The Golden Whip Stream winds its way deep into the Zhangjiajie National Park. We don’t really have time to follow the stream wherever it takes us, so at one point along the stream there was a fork in the road. One continues along the Golden Whip Stream, while the other leads to a long flight of stairs into the mountain. Figuring that we have had enough of the Golden Whip Stream, we decided to follow the stairs wherever it takes us.
The stairs eventually leads to Yuanjiajie 袁家界 part of the national park. We figured that it should not be a very far walk so we just followed the stairs. There were also some visitors walking along the stairs so we had some company.
The path was longer than we expected. 45 minutes into the climb, we came to a small clearing where there was a small store selling food. We were famished and we needed a break from the climbing. We order some expensive instand noodles. They were expensive because people have to hand carry all of the stuff all the way up here. The lady let us sit inside her house which wasn’t really much. Her kid was inside looking at us. I asked the lady how much more we have to walk, she said the were haven’t even covered one third of the way. I think we made a mistake walking all the way here, but i didn’t really matter now, since we are already here.
After the not so satisfying lunch, we continued out climb to the top. After three hours to huffing and puffing, reached the summit. Or rather, the top of the path. It is actually at a ridge which overlooks a valley with one of the most amazing sights I have seen. In the valley is a huge collection of limestone peaks, some were just pillars with some plant life on top.
I have seen countless photos of this sights. And even countless Chinese paintings about this. One could imagine that mountains in Chinese paintings were just a figment of their imagination but it is truly wonderful to know that it is based on reality. This is Chinese painting come to life. By afternoon, it was quite hazy, so the pillars aren’t very distinct. In optimal viewing conditions, clouds can be seen floating from the valley below and behind some of the pillars. This would a real life painting. This would be China’s answer to the Grand Canyon in the United States. This place, however, is a little more ethereal. There are thousands of limestone peaks here that were carved out by water millions of years ago.
There is a trail along the ridge of the top of the mountain for visitors to view the whole area. By this time there was a huge crowd of Chinese tourists jostling for position along the ridge. I wondered where did they all come from, they certainly didn’t walk all the way up. How do the park authorities expect the older folk to climb all the way up that long flight of stairs to view this? It turns out there was a bus service that take visitors from the entrance all the way up to the view area here in Yuanjiajie. Well, that was certainly a big waste of time, we could have spent the rest of the time exploring the other areas of the park. Too bad.
Further along the path, was what is called the World’s First Bridge 天下第一桥. We were somehow looking forward to see this World’s First Bridge. When we got there, we disappointed, it was merely, a natural bridge created when the limestone below a pillar collapsed but leaving the top intact. Thus, visitors can cross this bridge to the other side. There wasn’t really anything of note there. The “bridge” is lined with padlocks left by Chinese lovers similar to other places in the country.
After taking tons of photos, we left the viewing deck and have some ice cream at a stall near the parking lot. So this is there everybody has been coming from. Maybe those guides at the entrance can be handy sometimes. We took a few moments to relax before we were on our way again. But we will always remember the amazing sight that made Zhangjiajie a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/Zhangjiajie.kmz} zoom=14]