Zhangjiajie

So far it has been a busy week in China and I am keeping up that momentum with another trip to the park.

Before that I want to compliment the wonderful hotel I stayed in. I finally had a good night sleep and the view from my room’s terrace was lovely.

(Hotel MINI has 3 different locations)

In the cable car I said my goodbyes to Yangjiajie.

I took the bus to San Cha Kou.

From here I went to see the celestial bridge

And the Emperor’s throne.

Before going back on my steps to the pecking rooster.

The views there were incredible. Best of all there was just a handful of tourists (it’s not that simple to reach).

Not far is 1 dangerous step viewing point

(Which despite having a better name, was less impressive)

I then followed an abandoned looking path.

Ancient weathering crust:

Another weathering crust + waterfall:

The path ended at a rather unattractive village (offline map says Xiang Da Lu Kou)

Some locals helped me get on the bus to Tianzi Shan stop where I saw at least several hundred people waiting for the bus (found the tourists!)

So while I had been running away from flies and other bugs on an unkept road, everyone else seemed to be invading Tianzishan.

Admittedly the views were pretty here too.

No way of getting through this 🤔

At Yunqing rock, I got shooed away from the edge but not before taking a picture.

Some girls decided to go mountain walking in heels.

Giant tortoise:

(Looks more like a camel to me)

McDonald’s managed to make its way up here.

So I treated myself to an ice cream break:

(The green stuff is green tea syrup)

It seemed like the crowd just gravitates to the viewing platforms with better names.

Imperial writing brush peaks were crowded:

But then The warrior training horses was empty:

(Making for a great ice cream eating spot)

My legs then led me up a steep staircase to the heavenly platform.

With a view of the same peaks as before but on the other side of the valley:

Xihai peak forest:

Further down is the southern heavenly gate.

And the path kept going down (this can get painful on the knees)

At the bottom, I took a bus to leave the park via Wulingyuan entrance.

Wulingyuan is definitely more developed than Yangjiajie (where there is still a lot of construction going on). However, the buildings are all the same (but nicely designed) making it seem a bit inauthentic. Overall I am quite happy with my visit although I am sure I missed a lot (good reason to come back).

Fun fact :

Zhangjiajie is named after the Zhang aristocratic family whilst Yangjiajie is named after the Yang family. Jia = family or home. So essentially walking in Zhang’s (or Yang’s) family homeland.

Skipping forwards in time : coffee and cake sandwich for dinner at E-pino cafe in Zhangjiajie.

And bought some emergency food for tomorrow.