China 2025 – April 20

We check out of Yolo. Today we will focus on the sights of Yangjiajie. Until now we have only passed through. Yesterday the wet precluded us from exploring the area. Today promises to be rainless. On our Yangjiajie itinerary is the ‘Natural great wall’,  ‘One step to heaven’ and ‘Corridor in the cliffs’.

We get off the bus and follow the signs. The closest is the ‘natural great wall’, a solid collection of huge sandstone pillars seemingly fused together. Next, we set off to find One step to heaven. After an up and down three-kilometre walk, with steps and slopes, no different to many we have done in this park, we go around a bend and see two ladders, for ascending and descending, affixed to a sandstone column, a smallish one, about ten metres high. It is not difficult to climb. At the top are a few people including an artist sketching the scenery, which is magnificent. I am amazed that this short hillock commands an almost 360-degree panorama. Lush forest, sandstone columns and mountains extending miles into the distance define Yangjiajie’s topography. Reluctantly we descend from heaven to continue our exploration of Yangjiajie. We see a path cut into the side of a cliff. There is no signage but we suspect it is the Corridor in the cliffs. The path is narrow in places and we see a warning sign about falling rocks, but at no time do we encounter risk of any sort. The path ends at a lookout with sublime views, not bettered by anything else we’ve seen in this park. An old vendor sitting beside a pile of bottled water and dried mushrooms greets us. We ask him how he brought all that stuff over. We needn’t have asked. There is only one way: on foot. He carried it all himself from the cableway station.

We descend from Yangjiajie on a steep, unending stairway that is slippery in many places. Almost three hours later we arrive at the bottom of the Yangjiajie cableway. We encounter a young man going the other way. He asks us if the path will take him to Yangjiajie. We don’t add that he has a mighty climb ahead of him. He looks fit enough to do it.

Only one item left on our must-do list: Huangshi village. Two buses and a cable car ride later we arrive. The village is not exactly a village. It has a pagoda, a few food stalls and toilets, but no one lives there. One visits the village to see the scenery. No different to Tianzi mountain, Yangjiajie, and Yuanjiajie. At Huangshi’s lookouts, the Zhangjiajie national park presents more of its spectacular, picturesque vastness.

We leave the village and find our way to the south gate of the park. The gift shop has nothing that excites us. This precinct is much greener and more picturesque than the east gate. We wander around enjoying the scenery, then we leave the park and take a taxi to our hotel in Wulingyuan. We’ll come back tomorrow if we have time.