Zhangjiajie: Fantasy rock formations
Where Avatar meets jurassic Park
Used as the inspiration for the scenery in Avatar, Zhangjiajie is otherworldly in more ways than one – the
scenery for sure, but also the sheer alien orderliness
By Frank Hersey
Perspectives from within chinaOuTsiDein
A
nyone who has seen the 3D fantasy
Avatar will feel strangely at home
when entering the alien landscape
of Zhangjiajie (“Zhang Family Homeland”).
The sandstone rock formations, including
around 3,000 pillars, tower into the clouds
and look spectacular in all seasons, as screens
and posters around the national park insist.
After getting off a minibus from Zhangjia-
jie City bus station, we would soon discover
how the reserve is remarkable not just for the
scenery, but, well, for its infrastructure. Any-
one who’s visited big tourist sites in China
may have felt more overwhelmed by the
crowds and chaos, the loudspeakers and sense
of panic than the majesty of anything Ming
dynasty. Zhangjiajie, in contrast, has made
some bold moves to tackle people flow that
make it surprisingly pleasant.
The canyons and cliffs, forests and lakes
cover an area of 700 square kilometres, with
a ruthlessly enforced perimeter more akin
to that used to keep dinosaurs contained in
Spielberg’s earlier hit, Jurassic Park, a theme
that continues with transport. Private vehi-
cles are basically banned, replaced instead by
a fleet of free electric busses that serve a vast
network of stops in the main area. Around
the fringes a fleet of minibuses connect outly-
ing spots and can be hailed anywhere. They’re
clean, quick and there’s plenty of staff to
manage the crowds to make sure boarding is
relatively humane and that you’re getting on
the right bus (most of the time).
There are a few circuits to explore: Huang-
shi, Golden Whip (Jinbianxi), Wulong, Cha-panta and Tianzishan. Despite being a World
Heritage Site, bang in the middle of the park
is the Bailong Elevator, nailed to the side of a
cliff and listed as the highest outdoor lift in
the world. This ends up serving as a useful, if
both financially and environmentally costly,
means of getting between areas of the park on
different levels, as the glass lift whips you an-
other 326 metres up to a plateau. Just make
sure you don’t need to go back down around
5-7pm when the majority of visitors are leav-
ing the park via the lift.
The different areas offer views not just of
different collections of the crumbling towers,
some over 200 metres high, but from differ-
ent angles. Climb or take the cable car up to
the Huangshi circuit and you’re level with the
stacks at a distance. Follow the Golden Whip