4 Things To Know About Zhangjiajie, China’s First National Park


Zhangjiajie
is in the northwestern part of Hunan Province in central China. A UNESCO world heritage site, Zhangjiajie is one of the most unique destinations in China that you may never have heard of. Year-round Zhangjiajie National Park is home to breathtaking natural landscapes, a variety of animals and plants, and is famous for its unique peaks, quiet valleys and elegant forests.

Wulingyuan in Zhangjiajie is known for its more than 3,100 towering quartz pillars including Hallelujah Mountain, made famous in James Cameron’s Blockbuster film, “Avatar.” Wulingyuan was recently selected as first on a list of the “Thirteen Natural Spectacles of East Asia.”

Getting there is easy via Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport (DYG), designed in the traditional architectural style of the local Tujia people and built to handle 2,500,000 passengers per year. From any major airport in Asia or China, it’s easy to find a short flight directly into Zhangjiajie.Named one of the top seven most romantic places in China, Zhangjiajie is described as “traveling through countless cloud-kissing mountains, clear streams and leafy trees, you may easily blend with nature around, thus enhancing your love unconsciously,” in a study by the China National Tourism Administration.

Some of the best climbing and hiking in the world can be found in the northwestern part of Zhangjiajie’s Suoxiyu Scenic Area. Xihai Stone Forest is renowned for its sheer density of stone peaks that jut into the sky in differing pinnacle shapes. Staircases built into the vertical rock faces take hikers to views of picturesque and awe-inspiring stones in Xihai Stone Forest as we see in this video:



[Flickr photo by GrumpyWolf]