Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Description
The Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a unique national forest park located in Zhangjiajie City in northern Hunan Province in the People's Republic of China. It is one of several national parks within the Wulingyuan Scenic Area.
History
In 1982 it was recognized as China's first national forest park with an area of 4,810 ha (11,900 acres). Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is part of a much larger 397.5 km2 (153.5 sq mi) Wulingyuan Scenic Area. In 1992, Wulingyuan was officially recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was then approved by the Ministry of Land and Resources as Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest National Geopark (3,600 square kilometres (1,400 sq mi)) in 2001. In 2004, Zhangjiajie Geopark was listed as a UNESCO Global Geopark.
The most notable geographic features of the park are the pillar-like formations that are seen throughout the park. Although resembling karst terrain, this area is not underlain by limestones and is not the product of chemical dissolution, which is characteristic of limestone karst. They are the result of many years of physical, rather than chemical, erosion. Much of the weathering which forms these pillars are the result of expanding ice in the winter and the plants which grow on them. The weather is moist year round, and as a result, the foliage is very dense. The weathered material is carried away primarily by streams. These formations are a distinct hallmark of Chinese landscape, and can be found in many ancient Chinese paintings.
One of the park's quartz-sandstone pillars, the 1,080-metre (3,540 ft) Southern Sky Column, had been officially renamed "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain" (阿凡达-哈利路亚山, pinyin: Āfándá hālìlùyà shān) in honor of the eponymous film in January 2010. According to park officials, photographs from Zhangjiajie inspired the floating Hallelujah Mountains seen in the film. The film's director and production designers said that they drew inspiration for the floating rocks from mountains from around the world, including those in Hunan province.
Modern Structures
The towering Bailong Elevator, literally 'hundred dragons sky lift', was opened to the public in 2002. It can transport visitors to the top of a 326 m (1,070 ft) from its foot in less two minutes. It is the world's tallest lift. The structure is composed of three separate glass elevators, each of which can carry up to 50 people at a time.
In August 2016, the Park opened the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge, the longest and highest (300 m) pedestrian glass bridge in the world. Thirteen days after opening, the bridge was closed for maintenance
Street view
Reviews
For example if you plan to travel for trekking there are many different routes for trekking to go to these locations and can cover the whole area in 4 days. But if you plan to travel like us then you have to take assistance of bus, elevator, cable car and your legs. As per my experience I am suggesting you that don’t ever go to see the park in 1 day, at least have 2 days.
There are 3 ways by which you can climb to the top of the mountain 1. By trekking, 2.By Cable car and 3.By Bailong Elevator. Most of the local tourists prefer to climb the mountain by the elevator however to enjoy the real beauty of the place you must go by foot. Su has shown us the most easily to trek path in the map and we got down from the bus at the Golden Whip Stream and started walking towards the Yuanjiajie tourist area. There is another pathway to reach the same location through Tianzi Mountain but that will need us to climb 8000 steps or else we should have taken the cable car
There are hostels inside the National Park and can be utilized if you plan to stay inside the park, also you can stay outside the park in the Wulingyuan village and visit the park on a daily basis.
Anyway, the view depends on the weather, if it's a sunny day, then you wont get a misty feel of the fog.
Sometimes the place can be too crowded, especially in the Avatar area. If you want to enjoy the nature, you can try the trekking track that needs a long time to finish. I saw this track from above the cable car, and only saw 2 persons walking down hehe.
Some of the points are connected with shuttle bus (free) and cable car (pay).