!!!Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain)-2

Photos by Stas Sedov and
Sergey Semenov
and
Text by Dmitry Moiseenko,

members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

23 April 2021

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountains), China

No one knows how long it would have taken the Zhangjiajie National
Forest Park to reveal its beauty to the world but for the James
Cameron's Avatar. The action takes place on the imaginary planet of
Pandora. Though the filming was carried out not in China, it is widely
thought that the Zhangjiajie Park was the place where the famous
filmmaker was inspired to create such a movie.

[{Image src='01_Zhangjiajie.jpg' caption='Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain), China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='358'}]

On the one hand, it is the oldest protected area in China (since 1982)
and it is easily accessible from any large airport. But on the other
hand, I could hardly find it during my trip to China if it wasn't for
the growing popularity of the park and its unofficial name "Avatar
Park".

[{Image src='02_Zhangjiajie.jpg' caption='Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain), China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='599'}]

The park itself is not actually Pandora with its flying rocks, lianas,
waterfalls and even dragons. But if one mentally turns the whole picture
upside down, the similarity will be obvious.

[{Image src='03_Zhangjiajie.jpg' caption='Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain), China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='506'}]

Everyone who visits the park has a choice: either take a walk on the
lower lanes between the 400-meters tall vertical rocky pillars gazing up
at them or climb the mountain with the help of 360-meter tall Bailong
elevator. You can take the bus and observe rocks from the top.

There are a lot of interesting places in the park: caves and authentic
local villages. But using a drone inside the caves, even the biggest
ones, turned out to be quite impractical. Thus we focused on the
photographing the rocks.

[{Image src='04_Zhangjiajie.jpg' caption='Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain), China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='599'}]

The Zhangjiajie Park is a part of Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic
Interest Area. It is declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and the
Zhangjiajie Park itself was listed as a UNESCO Global Geopark. The
distances are impressive: sometimes there can be no connection between
the parts of the park. But every section has its own charm: the rock
pillars of different height, pagodas, pavilions, rivers, arches and
bridges. Lanes lead you from the hillside downwards: it will take you
quite a long time to follow such a lane. We were not able even to
imagine how huge the Zhangjiajie is. We managed to visit only 30% of its
territory in three days that we spent in the park.

[{Image src='05_Zhangjiajie.jpg' caption='Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain), China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='506'}]

Probably the most famous sight of Zhangjiajie is the mountains located
in the northwest part of the park. The most magnificent views are
available from the points bearing very poetic names, such as "Five
beauties are departing for a trip", "The bridge between the earth and
the sky" and "The charming scene".

Unfortunately, the other popular mountain — Tianmen Shan — we did not
happen to visit. A cable car that leads to the top of the mountain is
called "the Way to Heaven":  the elevation angle of some sections of the
cableway is getting 70 degrees, making the car rush straight through the
clouds. The ascent of 1,519 metres (the height of the mountain) takes
around 40 minutes. Due to drop of pressure, the passengers often feel
their ears pop and the temperature in the cabin gets significantly
lower. The way down can be made on a bus following a curvy road that
counts precisely 99 turns.

[{Image src='06_Zhangjiajie.jpg' caption='Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain), China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='599'}]

The locals believe that this mountain is somehow connected to heavens
and possesses a supernatural power. In the 20th century a huge amount of
water came down four times in a 1500-meters waterfall for some
inexplicable reason. The water was falling for 15 minutes, then the
stream suddenly ceased. There are also the rumours that some priceless
treasures are kept inside the mountain. Actually, no one has ever found
them, though the other indisputable treasure of the mountain is the huge
cave called "the Heaven's Gate" that appeared in the year 263 due to a
mountain collapse. Being 131,5 meters tall, 57 meters wide and 60 meters
long, it is one of the largest caves in the world.

[{Image src='07_Zhangjiajie.jpg' caption='Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain), China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='506'}]

Thanks to the movie, one can have a look at Pandora from the James
Cameron's point of view. But you can also have a bird's eye view of this
park with the help of AirPano panoramas and make sure that the natural
landscapes are as beautiful as the fantastic ones.

\\ \\
[11 panoramas of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar ountain)-2|Geography/Asia/China/Pictures/avatar_2]

[{SET customtitle='Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain)-2 (AP)'}]












[{Metadata Suchbegriff=' ' Kontrolle='Nein'}]