Explore Zhangjiajie on foot

Zhangjiajie last minute China travel deals is located in northweste Hunan Province. To get there, you might take train or bus for 5 hours ride from Changsha, the capital of this province.

Local scenic hotspots include the Zhangjiaie National Forest Park, the Tianzi Mountain and Badagong Mountain nature reserves and the Maoyan River. Its unique sandstone landscapes and its primeval forests make the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park a number one choice for visitors to the area. I was delighted at the opportunity to see and report on this scenic haven.

Primeval Natural Landscapes
At just 32 kilometers outside the city proper, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is regarded as the city's back garden. After a 20-minute drive, we arrived at the park. Having just left the noisy city behind, I felt we had entered another universe. It was a joualist named Yang Fei, who traveled the area 25 years ago, that first revealed its beauty to the public in 300 breathtaking photographs.

These shots also caught the attention of China's State Council, which in 1982 made the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park the first of its kind in the country. People come from all over the world to marvel at its dramatic rock formations, rivers, valleys, and primeval forest.

This vast park covers a total of 4,810 hectares. There are six scenic areas: Jinbian (Golden Whip) Brook, Pipa (a plucked string instrument) Brook, Huangshizhai (Yellow Lion) Mesa, Yaozizhai (Sparrow Hawk Mesa) Village, Shadao (Sand Sword) Gully and Yuanjiajie mesa.

The panoramic view from Yaozizhai best tours of China, at the mountain summit overlooking the mountainside, stole my breath. With an average annual temperature of 12.8 degrees Celsius and a forestation rate of 98 percent, Zhangjiajie air is so pure that you won't want to leave. There are 517 different species of plant and trees, including 7 rare species under Category I national protection. Home to 41 species of bird and 28 species of animal, Zhangjiajie Natural Forest Park enjoys a reputation as the country's natural zoo.

Zhangjiajie's landscape is the result of 380 million years of nature's machinations. Three hundred and eight million years ago, the area was under the sea, where halobios fossils formed layers of soil and rocks. Earth movements elevated the seabed above the water's surface, and submerged other tracts of land. This cycle continued until, at the last Yanshan Mountain deformation, the area rose up from the sea, rock layers splitting, and crevasses expanding, to become today's Zhangjiajie, whose ruggedness is also the result of water, wind and rain erosion.

Zhangjiajie is best known for its towering peaks, cloaked in cloud and mist, and covered in different shades of green. Thick shrubs cover the cliff surface, and pines flourish on the mountaintops. Various shapes can be disceed in its peaks -- of animals, swords and humans. An aerial view of the peaks presents an even more impressive view -- a veritable forest of corals in a blue fathomless sea.

In the late 1970s renowned artist Wu Guanzhong came to Zhangjiajie. He was greatly touched and inspired by the purity of its natural beauty, and subsequently produced his masterpiece, Zhangjiajie . He also wrote an article entitled, "An Unknown Nurtured in the Recess of the Boudoir," in which he eulogized Zhangjiajie as a scenic gem tucked away in the depth of the mountains. Today Zhangjiajie is a popular tourist destination, and Wu Guanzhong's painting is on exhibit at a French museum popular China tour package.

Of Zhangjiajie's magnificent mountains, Tianmen might be the most characteristic. A few kilometers south of the city stands a solitary cliff-faced mountain, within which is a huge opening, known as the Celestial Gate -- the name of the mountain. In 1999 various inteational stunt pilots flew their planes through this opening.

It is said that Zhangjiajie has 3,000 peaks and 800 bodies of waters, including springs, streams, lakes, waterfalls and pools. They never dry up even in drought years, and remain clear even after a heavy rain. Along the Jinbian and Liansuo streams are a series of picturesque spots. The Yuanyang Waterfalls cascade from a height of 100 meters, their thunder echoing through the mountains. Baofeng Lake is a crystal-clear alpine lake cupped in green mountains.

tags: China tourism

Wonderful Life...