I took a flight from Perth to China via Saigon or HCMC. Vietnam is a place im very fond of and am planning to go back soon. Whilst at the airport I had to get myself a bowl of Pho and a coffee of course. I also picked up a couple of bags of coffee beans to take back to the UK with me. I was tempted to stop off in the city for a night but I had plans in China.

I landed late that evening in Shanghai and had to get right to it with navigating myself to the hostel in the city centre. I didn’t realise the subway would be shut so had to book myself a cab on Didi. The guy stopped in the middle of the street pointed and muttered something in mandarin. I got out the cab and spent about 20 minutes walking up and down the street looking for the hostel. Google maps doesnt work very well so I was trying to use Amap but I cant say it is much better. It was pretty cold in Shanghai but I was  still  working up a sweat and some more stress. Eventuallly god knows how, I found the hostel and took the elevator to the top floor. The girl on reception checked me in and showed me my room. Im not lying there was literally enough room for the bunk bed and a tiny bathroom, barely any space to stand up and get dressed. I instanly was thinking about booking a hotel the next day. I slept on it and decided not to bother as it was only two nights. I had a walk around Shanghai and walked around the waterfront, which was just as beautiful as the first time I was in the city. Two days was enough to get me back in the swing off things and jog my memory on how to use all the apps required in China. After the two nights I went to the train station and took the HSR to Zhangjiajie.

I arrived that afternoon in Zhangjiajie and took a taxi to my hotel. Yet again I found myself walking up and down the streets with my bags, I think we have become reluctant to use maps a rely on mobile phones. I rang the hotel and told them I couldn’t find the hotel and they gave me some directions to follow, successfully leading me to the hotel. I had already contacted the hotel owner who went by the name Rainbow on WeChat whilst in Shanghai. I had booked a two day tour of Avatar mountain and Tianmen mountain. I walked to a restaurant nearby she had recommended and ordered some sort of sizzling beef dish, this was truly amazing.

I was suprised to see a lot of foreigners around the city but it was nice actually, it made me think that it must be a good choice to visit here. The reason I originally wanted to visit the city was that I had seen a post online of Furong Ancient town. I was planning to visit in 2024 when I first came to China but, after getting food posioning in Xian I left the country after a final stop in Chonggqing. After doing some more research I had seen Tianmen Mountain was also here. These were the main reasons to visit but, once I decided to come to Zhangjiajie I found out it was home to the Avatar mountains and not too far from Fenhuang Ancient city. I was here just four days and had a lot to see. On my way to my hotel I had seen a giant building brightened up by classic yellow neon lights, something you see a lot in China. After asking Rainbow she told me it was the 72 Qilou scenic site. The list was getting bigger. I planned just to relax that evening but after working out how busy the schedule was going to be I decided to go to see something. I hadn’t left enough time to go to Furong and back, so I went to 72 Qilou. Upon arriving I realised I had left my passport at home, In China your passport works as a ticket for most tourist attractions. I booked a taxi back to the hotel to get it, then back we went to try again. The ticket cost 88 CNY (£9). Along with the giant neon yellow lit buildings there were many street food stalls, souvenir shops and also a performance. I ordered an authentic Chinese beer and watched the performance.

Day 2 in Zhangjiajie I decided I would go to Furong Ancient town. I had been wanting to visit the place for 3 years now. During the day I checked out the local area. I grabbed a coffee from Luckin coffee, got to say I thought this was the best spot for a quick coffee in the morning. I met a guy from the Netherlands whilst there and he was heading up to Tianmen mountain by himself without a guide. So I did question my choice to get a guide. To be honest it was more for Avatar mountains but, it was already paid for anyway. I set off for Furong about 4pm and it took roughly a hour and a half from my hotel. I did arrive a bit early as the lights wouldn’t come on for another 2 or 3 hours. It gave me time to explore the stores and get something to eat. I stopped in a bar with a great view of the waterfalls and asked for a beer. It must have got lost in translation because she gave me a whole six pack of bottles. I didn’t fancy getting hammered so I kindly translated that I would just like one bottle. I did end up having 3 alltogether so maybe I should have got the whole pack.

The lights came on about 8pm and the place looked even better then the photos I had seen online. China really will become well travelled with amazing places like this to see. I guess the visa difficulties and the language barrier put people of before but, I really see this place being mobbed with foreigners soon now they have opened visa free travel to so many nations.

Day 3 in Zhangjiajie was my planned trip to the Avatar Mountains. I had arranged a group tour through Rainbow and had received a message from my tour guide on WeChat that morning to say she would pick me up at 7:30am. I went down to the lobby and a small girl called Tanny was there waiting for me. We jumped in the cab and took a 45 minute trip to the mountains. I jumped out the car and I said “I guess we are meeting the rest of the group here?” she replied “no its just you” private tour that was a bonus. We spent a few hours travelling around the park visiting all the different mountains, taking bus between or even taking the Bailong Elevator down one of the mountains to the ground. There were so many different mountains and they did look like nothing I had seen before but, after a while they did start to all look the same. I asked Tanny what time we would finish and she told me around 4pm we had a few more to see yet. I asked if we had seen all the most popular mountains which we had and said to her that I would be happy to finish the tour early. It was about 2pm and I was in in two minds whether to go to Fenhaung Ancient City whilst I was close by. I thought I would have time to only visit Fenhaung or Furong and being that Furong was the reason I first wanted to come to Zhangjiajie I wasnt going to miss that. The problem was a couple of people had told me they preferred Fenhuang. So if I wanted to go I would have to go that evening as the my final day I would be going to Tianmen mountain. So we finished the tour and I got dropped back to the hotel, Tanny thought I was mad going to Fenhaung at that time. I took a cab to the train station and got a 1 hour train to Fenhuang Ancient City.

I took a bus from the train station towards the Ancient City. After arriving I was walking from the bus stop for ages and I didn’t see one foreigner on my walk, I was questioning if I was even going the right direction. So I stopped and asked “Fenhuang?” the chinese girl just pointed and nodded in the direction I was heading. Not long after I began to see the neon yellow lights and I knew I had arrived. The area was truly beautiful. I spent a hour checking out all the small stores along the river. There was so many jammed into the space and all kinds of shops and restuarants. I was so glad I cut the Avatar Mountain tour slightly short to get here, it did not disappoint.

My final day in Zhangjiajie was to visit Tianmen Mountain (Heavens Gate). This was another reason along with Furong for coming back to China a second time. The tour this time was with a girl called Molly and this time I would be with a group. I was joined by three Russian women and a mother and daughter from Netherlands/China. Before the mountain we would first go to Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge. The bridge was huge, only Chinese could build something like this just for a tourist attraction, it was incredible. I crossed the bridge laughing to myself as I watched people holding onto the side as if it was going to collapse. On the other side of the bridge we would be ziplining back across. I didnt realise I had paid for this but Molly told me it was included in my package (not mother and daughter from the Netherlands though). They didn’t seem impressed. It is by far the biggest zipline I have done. Once on the other side we took a giant slide down the mountain and the took a boat ride to check out some limestone rocks. After this Molly said we would head towards the cable car to Tianmen, which conviently happened to be five minutes from my hotel.

We ate in a Chinese restuarant close to the cable car and then Molly informed us there was a long cue for the it. She said we could up the mountain till 9pm! It was only 3pm. Whilst in the cue Molly took our passports to get our tickets and save some time. Next thing she called another one of the guests and asked if the group was willing to pay VIP. It was just 100 yen per person (£11). We all agreed and walked to meet her upstairs. Would you believe there was not a single person in the cue! Whilst in the normal cue you had a 2 hour wait. We took the cable car to the first point then a bus up to Heavens Gate. The road to the gate is like nothing I have seen before, so many bends and the bus driver handled it smoothly at a fairly high speed. We reached the stop and walked towards the gate. It was very misty but you could make out the opening at the top of the staircase. It was 999 steps to the top, I insisted me and the young guy from the netherlands take the steps whilst the rest of the group took the escalators(inside the mountain?) It was a work out for sure but we still managed to do it in ten minutes. We met the group at the summit (thats what I thought). Molly said “Now lets go to the top”. We then took about eight escalators inside the mountain, they just kept going I even asked a member of staff how many more. How they built everything the mountain inside was really fascinating. We finally reached the top, 1500 metres up in the air. Of course there was a glass bridge there as well. After a long day we started to make the descent back to the city.

What a way to end my time in Zhangjiajie. Tianmen mountain was truly incredible and the winding roads and the modern engineering is something only the Chinese could pull off. I got back to the city and thought what better way to finish the night then go to the Chinese resturant I went to the first day. I ordered Kung Pao chicken and rice and a beer. The food here was unbelievable. The next day I had a flight booked to Guangzhou.