Zhangjiajie

Zhangjiajie is situated in the northwest of the Hunan province, just south of the Yangtse river. The forest park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992. It is a well known in China, but not so much outside China. It is a bit difficult to get to, although there are connections by plane and a few trains connect the area to Changsha and other Chinese cities. I had read a little about it somewhere and because I love mountains and forests it seemed a place worth visiting. It is a big place, the park and surrounding areas cover 398 square kilometers, so one really needs a few days to really visit the major sights. As all Chinese parks we have visited it is very well organized, with buses and cable cars connecting the various spots, the trails are clearly marked and it is fairly easy to walk around, although here as in many other places there are a lot of stairs to climb.
We left Hong Kong by bus and a couple of hours later we had checked in at the Shenzhenairport. Our plane to Zhangjiajie was delayed. The passengers were clearly mostly Chinese holiday makers and fortunately a family of three took mercy on us as all the information was in Chinese. The family consisted of a very chic and beautiful mother which we believed was a company executive or government official (clearly used to be in charge), a daughter and son in their late teens, the daughter with a punk hair style. The children spoke excellent English and passed on all the information. We would meet the family every day in Zhangjiajie and exchange our experiences, it is often said that Chinese people are not very friendly, but this is not our experience. We have often been approached by Chinese people who just want to talk. Of course our ignorance of the language is a problem as so few people in China know good English. But every now and then we meet someone with whom we can talk and it is always interesting. The family in question was really surprised that we had three weeks to spend on holidays for a China trip, because they could at most get a week of vacation.
The first morning in Zhangjiajie we walked down the road to the entrance. Giorgos was shocked by the size of the village, it is probably the smallest place in China that we have ever visited. A main street with a few stores, a couple of hotels, a bazaar area with minority women selling their handicraft. That is all. There were no cafes nor restaurants. However, there were beautiful mountains surrounding us giving us a taste of what was about to come. The entrance fee of 250 Yuan bought us a ticket which was valid for two days and for identification we gave our electronic fingerprints . Very high tech. There were some “guides” trying to offer their services but we knew that the national parks in China are very well organized so no guide is necessary. First place we visited was the Yellow Stone Stronghold. Never could figure out why it is called like that. Nevermind, it is a rock standing high above the surrounding valleys with its sides being near vertical. We took the park bus to the cable car station and after a five minute or so ride we reached the top of the cliff. At the first viewing platform we met the family from the airport! The next three hours we leisurely walked around the summit among the trees. As soon as we got a bit further away from the cable car station we were alone, while the Chinese tour groups obviously were doing a shorter round. At regular intervals were viewing points giving uninterrupted views of the surrounding peaks, some just a few meters across and making up the strangest formations. I also appreciated that there were signs with information about the geology and biology of the area at intervals. Because one does wonder how anything like these rocks can be created. We will visit Huangshan as our second destination.