Tourist attractions: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Tianmen Mountain

Date of Play: September 29, 2019 to October 4, 2019

Travel mode: train

My parents love to climb mountains and see the scenery. Last spring, I made a travel guide to Zhangjiajie, but unfortunately, my husband was busy with work and couldn't make it. I made plans early this year and finally went to see the mountains of Zhangjiajie for this National Day.

Day1 (9.29) Stay in Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot

11: The 30 train has arrived at Zhangjiajie Station. In order to avoid the peak period of National Day, we plan to visit Zhangjiajie National Forest Park first. There are five gates in the forest park scenic area, and the park is very large. For example, the main gate of the park and the Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot landmark gate are 18km away, so you should choose your accommodation and entrance gate according to your own tourist location. I chose the Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot sign gate to enter the park. There is a bus station next to Zhangjiajie Railway Station. There are direct buses to Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot, 13 yuan/person, and it takes about 40 minutes to reach Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot. The Hansu Exotic Hotel beside Xibu Street in Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot, loft family duplex suite, was booked. The room is clean and well decorated, with kitchenware, refrigerator and washing machine, suitable for a family.

Because there was only half a day left, I didn't enter the park first and took a walk nearby after dinner. There is a small river next to Xibu Street. The water comes from the park and is quite clear. There are small fish and shrimp. Children like to use small fish nets to catch small fish and have fun playing with them. There is a cement pool by the river, where several aunties are doing laundry. On the river, in addition to the bridge for cars and pedestrians, there are also bridges lined with stone piers, making it convenient to cross the river and offering beautiful scenery.

Day 2 (9:30) Tour Tianzishan+Yuanjiajie

Taking advantage of the shortage of people, we will go hiking first. We will leave at 6:30 in the morning and pick up the ticket at 7 o'clock. The admission fee is 228 yuan per person. Elderly people over 65 years old only need to buy insurance for 3 yuan, and children under 1.3 meters are also free of charge.

Enter the park through the signgate and take an eco-friendly car directly to the Tianzishan Cableway Station. Along the way, you can see Suoxi Lake, which is green and deep. The environment is very good, and the fish inside must be delicious. Cableway is 72 yuan/person, half price for the elderly and children. This is the first time our whole family has done a cable car together. The cable car has a great view. On a sunny day, we can see the steep mountains with different postures standing tall in the blue sky. The trees below cover us, and we can't see the road. It feels great.

After getting off the cable car and taking the eco-friendly bus to the intersection of Tianzishan, we began to visit the Tianzishan scenic area. The main attractions included Tiannu's flower offering, Yubi Peak, and Helong Park, with a travel time of 1.5 hours.

Heavenly Maiden Offering Flowers

Yubi Peak

After playing for a while and returning to the entrance of Tianzishan Road, walk back for a short distance, and then you can take an environmentally friendly car heading towards Yuanjiajie. Passing by Dingxiang Village and Yangjiajie, because we have elderly and children, considering our physical strength, we skipped Yangjiajie and headed straight for Yuanjiajie. After getting off at Tianqiao Station, you can start exploring Yuanjiajie. The main attractions of Yuanjiajie include the First Bridge in the World, Qiankun Pillar, and Enchantment Terrace.

It was quite interesting to visit the first bridge in the world. I walked around aimlessly but didn't see the bridge until I walked further away. Looking back, I suddenly realized that the road I had taken was on a natural stone bridge.

The pillar of heaven and earth rose up, standing firm and unyielding.

The mesmerizing tower offers a small view of the mountains.

It's only 12:30 pm to visit Yuanjiajie, which is still early, so we didn't take the Hundred Dragon Ladder and walked down the mountain from the chaotic slope. There were shade trees all the way down the mountain road, and we ran into a little monkey. We fed a few jujubes, and in just over an hour, we arrived at the Qianli meeting by the Jinbian River at the foot of the mountain.

What amazed me was the Golden Whip Creek, which flowed gently among the mountains, rocks, and trees. The water was particularly clear, and there were many small fish that shimmered with silver. The meat was occasionally transparent, and the fish bones in the middle could be seen.

Meeting thousands of miles away, we arrived at Shuiluo Simen about 2.5km away. We walked and stopped, and my husband even stumbled upon a red crab. Along the way, we encountered several waves of monkeys. One time, he was trying to grab dates for them, and a monkey saw the situation and wanted to grab them. I panicked and threw my child's candy to him. He tore open the candy paper and was late for his mouth... So when wild monkeys appear, be sure to keep an eye on the bag and don't open it.

At 4:00 p.m., we took the environmental protection vehicle to return to the symbolic gate of Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot at Shuihuansi Gate.

Day 2 (10.1) Visit Huangshi Village and Jinbian Creek

Tianzishan, Yangjiajie, and Yuanjiajie are all connected at the top of the mountain, except for Huangshizhai which has its own mountain top. Huangshi Village is near the main gate (south gate) of the Forest Park. We take a taxi from Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot to the main gate of the Forest Park. Coinciding with the 70th National Day, there is a flash mob activity at the entrance of the forest park, waving the red flag in the song of my country and me. Moved, I love you, my country. I really want to explore all these beautiful mountains and rivers.

Enter from the main entrance of the forest park, walk to the Big Oxygen Bar Square station, take the eco-friendly bus to the Huangshizhai cableway station. The Huangshizhai cableway takes less time than the Tianzishan cableway, but it is steeper. After getting off the cableway, we took a clockwise tour and saw attractions such as Hou Shuai's military deployment, Feiyun Cave, Front Garden, Echo Wall, etc. Unfortunately, some of the attractions were closed. Huangshi Village has an altitude of 1082 meters. People say, 'If you don't go to Huangshi Village, you'll be in vain for Zhangjiajie.' However, perhaps because you have already visited the Yuan family's territory and found the scenery beautiful, but not stunning, I recommend the view in the front garden.

Indeed, during the National Day holiday, it felt like there were significantly more people. Many tourist groups found their way down the mountain near the Liuqi Pavilion, which was longer than the chaotic slope. However, there were scenic spots such as the Tianshu Box along the way, and the roadside was a dense primitive secondary forest with lush branches and leaves. Many little monkeys were swinging flexibly in the forest, climbing up and down freely. The air in the forest was particularly good, and walking in the forest made one feel relaxed.

We arrived at the foot of the mountain in about 2 hours, and my dad bought us mung bean popsicles. There were so many mung beans, they were delicious. After resting, we walked a short distance to the left and arrived at Jinbian Creek. The entire length of Jinbian Creek is 7.5km, with attractions such as the Mother and Child Peak, the Journey to the West, the Divine Eagle's Whip Protection, Mountain Splitting to Save Mother, and Thousand Mile Meeting.

Because yesterday I saw fish in the Golden Whip Creek, the child came with a small fish net. We followed the Golden Whip Creek, watching the water and mountains all the way, walking and stopping, occasionally stopping to catch small fish, and even saw two small water snakes. We walked about 6km from the downhill to Shuilaosi Gate. After about two and a half hours, we arrived at Shuilaosi Gate and returned to the Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot landmark gate by environmental protection vehicle.

Rest on Day 3 (10.2), return to the train station and check into the hotel.

Day 4 (10.3) Visit Tianmen Mountain

There are three routes for visiting Tianmen Mountain: A (uphill cable car+downhill bus), B (uphill bus+downhill cable car), and C (both up and down bus). We have chosen A. When we picked up the tickets at around 7 o'clock in the morning, there were already many people, and we waited in line for about half an hour to go up the cable car. The cableway from Tianmen Mountain runs 7.5km from the city center to the mountain, and the journey takes about 30 minutes. There are west line, middle line and east line during the tour. We started from the west line and walked a short distance to the glass walkway, which costs 5 yuan per person. The glass under our feet is a bit spent. The first time I walked along the glass walkway, the whole family was not afraid, nor did they feel adventurous. After walking, I was very excited and wanted to walk again

After walking along the glass walkway, I began to walk along the Ghost Valley plank road. The Ghost Valley plank road is in the middle of the cliff, and I felt that it was not easy to build this road at that time. Unfortunately, the visibility of the air is average. If it has just rained and there are a few clouds floating, the scenery should be good.

After walking on the boardwalk, cross the Tianmen Mountain Cable Bridge and keep walking until you reach Tianmen Mountain Temple.

You can take the cable car to Yunmeng Xianding here, or continue on the east route. We choose to take the east route until Tianmen is submerged in water, take lunch break, and then take the mountain tunnel escalator down to Tianmen Cave. Tianmen Cave is 131.5 meters high, 57 meters wide, and 60 meters deep.

From Tianmen Mountain down the mountain to the parking lot, you can take an escalator or elevator, or descend 999 steps. The first step is steep, and then it becomes gentle. We climbed down the steps, took a 10 minute break in the middle, and soon arrived at the parking lot. When taking a bus on Tianmen Mountain Highway, it is said that there are 99 turns, and when taking a bus, it always turns left and right from the back. The driver's driving skills are really high. At the foot of Tianmen Mountain, we got off the minibus and transferred to a bus back to the city, ending our journey to Tianmen Mountain

On Day 5 (10.4), take a train to leave Zhangjiajie and return to Beijing.

Visit Zhangjiajie and experience the amazing craftsmanship of nature. If it had just rained, the scenery of Tianmen Mountain would have been better, but safety is the top priority, which is also considered satisfactory.