Travel during the Phoenix epidemic in Zhangjiajie
Travel during the Phoenix epidemic in Zhangjiajie
Due to the pandemic, I have been staying at home for too long this time, and people are getting moldy. After the New Year, I stayed at home for two months, and even my daily necessities were delivered to my home through supermarkets. The two months of living in a house made me feel extremely depressed, and my physical condition was full of problems. In that highly depressed situation, even if there was a slight abnormality in my body, I felt like the sky was about to collapse. Fortunately, under the strong control of the country and the active cooperation of all Chinese people, the epidemic was basically overcome. At the end of March, everyone began to go out to relax. After going out, they realized how happy it is to be able to run outside. During the epidemic, I was extremely bored and had already had the impulse to travel to Zhangjiajie. I made some protective preparations on April 9th, and on the morning of April 10th, I started my self driving trip to Zhangjiajie with my family.
Considering the epidemic situation, I am not very familiar with the specific control policies of Zhangjiajie, and I am not familiar with the routes of tourist attractions. As a precautionary measure, we have found a local tour guide in Zhangjiajie, Mr. Xiao. When we arrived at Zhangjiajie through navigation, it was already past 4 pm. Before getting off the highway, we thought there would be various checks, so we deliberately opened the car window and lowered the temperature inside the car to avoid unnecessary trouble if we encountered the temperature measurement during the check. However, after getting off the highway, the whole journey was smooth and unobstructed, and we didn't see any checkpoints or checks. Except for a few beckons from customers asking us to stop (we didn't stop, afraid of falling into a pit, haha), we directly arrived at the hotel where we checked in in the city. When we arrived at the hotel lobby, we saw that Director Xiao had already been waiting there. Director Xiao told us that before the end of April, all scenic spots in Zhangjiajie offer buy one get one free tickets, and hotels have special discounts. The four-star hotels we stayed in usually cost more than 300 yuan, but now they only cost 180 yuan. To check in at the front desk, everyone needs to provide their ID card and a health green code on their mobile phone (during the epidemic period in Zhangjiajie, a green code is a necessary condition for check-in, otherwise it cannot be checked in). Director Xiao told us that due to the epidemic, there has been a great impact on tourism this year. We are the first batch of guests for Director Xiao this year, and as usual, there will be many guests by the end of February. However, Zhangjiajie has also been very effective in epidemic prevention and control this year. In the entire Hunan Province, zero cases were the earliest, so it is already very safe to travel to Zhangjiajie.
As soon as the hotel room door is opened, you can still smell a little disinfectant, and there are small bottles of disinfectant placed on the table when you enter. At breakfast, all the windows in the restaurant are open, and the dining tables are arranged at a distance of more than two meters. In addition, there are not many tourists, so the protective measures are relatively reassuring.
On the morning of the 11th at 9 o'clock, we set off to visit Tianmen Mountain. Tianmen Mountain is located on the outskirts of the city, and a towering mountain suddenly stands in front of Zhangjiajie city. Most of the buildings in the city can see Tianmen Mountain from the rooftops, and the Tianmen Mountain cableway is just inside the city, which can be reached by taking a taxi for a few yuan. So, on this day, we don't need to use a car. Director Xiao asked us to bring our ID cards, mobile phones, masks, and prepare some snacks before taking a taxi to Tianmen Mountain Cableway. We need to wear masks when taking a taxi or bus in Zhangjiajie. A ten yuan taxi will arrive at the cableway, so we need to buy a ticket first. Tianmen Mountain's buy one get one free policy is to directly reduce the original ticket price by half, which is 123 yuan per person (it is said that the original price will be restored on May Day). Before entering the cableway, there is a temperature detection channel and the distance between tourists is kept. Since there are not many tourists, we soon got on the cableway. This is the longest cableway in the world, with a duration of about thirty minutes. Especially after passing the midpoint transfer station of the cableway, the scenery is particularly beautiful, allowing you to directly see the full view of the mountain and the magnificence of Tianmen Cave. The cableway is also particularly exciting, with a straight lift that is a bit scary.
Arriving at the mountaintop, the temperature was much lower than in the city, so we were lucky. It had just rained the day before, and the next day it was sunny. In the morning, we could see a sea of clouds at the mountaintop, which was really amazing. The boardwalk on the top of the mountain extends beyond the cliff. I feel my feet are empty. At first, I felt a little uncomfortable, a little afraid of heights. After I got used to it, I still felt less afraid. However, the glass walkway is transparent, which is still a bit scary. Fortunately, the glass walkway is not long, which is like a hundred meters long. Tianmen Cave is very stunning. A large cave appeared out of nowhere in the mountain, truly a masterpiece of nature. The 999 level sky steps and 99 bay sky roads below Tianmen Cave are really dangerous and steep. If it weren't for Director Xiao's statement that although it is very dangerous, Tianmen Mountain has been in operation for ten or twenty years and has not had any accidents, I would really be a bit afraid to take the car that walks from Tianmen Cave to the city and on the cliff. We went up the mountain around 9am in the morning and down the mountain around 2pm in the afternoon.
The scenic spot is indeed very good, and the months of oppression have been greatly released. After descending the mountain, there were actually not many scenic spots to visit in the city. Director Xiao told us that the main attraction in the city is Tianmen Mountain, and there is also a Tujia style park. We are not very interested in that scenic spot, so we won't go there. There are no restaurants on the top of Tianmen Mountain, only some small shops, and the shops sell very little. Although we brought some dry food in the morning, they had already been wiped out. We were eager to find something delicious when we went down the mountain. Director Xiao said that due to the epidemic, many restaurants have not opened, but there are still many options in the city. We went back to the hotel to change clothes and drove to a special rural restaurant near Zhangjiajie Airport, which seems to be called a rural family. Not to mention, the dishes at this restaurant are really delicious. It is a unique small courtyard with some rural Tujia characteristics. There are many dining tables under the shade of trees, and of course, there are also indoor ones. There is also a small pond and a small pavilion inside the courtyard. Although the restaurant is small, it has a traditional charm. The dishes are really delicious, especially fragrant, and you can feel that most of the dishes come from nearby farmers. Xiao Dao said that few tourists know about this place, usually locals. Otherwise, when we finished eating, it happened to be dinner time and many local cars came. It suddenly became lively. It seems that even in the current situation where many restaurants cannot continue to operate due to the epidemic, as long as the taste is good and meets everyone's taste, the source of income is still continuous.
After finishing our drinks and meals, Director Xiao acted as a guide and we drove around the city. In fact, Zhangjiajie city is not very big. A Lishui River runs through it, and the water is clear. At night, the lights shine brightly, and the lights on several mountain hills in the city add a touch of romance and tenderness to the Jiangnan water town.
In the early morning of the 12th, we checked out and drove to Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot. Xiao Dao said that Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot is the core scenic spot in Zhangjiajie, and most of the scenic spots are near it. It takes about 35 minutes by car. The road condition is particularly good. Especially after passing through a long tunnel, the scenery on both sides of the road surprised us. The towering green mountains, steep yellowing cliffs, and stone pillars that cut into the sky are really beautiful, so beautiful that we had to stop the car and take pictures for at least 10 minutes. Director Xiao told us that the kind of stone pillars one by one are called quartz sandstone wind forest landform, now also known as Zhangjiajie landform, which is the only scenery in the world. At first, I thought there was a bit of scenery just beside the road. Later, I found that I was wrong. After arriving at Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot, I entered the Forest Park and found that there were such scenes everywhere, and there were hundreds of stone pillars. It was really shocking. And it's really different from the pictures I see on the computer. Neither pictures nor videos can capture that kind of unique beauty. Only the eyes are omnipotent.
Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot is a small tourist town with low buildings and beautiful decoration. Director Xiao told us that although the town is small, it has four five-star hotels, a dozen four-star hotels, countless characteristic inns, two large performance venues and a large pedestrian street. This small town is also nestled by mountains and rivers, with a murmuring river flowing through it. It takes only a few minutes to walk from this small town to the Forest Park sign gate, three or four minutes to drive to Baofeng Lake, ten minutes to drive to Huanglong Cave, and a little further to Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, which takes about an hour by car to reach. From here, it can be seen that this is a central point with convenient transportation and easy access in all directions. After we arrived at the hotel by car, we immediately checked in, and then Xiao led us on a tour of the forest park. The forest park is very large, divided into several large areas such as Jinbian Creek, Yuanjiajie, Tianzishan, Huangshizhai, Yangjiajie, etc. The ticket is valid for four days. The most classic ones are still Yuanjiajie and Tianzishan. We took the Bailong elevator up the mountain and then took the Tianzishan cableway down the mountain. To be honest, the mountaintop is really beautiful, and with a bit of fog, it feels like a fairyland. However, the road conditions in the scenic area are indeed very complicated. After taking four shuttle buses, I felt a bit dizzy, and there were many intersections in some places. The shuttle bus passed through many stations, and I don't know where to get off. It's really impossible without a tour guide.
In fact, this day was quite tiring. Firstly, there were quite a few places to walk in the scenic area, and some attractions had to take steps to see. Moreover, due to the large size of the scenic area, there were countless sightseeing spots, and sometimes it was really overwhelming. However, this place is really worth seeing. If Tianmen Mountain is famous for its danger and majesty, the scenery in the forest park should be the essence of the essence.
The day in the forest park was still very tiring. I entered the mountains around ten o'clock and didn't come out until after four o'clock in the afternoon. I didn't stop and felt both tired and excited because the scenery was so unforgettable. In the evening, Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot looks very empty and quiet under the epidemic situation. There aren't many tourists, and many hotels and restaurants haven't opened yet. Perhaps you can't feel the impact of the epidemic in the city, but in this tourist town, you really feel the depression under the epidemic. There were not many pedestrians on the road, so I found a restaurant that was still very grand, but I found that the service staff were rudimentary and there were very few dishes on the menu that were not yet served. Fortunately, the dishes I ordered were quite delicious. The satisfaction on the lips eliminated some of the disappointment brought by the depression.
We stayed in Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot for one night. In a characteristic inn near the river, everything was very quiet. We could hear the sound of flowing water in the river and felt very quiet. Occasionally, there were frogs croaking in the river. Suddenly, we felt very comfortable. Sometimes, the most kind voice of nature can purify the soul and make people forget all their troubles.
On my last day in Zhangjiajie, I woke up early and around 6 o'clock, I took my wife and walked slowly along the river. The air here was very fresh, and the mist evaporated from the river covered my face and eyes. We were silent, just holding hands and walking slowly, afraid of breaking some kind of silence. At 8:30, Director Xiao arrived at our inn. We were planning to take a walk around Baofeng Lake and Huanglong Cave. Baofeng Lake was very pleasant, no need to walk, and the scenic area was not large. Sitting on a boat, the scenery was also very beautiful. Unfortunately, the lake tour only lasted about thirty minutes and ended in one fell swoop. Otherwise, I would really want to sit on the boat for a while longer.
It only takes about ten minutes to drive from Baofeng Lake to Huanglong Cave. Outside Huanglong Cave, there is a feeling reminiscent of the Peach Blossom Spring. The ancient dwellings, lush countryside, flowing waterwheels, and colorful blooming flowers make it hard to imagine how people in dire straits are missing such a beautiful spring due to the pandemic. Huanglong Cave is very large and requires walking many steps, but the scenery inside is indeed good. There are dark rivers, stalactites, halls, and shapes. For people like us who have not seen many caves, we can indeed feel its unique charm.
There was originally a Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, but last year a friend came to Zhangjiajie and said that the scenery was average, and the world's longest glass bridge didn't feel much, so we didn't go there again. In addition, we planned to spend the night in Fenghuang at night. Around noon, we finished all the attractions in Zhangjiajie and found a place to eat with Director Xiao. After dinner, we drove to Fenghuang Ancient City around 1:30. Director Xiao told us that Phoenix is a romantic place with a small scenic area, and there is no need to buy tickets to enter the ancient city. After telling us some precautions, he separated from us because Phoenix Ancient City does not require a tour guide and can be played by himself.
Fenghuang Ancient City is really beautiful. When we visited Zhangjiajie, Director Xiao told us many anecdotes about famous people in Fenghuang Ancient City. Fenghuang is really a place that requires some scene rendering in advance. If you have knowledge of Fenghuang's history, customs, celebrity works, architectural styles, etc., then you will better discover its beauty when you arrive there. However, if you are not prepared, besides the buildings, there is only water, and the charm is much inferior. It has been a while since I left Phoenix, and the image that still comes to my mind is like a poetic painting. Inside the painting, there are boats, dogs, and lush greenery, as well as me and my wife.
Zhangjiajie is beautiful, its beauty lies in its wildness and elegance; Xiangxi is very beautiful, its beauty lies in its purity and profundity; The memories of travel are beautiful, the beauty lies in the people who accompany you, the scenery that accompanies you, and the years that accompany you.
A beautiful trip, mood is the key. Thank you for the gifts of nature, thank you for history adding meaning to beauty, and thank you to Director Xiao for making meticulous arrangements for our trip. May everything get better and better!
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