"Mist and Mountains" : Wulingyuan, China

Wulingyuan, China, is one of the most haunting and beautiful places I have ever seen.

Wulingyuan is a spectacular series of national parks in the Hunan province of China, and is relatively untouched by humans as it was historically inaccessible. Wulingyuan is most know for its breathtaking sandstone pillars – there are thousands, along with mountain peaks, ravines, gorges, rivers and waterfalls. The stone pillars are often surrounded by fog, which obscures the view but adds to the mystical feeling of the mountains. There are also two natural stone bridges, the “Bridge of the Immortals” and the “Bridge across the sky.”

  

Hiking trails wind throughout the park, allowing visitors to explore the beautiful landscape. A bus system provides transportation to different parts of the park, and there are two cable cars. The park is home to thousands of plant and animal species, including many endangered species.

You can get to the park by a one hour bus ride from Zhangjiajie City, the nearest city, which will take you to  Zhangjiajie Cun, the village just outside the park.

What to do? You can stay in the village outside the park, or in the Yuanjiajie Zhongtian International Youth Hostel, which is actually inside the park. The Youth Hostel provides dorms or double rooms, laundry facilities, and inexpensive food. The only option at the park gate is to purchase a three day park pass, so you kind of have no choice there, but the pass includes free rides on the bus system within the park and insurance.

 Hiking the park will probably take up most of your time at Wulingyuan. The park is enormous and there is no way you can see all of it in three days, so plan ahead and decide which sights you want to see. The Golden Whip Stream trail is recommended since it will take you to many of the highlighted attractions of the park and past a little souvenir shop. The natural bridges would also be spectacular to see, along with Kongzhong Tianyuan, a garden that sits on an outcropping surrounded by peaks.

Wikitravel recommends looking for "an elderly looking man named Mr. Zhou" who hangs out inside the park entrance and is apparently a very good park guide. Let me know if that works out for you.

What to eat? There are restaurants within the park, but they are apparently very overpriced, so you’d be better off eating in the village outside the park if you can. Or you can go hardcore and pack dehydrated food (mmmm!).

Wulingyuan UNESCO.

Wikitravel.