Tag Archives: china

Next on our touristic itinerary was Mount Fanjing, aka, Fanjingshan, which requires a whole day to fully check out – from early morning till evening. Mount Fanjing is a somewhat quirky place – but one that’s sacred in China by different religions: a huge upstanding double-headed rocky outcrop – on the peak of which stand two Buddhist temples and a small footbridge between them:

A breathtaking spectacle – even in so-so weather:

Read on…

Chinese roads are simply the best. What’s more, they’re often anything but simple constructions, and almost always come with the most wonderful views to be had therefrom in all directions – simply looking out the window of your moving vehicle is wonderfully meditatively awesome. Here, for example, is a masterpiece highlighting perfect integration of a highway and its natural surroundings:

I mean – they’re the best on literally all levels:

• Road surfaces – great!
• Signs – great!
• Bridges – great!
• Tunnels – great!
• Views – great!
• Roadworks/repairs – great!

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After our intensive two days checking out Wulingyuan’s rockinesses, it was time for our next touristic location; namely: Tianmen Mountain, not far from the city of Zhangjiajie (try pronouncing that after a few beers:).

And so – Tianmen Mountain, aka – 天门山, aka – Heaven’s Gate Mountain. First we got ourselves over to the mentioned Zhangjiajie (which isn’t all that far from Wulingyuan), and checked into our hotel. The hotel had been chosen strategically, for it’s right opposite where we needed to be to get transported to Tianmen Mountain – the base station of the cable-car. Here’s the view thereof from my hotel window:

Rea on…

Herewith, Zone 4 report…

Also, for those of you, dear readers, who may one day visit Wulingyuan national park in China – herewith, details regarding the optimal timing – in terms of getting there, and also movement among the various zones, (that is, Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3, and Zone 4).

Read on…

Wulingyuan – Zone 1: done;

Wulingyuan – Zone 2: done;

Guess what’s next?…

Yes, there is a Zone 3, and yes – that’s what next, of course! For there were still plenty of wonderful rock formations ahead for us to check out – all nicely presented with solid touristic infrastructure (minus the crowds) to make the experience all the pleasanter… ->

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Wulingyuan National Park – Zone 1: done.

Next up – Zone 2. More of the same, you’re thinking? Well, kinda – but not quite…

Sure, we’re talking extraordinarily gigantic and fantastic rock formations, but in Zone 2 they possess a wholly distinct character: not as smooth – as in more jagged. Still utterly unbelievably awesome…

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Day three of my China-2023 trip, and it was time we dived into one of the most fantastical natural installations on the planet – the Wulingyuan national park. Now, I don’t want to come across as a broken record – much less the boy that cried wolf wow, but this place – it’s simply magically, wonderfully, impossibly off-the-scale magnificently gorgeous and grandiose! I could add more adjectives of praise, but I think you get the idea already; I mean – just take a look! ->

It’s a biggie too: the most impressive cliffs cover an area of around 10×10 kilometers:

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You’ve already read so much and seen so many pics from our China-2023 trip – but that was just the first day! Yes – action packed that first day sure was, taking in Enshi Grand Canyon in the morning, and the nearby cliffs and crazy paths in the afternoon. Which brings us, logically, to day two – and another… grand canyon! Well, why not? (You can never have too many grand canyons on a trip to China)…

Introducing – Pingshan Grand Canyon (as is common for lesser-known (to foreigners) Chinese tourist attractions, there’s no Wikipedia page for it). Its depth is around a hundred meters, and just a dozen or so in width = a super-thin crevice. The clean river water that runs through it is emerald green, apparently colored so by the dissolved minerals in it. Which minerals? Not sure – it seems only the Chinese internet knows ). What I am sure of is that tourists are taken on narrow boats like this one down the river ->

It’s situated around half-way between yesterday’s Enshi Grand Canyon and tomorrow’s Wulingyuan Scenic Area – here. Indeed, you can check out the canyon, plus take the boat ride along it, and by evening make it to the next attraction, which is what we did.

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Enshi Grand Canyon – done. Enshi cliffs (set back a short distance along the canyon) – coming right up!… ->

Oh my Grand-Canyon! Is that a footpath attached to that cliff face? I believe it is. Good gracious me. We gotta have walkies along that! My first thought though was how we were going to get up to the path in the first place…

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Often, it’s not the filtering and editing of photos and deciding which ones go where that’s the tricky bit. Much harder, IMHO, is calming and formatting personal impressions, and dimming the brightness and contrast of emotions that are still all over the place as after-effects of one’s latest typically unorthodox spot of travel to a far-away beautiful land – this time China. But, what can I say? Hard or no – I’ve finally pulled it off: all my memories and impressions and photos and videos duly sorted, de-chaffed and compartmentalized – all ready to be slotted into the various chapters of my latest travelogue series…

Which brings me to why I’ve been so quiet of late on these here blog pages of mine – I was in deepest China for quite some time in October. And I was so busy with my tourisms of the unexpected (added to the above-mentioned over-abundance of photos and videos) that I never got round to starting this here series. Well that procrastination stops here, now…

First up, Enshi Grand Canyon – here.

Read on…