao Mingjian, the Party branch of Huangshizhai, and the Golden Whip Stream women's cleaning team. The creation activities for a national sanitary city, garden city, best tourism city, environmental protection model city, and forest city around urban construction are in full swing. Tourism exchanges and cooperation have been continuously strengthened. Horizontal cooperation with countries such as the United States, France, Germany, South Korea, and Japan, and with tourist cities such as Huangshan, Jiuzhaigou, Guilin, Changsha, and Changde, is becoming increasingly close. Using the platform of the Central China Expo, it has formed an alliance with 52 tourist cities in 6 central provinces to jointly build harmonious tourism and promote the rise of central China. In 2006, Zhangjiajie also successfully held the globally sensational Russian Air Force aerobatic performance, the International Forest Protection Festival, the Tourism Commodity Expo, and the first International Food Culture Festival.
The innovation and development of Zhangjiajie tourism have produced abundant fruits. In 2006, Zhangjiajie received 16.75 million domestic and foreign tourists, including 1.27 million overseas tourists, and achieved tourism revenue of 7.94 billion RMB, respectively 15.7 times, 112 times, and 70.8 times higher than when Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport opened in 1994. The city's GDP was 12.7 billion RMB, and its growth rate continued to maintain a leading position in the Xiangxi region.
On September 22, 2006, the Fifth Party Congress of Zhangjiajie City loudly proposed to “hold high the great banner of the Scientific Outlook on Development and strive to build a world-class tourism masterpiece,” mobilizing the people of the whole city to focus on quality, develop first-class tourism products, build first-class tourism facilities, create first-class tourism services, and establish a first-class tourism brand, gradually realizing the transformation of tourism products from a single sightseeing type to a composite type of sightseeing, leisure, and vacation, and making Zhangjiajie a tourist destination with international visibility and international influence.
A thousand-year-old city, with countless changes. The ancient Tianmen commandery of the past has become today's new international tourism city. Looking to the future, the people of Zhangjiajie will hold high the great banner of the Scientific Outlook on Development, unite from top to bottom, and join hands to create even more brilliant achievements and move toward an even better tomorrow.