Late Autumn Stroll through Zhangjiajie
Starting from Dalian, I flew and arrived in Changsha at noon on November 10th, then took the maglev and metro to the hotel on Changsha Avenue. On the 11th, I visited Yuelu Mountain, and on the 12th, I visited Orange Isle. Along the way, I scanned QR codes and wore a mask, and soon got used to it. On the 13th, I took a bullet train, also called an intercity train, and arrived at Zhangjiajie West Station. On the metro, I saw the name of the intercity train station and didn’t immediately understand what an intercity train was. The trip from Changsha to Zhangjiajie took about three hours, and the train was nearly full.
After arriving at Zhangjiajie West Station, I took Bus No. 13 to the pre-booked Yunmei Bieyuan hotel. This hotel was chosen based on online information, and it turned out to be very ideal. The hotel was clean, the facilities were new, the breakfast was abundant, and the service was attentive in every aspect. On the day of arrival, Xiao Tian, the hotel’s tour guide consultant, enthusiastically gave us detailed advice on how to plan our travel route in Zhangjiajie. Her most important suggestion was to save good weather for the mountains; if there was rain or fog on the mountains, we might not see anything. We checked the recent weather forecast for Zhangjiajie, which showed rainy weather starting two days later, so we arranged mountain tours for the first two days: Tianmen Mountain and Tianzi Mountain scenic areas. When visiting Zhangjiajie, paying attention to the weather and arranging your itinerary accordingly is a key principle.
On the 14th, I visited Tianmen Mountain, making a clockwise loop from east to west. In the morning, the scenery on the east side was better, with the mountains in backlight. In the afternoon, the west side was the same. If the light is in front, the mountain scenery lacks a three-dimensional feel. The weather was excellent on the day we went up. If it were cloudy or rainy, we might have seen nothing. Many people challenge themselves to hike to the top, but we didn’t have that ability. We took escalators all the way up, a total of 12 inclined escalators, each over a hundred meters long, reaching the summit. We enjoyed a half-price discount for being over 60. The remaining paths on the mountain were not too difficult.
On the 15th, the rental car company delivered the car, and we began a four-day tour of the Forest Park. On the first day, it was sunny, and we were on the mountains. If it were cloudy on the mountains, we might have seen nothing. Weather is very important when visiting Zhangjiajie. We took the Tianzi Mountain cable car, visited Helong Park, Yangjiajie, and Yuanjiajie, then took the Bailong Elevator through Ten-Mile Gallery and returned to the Wulingyuan entrance.
Helong Park has many viewpoints, such as the nearby Tianzi Observation Deck, the East Heavenly Gate and Fairies Scattering Flowers to the east, and the Imperial Writing Brush Peak and Warrior Taming a Horse to the south. It takes some time to visit them all. In Yangjiajie, we visited One Step to Heaven and the Sky Corridor.
Then we headed to Yuanjiajie, which is arguably the most spectacular part of the Tianzi Mountain area. We walked through the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, the First Bridge Under Heaven, and the Lost Soul Platform, then descended via the Bailong Sky Ladder.
On the second day, it was cloudy. We entered through the main gate at Laomowan Oxygen Bar Square, visited Golden Whip Stream, and took a tram through Ten-Mile Gallery. We exited through the Wulingyuan gate and took a taxi back to the main gate—this route was clearly not very reasonable. Golden Whip Stream is the most beautiful scenic area at the foot of Zhangjiajie’s mountains, with clear streams, misty strange peaks and rocks, stretching 7.5 kilometers. The required physical effort and feeling vary from person to person.
On the third day, it was cloudy, and the scenic area was shrouded in mist. We entered through the Wulingyuan entrance again, walked through Ten-Mile Gallery to make up for the inconvenience of taking photos from the tram, then visited the eastern half of Golden Whip Stream before returning the same way. We finished before 4 p.m., an easy day.
On the fourth day, it turned partly cloudy, and we could see blue sky. So we decided to go up Tianzi Mountain again. We visited Shentang Bay, Dianjiangtai, and the Air Field. We left the scenic area around 4:30 p.m., and just as we reached the gate, a torrential rain poured down. Raincoats and umbrellas were not very effective. Fortunately, the distance from the park exit to the underground parking lot entrance was not too far. Thinking back, at noon we had met several photography enthusiasts at Dianjiangtai who claimed they wanted to wait for the ideal light after 4 p.m.—I wonder how they managed to avoid the heavy rain.
On the 19th, it was cloudy. We visited the Grand Canyon and Baofeng Lake. Probably because we had just toured the Forest Park, the scenery of the Grand Canyon was disappointing: the ticket was not cheap, and the service was not ideal. Baofeng Lake is not large; it takes about two hours to circle it. It is more exquisite and beautiful than the Grand Canyon. We walked up some stairs and took a boat ride to enjoy the lake and mountains. In the evening, we returned the car, and the rental company owner kindly drove us back to the hotel.
On the 20th, we began our return journey. After spending another day in Changsha, we returned to Dalian.
