“Zhang Jia Jie.” For the first week and a half of our stay in China, Jamie and I whispered this into our parents’ ears on a daily basis. During our stay in Jiu Zhai Gou, we were given a pamphlet of the many landmarks in China, and the mountains in Zhang Jia Jie immediately caught our eyes. There was a sense of familiarity with this place..
Before long, we realized the pillars of Zhang Jia Jie aided in inspiring “Hallelujah Mountain” in the movie Avatar, along with many childhood movies I watched as a kid.
Basing off that alone, there was no way that we could pass up on the chance to visit. Our parents promised us “yes,” but typically when our parents say “yes” to something, they have no idea what they agreed to.
So Jamie and I whispered… when we were in the car, walking in the streets, while the parents were asleep. Before long, they agreed! Surprisingly. Zhang Jia Jie ended up being one of the last places we visited before leaving back to the States. (Subliminal messaging definitely works, guys)
We arrived to Changsha early Monday afternoon in our mini, travel sized airplane. In fear of losing day, we hired a tour guide to take us around. I must say, a very well invested decision and highly recommended. The park was also just as huge, if not, more confusing. Unlike Jiu Zhai Gou, the views were almost identical anywhere you went, unless taken to the right places.
Our first stop after a quick evening snack, was Avatar Mountain (renamed after the movie). Jamie, my stepmom, my uncle, our tour guide and I rode a cable car to the top. The ride itself took around 30 minutes, and was filled chest holding and rail grabbing. Besides Jamie and I repeatedly switching seats to get a better view, we were dumbfounded by how microscopic we felt among these ridiculously tall structures.
Because we started from the bottom, we were able to see just how tall these peaks really stood. Like I said, the ride took around 30 minutes. We were exhausted, restless. Having no real break between arrival and setting foot in the park, the ride itself gave us our fix of nature for the day. Needless to say, our adventure really began when we arrived at the top.
The first thing I noticed was how steep everything was. We were at the top of the mountain, and looking down, you couldn’t possibly see ground. All you saw was more green, more tinier cliffs, more trees. Apparently, the biggest animal that lives in the area are monkeys. Which, by the way, attacked Jamie.
It was mid-day, so we had a clear view of the peaks and pillars. I remember leaning on the wooden railings (which, now that I think about it… not the safest move) envisioning banshees flying around. I imagine that’s also what inspired the film producers and directors of Avatar. Staring into these tall structures, you lose yourself, you lose perception. You stand on the edge and you’d think these pillars are within arm’s reach. You begin to realize just how vast the world is around you, and then your ears start popping because, well, you’re really high in elevation.
Unlike Jiu Zhai Gou, it was hot. Really hot. There was little sources of water to keep us cool and the sun was beaming. Thankfully, the roads, though still winding, didn’t give us a headache. Although I’m basically amateur at mandarin, our tour guide did a great job of telling the story behind certain pillars. My stepmom’s heart started racing anytime we did this, but it was exhilarating walking alongside the edges of the cliff paths. What’s scarier than being extremely high up in the mountains, is having no idea what lies beneath you. 
Our first visit to the park was refreshing. We begged for days to visit this park, and perhaps we oversold it quite a bit. Because we arrived mid-day, we weren’t able to capture the full essence of the park. It wasn’t as mystical as we had expected. The sun was setting, and there were no clouds nor mist to creep mysteriously around the cliffs. It wasn’t as magical as I had hoped it to be. But it was still pretty darn captivating. The pillars were equally as grand, monumental, and stunning. Maybe if I got to stand on top of one of the pillars I would have felt differently.
Do you ever stare at an inanimate object so hard that it begins speaking to you? Yup.
Early the next morning we set out on our adventure to explore the rest of the park. Immediately after our trip we had another flight to our last stop in BeiJing planned, so we made use of our time in Changsha.
I know, I know. This post is getting long. Stay with me. This is where the fun part begins. We started our day early, with plans to see TianZi Mountain, the glass skywalk, and TianMen mountain.
Tons of walking later, we arrived at Tian Zi Mountain. The interesting part about this trail was unlike most of the regular pillars, these structures stood tall like a troop of soldiers. There’s a cute little train that takes you around the base of the mountain, we chose to walk so we could stop whenever. The legend in brief words is said that Xiang DaKun, a farmer who later named himself Tian Zi (Son of Heaven), led a revolution to defend his ethnic tribe. He later met defeat at the base of this mountain. His lover went searching for him over the cliffs, and despite the search, turned into a stone statue, along with the rest of his army. Obviously this story is told better by others, but that’s the gist of it. As you take a deeper look into the peaks, you can truly make out the farmer and his army.
The trail along this mountain stretched around 1.5 miles, meaning if we made it all the way, we’d have walked a whopping 3 miles. To save time, we walked about a mile total.
Our next stop was the glass skywalk! Jamie and I were extremely excited. Thankfully, while we were waiting in line, the people weren’t pushing and shoving like in Jiu Zhai Gou. That would have been a disaster. My stepmom was too scared to walk on the bridge, but lucky for her, there was one panel of glass that simulated the bridge outside the entrance that she could take pretend pictures with.
Honestly, it was not scary at all. I mean the build up certainly was. We had to wear these interesting fashion killer shoe gloves to preserve the glass. Once we stepped foot on the glass, my fear disappeared. You’d think by looking down you’d want to vomit a bit. However, the only thing we saw was more trees, more shrubs, more bushes. We couldn’t possibly tell how high up we were from where we were standing. Thus, hard to get scared. It was still fun watching people freak out and trace along the inner edges hugging the mountain ever so carefully to get to the other end. If you stared down long enough though, you’d be sure to shit yourself just a little.
Interestingly enough, later that summer, Zhang Jia Jie opened their record breaking glass bridge to the public in August. They even drove a car across it to showcase how safe the bridge is… we missed out. Oh well.
The glass skywalk was wrapped around Tianmen Mountain, our next destination. To save ourselves some energy, we rode the escalators all the way down. We had to pay, ha! It was quite repetitive but worth saving our energy for the rest of the hike.
The main attraction at Tian Men Shan (Shan meaning mountain), was the Tianmen temple and the Tianmen Cave. Tianmen Cave, also known as Heaven’s Gate, is the world’s highest cave of its kind. Having been here, I’d describe the feeling as holy and spiritual. It was grand, humongous. Standing underneath the dome, I felt so small, like an ant. It was crowded so it was hard to utilize my selfie stick without poking someone.
The Tianmen Cave was also popularly known as one of the most dangerous arches for human gliders. Yes, that’s a thing. The first person to successfully fly through the 30 meter wide archway using a wingsuit is Jeb Corliss. Pretty cool right? The World Wingsuit League held their 1st and 2nd World Wingsuit Championships here.
The Stairway to Heaven, which consisted of 999 steps, signifies supreme height and eternity. When the clouds come tumbling by, you’d feel as if you were suspended in the clouds, not knowing exactly how far you’ve gone or have left to go. I sat on maybe the 22nd step to take a picture, but that was it.
That doesn’t look too bad, right?
Think again. We rode an escalator in lieu of our knees giving out. This stairway consists of 5 gentle slopes and 4 steep slopes which add up to give the meaning of 99. As stated on the sign before the stairs “it is a metaphor for the rises and falls that people have in life, and that one can grow up to be a useful person having gone through certain challenges.”
There was so much more to Zhang Jia Jie that we didn’t have the chance to explore. The upside is that we got to see what we came for. The journey to get here wasn’t as arduous as in Sichuan. Our hotel was fairly accommodating other than the fact that it felt like we were staying at a porno hotel. Seriously. It was extremely weird, but breakfast was complimentary. We had a tour guide so traveling to and from the park as well as to the airport was fairly decent and better than expected! What this park was lacking is more water attractions. There’s just something so calming about the flow of water… After a while, it might feel like you’re seeing the same things (trees, mountains) over and over again. I do think coming at the right time of the year would change my perspective completely. In all honesty I would come back with some friends. Walking across that extremely glass bridge is slowly making it’s way up my bucket list. Completely appreciative of our parents for allowing us to be this spontaneous on our trip, and an extremely great way to end the last few days of our journey.
A New Beginning... 