You’ve seen Avatar right? Zhangjiajie is the inspiration for the landscape of the distant planet in the movie, and that’s exactly what the 3000 or so karst pinnacles rising up from the subtropical forest feel like.
Its a bit of a bugger to get to because you need to find flights to the local Zhangjiajie Hehua airport, or take the 5 hour drive from Changsha. It can also get quite crowded because . . . well . . . this is China.
But, overall it is well worth the trip, especially because by making some very basic changes you can avoid the crowds and get to hike some beautiful sections of what, arguably, should be one of the natural wonders of the world. See below for how I’d suggest doing this.
In a nutshell
- Inspiration for the Avatar movie mountains
- One of the top 5 highlights of China
- Zhangjiajie National Park is where the mega wow hikes are
- But Tianmen Mountain – the one with the hole in it – is also cool
- Aim for tougher hikes to avoid the crowds
- Stay in Wulingyuan, not Zhangjiajie town