CHINA 5A TRAVEL
Three thousand quartz-sandstone pillars in a primeval forest park — the 'Avatar' mountains of Yuanjiajie, the Golden Whip Stream gorge, and China's first national forest park, paired across the city with Tianmen Mountain's arch and glass walkway for the definitive Zhangjiajie pairing.
The Wulingyuan Scenic Area's Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is one of the planet's more alien landscapes: thousands of quartz-sandstone pillars — some 200 metres tall — rising out of subtropical forest, a landform found almost nowhere else at this scale. Yuanjiajie's pillar field supplied the floating mountains of Avatar; Golden Whip Stream threads the canyon floor beneath them. UNESCO inscribed Wulingyuan in 1992; the park was China's first national forest park (1982).
The ticket is a four-day pass through five gates — most enter at the East (Banner) Gate and ride the eco-buses between the plateaus: Bailong Elevator or Tianzi cable up, then Yuanjiajie (Avatar, First Bridge Under Heaven), Yangjiajie (Walled Village ridges) and Tianzi (imperial-peak panoramas), with Golden Whip Stream and Ten-Mile Gallery as valley options.
Across the city, Tianmen Mountain completes the official 5A pairing: the 7,455-metre cableway from downtown, the 99-bend road, the Tianmen cave arch and the cliff glass walkways. Plan two days for the forest park plus one for Tianmen — most combine both with Furong Town and Fenghuang in Xiangxi circuits.
Highlights
Yuanjiajie — Avatar Peaks
The pillar amphitheatre of Mihun Terraces, First Bridge Under Heaven and the Hallelujah column.
Bailong Elevator
The 326-metre cliff-face glass elevator — the world's tallest — up to Yuanjiajie in two minutes.
Golden Whip Stream
A 7.5-km level stream walk under 200-metre walls — the park's gentle half-day classic.
Tianzi Mountain
The imperial-peak plateau of Yubi ('Imperial Brush') summits and Helong Park cloud views.
Tianmen Mountain
The other half of the pairing: the giant arch, 99-bend road, glass walkways and cableway from the city.
Ten-Mile Gallery
The shuttle-train valley of peak shapes — easy, family-friendly, endlessly photogenic.
Photo Gallery
Comments