Ten Thousand Steps into Zhangjiajie
After spending a wonderful 5 days rock climbing, cycling and enjoying the night life on West Street in Yangshuo, I finally made my way to the famous Avatar Mountains called “Zhangjiajie”. Remember James Cameron’s smash hit movie “The Avatar” that took place on an imaginary planet called Pandora? With giant blue people with bows and a movie plot that was remarkably similar to the historical colonization of North America? Well in order to create the cool floating islands on Pandora, they filmed the real mountains in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and added them in the post-production visual effects! Probably the coolest part is that rather than flying by floating islands in the sky hidden in the clouds, you may see the real mountains and cliffs hidden in mist and clouds in the early morning, if the weather permits!
Ben and I spent two full days in the “Wulingyuan Scenic Area”, which is the official name of the famous park. The large city is called Zhangjiajie and the little tourist town outside the park is called Wulingyuan. Two full days of hiking and sightseeing was plenty for both of us to enjoy all the main park had to offer without over staying. I would suggest adding another day for the Tianmen Mountain and or the World’s longest Glass Skybridge. There are many more attractions and touristy things to do in the area around Wulingyuan like caving and other nature parks, so I’ll include a brief list. But Ben & I only focused on the main tourist park, which was already enormous. We’re headed to see the Terracotta Warrior in Xi’An at our next stop, something we can’t wait to see!
Welcome to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Zhangjiajie is in the North West corner of Hunan Province. The park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 for the 3,000 sandstone pillars and peaks that create this dramatic otherworldly kind of scenery. Especially during the early morning mist! I mentioned the movie Avatar already, but I was actually reminded of the Jurassic Park movies, but instead of Ford Explorers, there are Mini Trams and Cable Cars. It just feels like the kind of place Dinosaurs like Pterodactyls would thrive! A beautiful wilderness!
Top Sights in Zhangjiajie
I don’t want to show too much since you’ll want to experience the wonders of Zhangjiajie first-hand and explore not only the major attractions but also the smaller hidden treasures in the park. Since Ben & I went in without a plan, we were able to feel relaxed and enjoy even the less scenic trails under the forest canopy, I’m sure we missed some really incredible sights, but we did manage to explore quite a lot of the more famous lookouts and rock formations!.
Bailong Elevator
10 Miles Gallery
Love Lock Mountain
Cablecar Ascent
240+ National Parks in China!
I’ll be the first to admit that I believed China to be one of the worst countries when it comes to environmental protection. I saw all those photos of air pollution in Beijing and I did see piles of garbage both in the cities and countryside. But what I didn’t know is that National Parks in China are exactly the same as the USA. All National Parks Worldwide can be thought as following the Yellowstone model, as the most famous and first National Park ever created.
The Chinese have really adhered to this model as close as they can, while understanding the challenges they face in terms of the environmental impact of tourist. Yellowstone National Park saw a record breaking 4.2 million visitors in 2016 while Zhangjiajie consistently sees over 30 million tourists each year, mostly from other provinces in China. Those numbers aren’t even remotely comparable… That’s why you’ll see lots of well built infrastructure like concrete railings and paths inside of Zhangjiajie National Park. I think it’s important to understand the difference between a National Park and wildlife sanctuary. National Parks are meant to protect the natural environment and provide a service to the public for their enjoyment. In order to do so, the park area is highly developed for tourists like we saw in Jurassic Park! That doesn’t take away from the experience, but rather adds to it. For example, the view from the Cable Cars as you rise into the mountains is simply stunning.
Where the USA and Canada have 60 and 48 National Parks & Reserves respectively (not counting Provincial and Municipal Parks), China has created 244 National Parks since 1982!They also have more protected land than most G20 countries as a percentage of total land area. Who knew! Rather than thinking of China as the world’s manufacturing facility and dumping zone for pollution and products exported to the West, how long before China is the world’s leader in environmental protection and climate change? Out of necessity perhaps, but what can they do in just another 38 years?
Park Entrance Fee & Hours
- Hours: 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
- Fee: 248 RMB ($38.40 USD)
- International Student Discounts: Yes, 40 – 50%
- Purple Shuttle Bus: Free
Extra Charges for Cables Cars, Trains & Elevator
- Bailong Elevator 72 RMB one-way ($11.30 USD)
- Yellow Stone Village Cable Car 65 RMB one-way ($10.20 USD)
- Tianzi Mountain Cable Car 67 RMB one-way ($10.50 USD)
- Ten-Mile Gallery Tourist Train 38 RMB one-way ($5.95 USD)
- Student Discount Also Applies Here! Show your Card!
The Zhangjiajie park is 102 square miles (26,400 Hectares) so you won’t see everything in one day! It’s impossible unless you can fly. Ben & I learned on the very first day that when the signs say “1h 30 mins” walking time to the end of the trail… they aren’t over-estimating. Not at all. In fact, most of the signs are spot on for your regular, average person. Ben and I are both young and fit, so we automatically assumed it would take us half the time but we were so wrong! Wrong, Wrong, WRONG.
Depending on the time of year and day, it may be 35 degrees and humid. Not a big deal right? Until you discover some of the trails are just endless stairs that climb the over 200 meters from base to the top of the mountains. Thousands of stairs… Like never ending. Stairs for days. We just winged it, choosing trails at random and following some of the crowds. A slight mistake! It took us half of the first day, some 5 hours to finish only two trails. Worse, we almost didn’t make it out of the park on time! The park closes at 7:00 pm sharp, meaning the last buses back to the entrance leave at 6:30 pm. Anyone stuck in the park after close will incur a huge penalty and an expensive taxi ride back. We really had to hustle down the slippery trails to reach the main road, for fear of being left behind!
Choosing how to organize your trails makes an enormous difference, especially if you are visiting for multiple days. You can choose to hike up the mountains along a few trails, or you can simply pay to take the Bailong Elevator – The world’s tallest outdoor elevator, or a relaxing Cable Car to the top of various sections of the park. The mountains aren’t peaks so much as platforms, with popular trails winding around the edges of the mountains and cliffs, so you’ll get your walking in all day regardless! At least with the Cable Car up, you may find the walk down more enjoyable.
The Town of Wulingyuan
Tourism in China is still unrefined in a sense. However Wulingyuan is a small town specifically built to host tourists. It’s a good 2 hours by bus from the city, train station and airport at Zhangjaijie and the best place to stay for your adventure into the National Park. The town is continuously being developed with more hotels, restaurants and activities for both foreign and domestic visitors.
There are quite a few hostels located around town, all similarly priced for a bunk but also offering private rooms. So don’t worry about booking the ‘best’ place in advance. You’ll probably be out all day adventuring anyway. Once established in the town, the main entrance to Zhangjiajie National Park is a short walk and marked by a huge pagoda like something out of the opening scenes of a medieval themed Chinese movie. I’m not kidding, you can’t miss it.
Each region in China has such different soups and dishes. In Wulingyuan, the beef broth is beyond delicious, sorry vegans. The town has well priced restaurants and very well priced street food since everything is mainly intended for Chinese tourists, not foreigners. This also means English will be relatively uncommon. So better practice your mandarin or get a translation app & SIM Card. If you plan on an early start to your day, you can pick up snacks and drinks at any corner store. The yogurt drink + dried fruit was our favorite for a quick breakfast on the go!
At the end of the day, or early in the morning, you can check out the side streets and enjoy a meal on the patio. The restaurants will either have a buffet or set meal. For breakfast you can enjoy a Chinese style buffet with rice porridge, boiled vegetable soup, eggs and coffee. For dinner, the set meals usually include a main dish like a stew or stir fry, and two or three side dishes of fried vegetables or beef. You won’t find bacon and eggs very easily, but the local cuisine is really delicious.
If you happen to be going out with another Chinese tourist like we did, there are often discounts up to 20% on Taotao or other apps, and orders for set meals can be placed and paid in advance, no waiting! Just hand your new friend some cash and walk over for your indicated time. Easy! In many ways, China is far ahead of western countries when it comes to integrating technology and services, dinning out is often one of the best examples. Otherwise getting a table may impossible since there are so many people!
Directions to Zhangjiajie & Wulingyuan
Zhangjiajie City has its own major railway station and airport with flights and trains to the rest of China. But if you find it hard to get an available flight or train ticket, try heading to Changsha beforehand. The major and capital of Hunan Province isn’t too far away and trains or buses to and from Zhangjiajie may be easier to book.
The railway station is directly beside the bus terminal. So walking out of the railway station, look left and you’ll see a McDonald’s sign. The building is also where you’ll catch a mini bus to Wulingyuan. The buses leave regularly and take roughly an hour to reach the terminal in Wulingyuan but may take longer due to stops in rural villages along the way.
There is also a great information center directly beside the railway station with attendants who speak basic English. Go there first if you are unsure or have some touristy questions. Chances are if you are a foreign tourist, you’ll be going the same direction as all the other foreigners and the staff will make sure you are headed in the right direction, should you jump on the wrong mini bus or something.
Zhangjiajie is a pretty amazing destination, from the local food to the beautiful National Park. Ben & I were fortunate to come across a French tourist in Yangshuo that recommended it to us and told us where to stay. It was the perfect place to spend a few days hiking and sightseeing before heading off to another crazy big city, Xi’An.
