Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area of Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China

5adamgator 5:00 PM Mar 31, 2009

A beautiful part of China often missed by Westerners.
Our visit was in mid-September 2008 (for a reference). When planning our trip to China, my wife and I saw Wulingyuan Scenic Area featured on the PBS show Globetrekker and it looked really beautiful. However, tour book information was limited as were details on websites. Zhangjiajie and Wulingyuan are highly visited by Chinese tourists but visitation by Westerners is less common, obfuscating informationon the park. Nevertheless, our visit there was a highlight of the trip to China – the scenery was spectacular and the people were extremely nice. We could have used several more days (we stayed 3 nights). TRAVEL: We arrived to Zhangjiajie City by plane from Chengdu. Of note, our plane was rescheduled several times (dates changed, time changes, etc…. but it all worked out). Also, the Zhangjiajie airport was the dirtiest of the 5 airports we visited in China – the restrooms were unusable. In fact, I picked up typhoid (despite vaccination –it’s not 100%) within 36 hours of leaving the airport (we were stuck there for several hours due to delays) and I am convinced it was from eating in that dirty airport. I was told by a friend in Changsha that the train ride is very long. Fortunately, the rest of our time in Wulingyuan was wonderful. HOTEL: It is also noteworthy that there is Zhangjiajie City and Zhangjiajie Town. We stayed in the latter which is right outside of the park (the town is a small tourist village, the city is an hour’s drive from the park). Of note, we arrived at 10 pm in September and it was 90 degrees down below in the city but only in the 70s up at the town (due to elevation, presumably). We stayed at the Pipaxi Hotel (see my review) and had a really great experience. We arranged airport pickup from the hotel – that was quite affordable relative to Western prices (maybe $30 for the trip up the mountain). The Tianzi Peak area had hotels as well (in fact, it was relatively built up compared to Zhangjiaje village [in which growth is limited because it's in a narrow valley] and the immediate area is not spectacular. I recommend seeing the Tianzi area, but staying in Zhangjiaje Town for the scenery. THE PARK: Wulingyuan is composed of several areas. We visited Zhangjiajie Forest Park near Zhangjiajie Town (walking distance) and the Tianzi Peak Area. There are multiple areas of the park, many under the same 2-day entrance fee of about 250 Yuan (RMB). Many of the cable cars (and the Bailong Elevator) are separate fees (10-50 yuan). A young woman working at our hotel actually extended our park pass to 7 days at no extra charge (we needed our photos taken) but we would not have know that was possible without speaking/reading Mandarin. She spoke with the superintendent who approved it. The entrance fee (roughly equivalent to eighty US dollars per person), is several months wages to the average Chinese family, so most of the tourists visiting are fairly wealthy (relatively speaking). Again, we visited only 2 core areas of the park: the Zhangjiajie Forest Area near Zhangjiajie Town and the Tianzi Peak area (about 40 miles away) The entirety of the first day was spent at the former. Zhangjiajie Forest Park: One could spend multiple days here. It was crowded, but if you can hike off the board walks and paved trails, it’s easy to escape the crowds and tour groups with microphones. There are hikes along a river (in the forest) and phenomenal scenery to admire in the valley (the karsts, peaks and caves surround the valley). A cable car takes you up 3000 ft offering amazing views (alternatively, a hike can take you up as well – it’s a good workout that we passed on). Part of the area up-top is called Huangshi Village. There is a several kilometer hike up above, starting from Huangshi Village, with minimal elevation change and great views. Bathrooms and vendors (water, food, ice cream) are located throughout the tourist areas. Down below in the valley was a great place to see sun rises and sunsets (I’m sure it’s great topside as well). Come to this part of the park for forest hikes and geological scenery like no-where else on earth. We saw tons of monkeys down below as well. Tianzi Peak: The next day we took a 30 min van ride to another area of the park, the Tianzi peak area. This entrance of the park was more built up and there were many more hotels up here. Actually, we liked staying in the valley in Zhangjiajie Town better as it was smaller and less developed. From this entrance, we took a bus along a lake and to a cable car (longer than the cable car to Huangshi Village) for a beautiful ride (close your eyes if you’re afraid of heights) up to the topside of the karsts. The rest of the day was spent hiking along the ridges admiring scenery. A series of clean air buses (CNG powered) can take you along if you need a rest. There are actually hikes one can take back to the Zhangjiajie Forest Park, but we did not have the time. Instead, we explored the ridge and took various buses to cover more ground. We spent the day hiking from overlook to overlook, admiring the wonderful views. We ended up taking the Bailong Elevator back down below (the fastest and tallest clear elevator in the world). From there, we took a series of buses to a third entrance of the park. This one was very remote (in a farming area) and by pointing to the map, we convinced a local to drive us to our hotel for reasonable payment. Basically, we got around the park pointing to a map – the bus drivers either motioned us on or pointed us in the right direction. It would have been fun to hike back to the Zhangjiajie Village, but we did not want to be stuck in the dark and did not know how to ask about distance/elevation changes, etc. Another great day! Again, food, water, and toilets are never too far! There are other areas of the park… the Suoxi Valley, Yangjiajie Scenic Area, and Yellow Dragon Cave which we did not have time to explore – too bad. Overall, we had good weather – the first day was bright and sunny while the second was foggy – both created interesting views. It was hot in September so I’d caution hiking there in the summer! Tianmen Mountain: We spent our third day on Tianmen Mountain, which is located just outside of Zhangjiajie City. We took what is claimed to be the longest passenger cableway in the world (Tianmen Mountain Cableway) which is 7.2 KM. It departures from the Zhangjiajie city and goes to the top of the mountain. Up top, you can hike a short distance to a temple or take a chairlift. Unfortunately, it was extremely foggy so we could not admire the views (or huge drops under the cable car). However, we had fun and I would have loved to see it on a clear day!!!! We took the cable car back to the midway point and then took a bus up a treacherous road to Tianmen Cave. We climbed the thousand steps to Tianmen Cave – a large opening in the mountain (a plane actually flew through the entrance as a stunt a few years back). However, the fog was so thick we could not see the cave! Many guides will offer their services - you really don't need one -- especially if you get a free map from your hotel -- young Chinese tourists will help you out & seem to enjoy practicing their English and being of assistance. People were very helpful and we got around just fine in the absence of any organized tours! Summary: Overall, I highly recommend the natural beauty of this part of China. Again, stay outside of the busy city, spend a few days, and don’t expect peace and quiet unless you hike away from crowds. Do expect beautiful scenery, scary cable car rides (if you hate heights), friendly people, good food, and nice pictures and unforgettable memories!

57barb 5:00 PM May 27, 2013

Wulingyuan Scenic area - a lot to absorb
If you don't know this area, it's probably best to have a guide or you can waste a lot of time and miss a number of scenic views. We used the Zhangjiajie Backpacking Club http://www.explorezhangjiajie.com over a 4 day time frame. They set us up in two different hotels so a lot of time was not wasted by driving. Wulingyuan is an enormous area consisting of several different parks and even though both of the hotels were in Zhangjiajia, there was about a 45 minute drive between the two of them. The plane flies into Dayong as the name of the airport on my ctrip reservation but this is part of Zhangjiajie. At least in May, there is only one flight a day going in from Chengdu and it arrives around 8PM. Andy from the ZJJ Backpacking Club and Mr. Hu, their driver picked us up from the airport and took us to the Sunshine Hotel - about a 45 minute drive. The following day we took about a 2 minute drive to the cable car ride up Tianmen Mountain. From reading the reviews, it appears there are a lot of choices from this point. We walked a pretty easy hike to the Glass Plank Walkway and on up to Tianmen Temple. From there we took another cable car down to the bus which is an experience on it's own. 99 hairpin turns on a very small road with busses and cars and construction equipment all using it but it's breathtaking. The bus drops you off at the foot of Tianmen Cave which is a natural hole in the mountains. From there you do have a hike to get to the cave called the 99 Steps to Heaven. Totally worth it for the view. You can find utube videos of the Russian and Chinese airplanes doing stunt flights through the opening and Jeb Corliss flying through it with his wingsuit. That night they took us to the Fox Fairy show at the foot of the mountain with Tianmen Cave in the background. The show was designed by the director who did the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremonies. The colors are amazing. The music was wonderful. The words just don't translate well into English but that part really wasn't needed to enjoy the show. If nothing else, it was absolutely worth seeing the mountains backlit as part of the ending scene. The rest of the important sites for Wulingyuan were on the other side of Zhangjiajie so the Club moved us to the Pullman Hotel about 45 minutes away. There was much more to do here. Our second outing was to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Golden Whip Stream which was only a few minutes drive from our new hotel. It was an easy hike for several hours with some rain but the mist just added to the spectacular views. Small macaque monkeys are all over this park and appear used to tourists. We did take the short cable car to the top but the mist was so thick here that we could not see the mountain formations. That night, we went to the Zhangjiajie Theater that is directly adjacent to the Pullman Hotel and watched two shows. The first was inside the theater and showed a lot of the local ethnic populations with acrobatics, dancing, music - it was wonderful. When it was over, the outside show had just begun with more feats of strength and some comedy that didn't need any translation. Our next day was at Zhangjiajie Great Canyon and it took about 1.5 hours to drive there. There were a lot of stairs here and a lot of waterfalls and even a long stone slide you could go down for an extra fee (it was fun). Andy took us to the new shopping area that is being developed by the river. It was an easy 10 minute walk from the hotel. Not much open during the day but it comes alive at 7PM with shops, bars and outdoor entertainment. Our final day was also in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park at Yuanjiajia - the Avatar mountain (Tianzi). Jaw dropping views. You start by bus and there are two choices. Andy knew that most everyone wants to go up the Bailong Elevator to start and that would have a 2-3 hour wait for a 2 minute ride (most of which is behind cement). So we started with the bus that takes you to the cable car - a 5 - 10 minute wait to get to the same spot as the elevator. He then chose several of his favorite areas of the park for us to walk to - all easy hikes. You can either use the free busses in the park but the line for these can be 40-60 minutes at each stop or you can rent one of the private minivans for about $10 USD and they will take you to all the hiking areas you want and wait for you at each site. We chose the minivan. One stop was a town set up in the park with the ethnic minorities showing silver making, beekeeping, weaving and other similar trades. A lot of nice silver jewelry for sale here. After a few more stops with our minivan driver, we were let off to go DOWN the Bailong elevator and there was essentially no line for this. At the bottom the view is as spectacular as elsewhere in the Park. A National Forest Park pass is good for 3 days. I cannot say enough good about the job that Andy and the ZJJ Backpacking Club did to pick and choose what they felt we would like best. They set up the trip depending on your requests (a lot of walking, just a little walking, etc). Unless you know this area and speak Chinese, find a guide to take you around but do come to Zhangjiajie. I want to come back during the fall (but not October or any of the official Chinese holidays). Some guide at the park did note the the crowds have dropped since the new premier took over this year. He's stopped all government workers from using government money to pay for their personal vacations as they were doing in the past. That's good for us!