Day 15: Wulingyuan - Zhanjiajie National Park: Avatar Chinese Mountains - Zhangjiajie - Fenghuang
The alarm sounds at 6 in the morning and after yesterday's experience in Zhanjiajie National Park or Avatar's Chinese mountains, at 7 o'clock we are leaving the Destination Youth Hostel, to be early in the morning at the gates of the park that is about 200 meters.
We pass our card and footprint again and take the first bus that takes us to the scenic area Golden Whip Stream, where we want to do today a walk of about 4 hours, 2 one way and two back, to see Avatar's Chinese mountains from the lower zone.
Today we only have a few hours, since at 17:20 in the afternoon we have to take a Bus from Zhangjiajie to Fenghuang, from which we booked the tickets the day we arrived in Zhangjiajie.
We started the walk, at 8 in the morning, this time surrounded by much less people than yesterday, and we traveled the path around the river to Golden Monkey, surrounded by the landscapes we saw yesterday, but this time with spectacular views from down.
Walking through the Chinese mountains of Avatar
Avatar's Chinese mountains
The sky is somewhat more covered than yesterday and it is a little cooler, which reminds us, that in the end yesterday we had very good luck, despite everything, for the time we could enjoy, with a day of the clearest and A radiant sun
Avatar's Chinese mountains
Avatar Chinese mountains
The tour of the scenic area of Golden Whip Stream It is not at all tired, since it runs at all times by the river and is a completely flat area, so anyone can do it without requiring any physical form.
Touring the Chinese mountains of Avatar
Avatar Chinese mountains
Throughout the tour we cross with few people, something that makes us enjoy this spectacular environment more than yesterday, for meeting so many people, we just did not enjoy it at all.
Every few meters we also find different beach bars and shops where you can buy from souvenirs to drinks or food, so it is a perfect place to enjoy a picnic between the Avatar Chinese mountains.
Avatar Chinese mountains
Views of the Chinese Avatar Mountains from the lower part of the scenic area
The first section of the scenic area of Golden Whip Stream We do it in about an hour, they are about 3 and a half kilometers, which are made the most pleasant to be able to enjoy nature in its purest form.
Avatar Chinese mountains
Curious, at least, the way in which some Chinese climb to the upper reaches of the Chinese Avatar Mountains
It's 10 in the morning when we start the way back, we have to travel the 3.5 kilometers again, and take the opportunity to stop halfway in a beach bar where we order some potatoes and a cake, which we really don't know what it is, more a beer for 30RMB that cheer us up at this time in the morning.
Eating in the Chinese Avatar Mountains
With the energy already renewed we resume the way back to the parking area where at 12 in the morning we take a bus that takes us to the entrance of the Zhangjiajie Park.
And at 12:30 we are back at the hotel where we rest a few minutes before leaving for the bus station to go to Zhangjiajie, from where our bus leaves to Fenghuang. This is on the main street that enters Wulingyuan and leaves every 15 minutes or so (they are light brown and 12RMB are paid per person on the same bus), which will take us to Zhangjiajie city, from where at 17:20 We have another bus to Fenghuang, where we will spend the next 4 hours.
Streets of Wulingyuan
We arrive at Zhangjiajie station at 3 in the afternoon and the first thing we do is go find a place where we can eat something fast and under an increasingly threatening sky and already with a full stomach we return to the bus station, where They have free Wi-Fi, as in most stations and airports, and where from today we can use the VPN in China again, and we just connected for a while and updated social networks until 5 minutes before 17:20, time of marked departure, our double-decker bus leaves from Zhangjiajie to Fenghuang. The bus goes to the top, so if you can, we recommend that you take out the tickets in advance and thus make sure you have room, because if you find that the bus is already full, you will have to wait the next day to catch the first in the morning 🙁
And so we spent the next 4 hours, between reading and reading and reviewing the planning of the places we have left to visit this trip to China for free in 25 days. By the way we can only recommend the book "Wild" Cheryl Strayed, recommended by our friend Fabienne, who is excited.
We arrived at Fenghuang at 8:40 in the afternoon, much earlier than we expected and it is that in the end this journey has not been four hours as we had read, if not 3 and a half hours and we have done most of the trip through highway.
More practical information to prepare your trip to China
- 10 essential places to visit in China
- 10 essential tips for traveling to China
Before continuing, let us give you some advice, if you take this bus, take caps, a girl with a microphone is during the whole trip trying to sell different products. He does not stop or breathe, and it is not a joke, there have been times when we have even feared for his life because he did not even stop to swallow.
And in Fenghuang they leave us in a parking lot of the new city, where we have to be a good time to take a taxi that will take us to the historic area where we will stay, while a couple of Chinese families sneak in, in a corner stopping by taxis until one agrees to take us to what will be our hotel for the next two days, the Fenghuang Melody Inn.
Once on the main street the taxi driver calls the hotel and they come to find us, since there is no direct access for cars and in less than 3 minutes we are in our room overlooking the river. Amazing!!
Night in Fenghuang. Views from our room
It's almost 10 at night and we're busted, so we prefer to stay and rest and leave the sights of the night in Fenghuang for tomorrow.
Day 16: Fenghuang: Hong Bridge, East Gate Tower, Yang Family Ancestral Hall, Tianhou Temple, Fenghuang Walls, North Gate Tower, Stone Road, Wooden Bridge, Wanming Pagoda
