China 2025 – April 19

A few hours’ sleep is all I need. Who sleeps in on holiday in a new environment. We take a walk along footpaths through the tea fields. The morning is misty and clouds are low. No different to Maskeliya and Upcot mornings in Sri Lanka over fifty years ago. Rain is forecast to begin anytime now. It begins proper during breakfast and looks settled in for the day. Sitting it out is not an option. We have no choice but to waterproof ourselves as best we can and set out to discover some of the misty, wet delights of Zhangjiajie national forest park.

But the rain is thick and heavy at the moment, and we sit in the veranda hoping it thins out before long. A ginger cat finds my lap an ideal place to curl up and sleep. His priorities are spot-on. Nothing better on a cold, rainy morning than a nap in dry, warm place.

The rain lets up a little. Enough for us to set off. With regret I deposit my purring new friend on my chair. A bunch of hotel guests are also ready to go, and we depart together to catch a bus. We decide to see the Avatar mountains in Yuanjiajie, which we did not visit yesterday because of the queue for the Bailong elevator. We don’t need to ride the Bailong elevator. A bus from Yangjiajie, where we are heading first, will take us there another way. By now we know how to get around this vast, spectacular national park.

I am expecting the weather to keep away many visitors, but Yuanjiajie is packed. On the approach we see a sea of umbrellas. Wielding ours, we join the crowd. There isn’t much to see. Mist covering everything teases us with brief glimpses of the mountains. The Avatar mountains are so called because they inspired James Cameron’s floating mountains in the movie. One in particular, called the Hallelujah mountain, is drawing a big crowd waiting for the mist to sufficiently clear for a photo. In a crowd such as this, personal space is an unaffordable luxury. I suspect Chinese people may not have a concept of personal space. It is not a criticism. If anything, I admire them for that. And it doesn’t worry me. I cheerfully become a part of the horde, grabbing space without the etiquettes I follow back home. Sometimes it is the only way to progress in a thick, tight crowd. We wander around, there are many viewing spots. The rain begins to ease. We notice the mist is lifting in places too. But we are done with the Avatar mountains for the time being and decide to descend in the Bailong elevator and look for lunch.

After a bowl of noodles that serves only to satisfy my hunger, we decide to take the Tianzi mountain cable car, now operational again. The rain has stopped but the top of the mountain is still misty. The ambience is quite different to yesterday. We revisit the Helong park lookouts we went to yesterday. Scattered mist creates a different perspective, mystical, eerie in places, a different type of magnificence. It is mid-afternoon now and the sun has begun to peek out. We return to the Avatar mountains.

Clear of mist, the sandstone columns tower above us. Some of them glisten in the sun. We see them now in all their glory. It’s easier to get around too with less people. We walk across a natural bridge. It is festooned with red ribbons on which people record their wishes and aspirations.

It is quite late in the afternoon. We decide to head back to Yolo after another satisfying day. What a privilege to be here.