Yoo-Hoo-nan!
MANILA, Philippines – Very little is flat in Hunan, with more than half (51.2 percent) of its land area mountainous, part of central China’s Wuling Mountain Range that straddles several provinces. Driving around Hunan, especially the western side of the province, the scenery is an endless tapestry of undulating hills and towering mountains, green still at the end of summer.
At the foothills are pocket farms, planted to rice and corn, and some vegetables. It is just past harvest; ears of corn are hung on door jambs and windows to dry, while the threshed grain is laid out to dry on mats in courtyards – sometimes right on the road, as they do in the provinces here – along with bright red chillies, the latter as much a staple of Hunan cuisine as rice.
As with most of China – even in remote areas, it seems – the highway system is enviable. In the difficult terrain of Hunan, two- and four-lane highways – smooth and cushioned, with nary a bump or pot hole – cut through mountains and span deep ravines; the former with tunnels (on one 250-kilometer drive we passed through about two dozen tunnels) and the latter with roadways supported by pillars hundreds of meters high above the ravine floor. In other areas the road skirts mountainsides, making for sharp curves and hairpin turns.
Hunan makes the most of its mountains as a tourist draw. Chief among these is Zhangjiajie, the lynchpin of Hunan’s tourism push and the focal point of the recent China International Tourism Festival that brought together over 400 travel industry and media professionals.
Hunan – and specifically Zhangjiajie – has invested heavily in tourism infrastructure in the last decade. Since opening up to tourism in 1982 – after it was “discovered” in 1979 – the number of visitors has grown nearly a hundred times from an initial 50,000. From roads to bridges to walking/trekking paths, cable cars to escalators and elevators, visitors are afforded a pretty comprehensive experience of this remarkable nature park. There are over 400 hotels and lodging facilities, from the sprawling new 5-star Garden City Phoenix Hotel to quaint homestyle inns, and every price category in between.
The 369-square-kilometer Wulingyuan Scenic Area was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and in 2004 was proclaimed a World Geological Park. The various sites within the scenic area – Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Tianzi Mountain Natural Reserve and Suoxi Valley Nature reserve – are linked by an impressive road network and serviced by non-polluting buses; visitors are let off at the main entry and tourist buses are not allowed to go into the scenic area, not only because of environmental concerns but also because the huge buses will not be able to negotiate the twisting roads.
Describing the sights is practically an exercise in futility, for how does one put in words the expanse of thousands (3,013 to be exact) of quartz sandstone peaks (the highest piercing the clouds at 1,900 meters) scattered by a divine hand and sculpted by time and wind, rain and snow?
Below, mostly obscured by the depth as well as lush vegetation, are streams and caverns explored only by the creatures that inhabit their secret chambers and recesses. Looking down, your eye could trick you into thinking that you just saw a blue Navi darting between the foliage, as the scenes from James Cameron’s 2009 hit movie “Avatar” come straight out of the panorama before you. In fact, the peaks locals used to call Quan Kun Zhu is now known as Hallelujah Mountain, although it may disappoint you to know that the movie was not filmed here and Cameron has not actually seen this place that looks exactly like his mythical Pandora.
And then there is Tianmen Mountain, considered the soul of the Wuling Mountain Chain. The cable car to the top of the mountain is touted as the world’s longest passenger cableway, with a total length of 7,455 meters and an ascent of 1,279 meters. At over 130 meters there is a natural hole – the tian men or heaven’s gate – which has seen a small plane and a wingsuit glider go through it. Construction is ongoing for an observation platform at the hole.
There are kilometers of pathways built onto the cliff face at the top of the mountain, including a glass skywalk called the Coiling Dragon Cliff which opened just last August. Unfortunately, our rush-rush tour did not allow us to take this acrophobic walk (which would have been really fun!); instead we were taken on the newly built 12-part escalator down the mountain, which really doesn’t add anything to the Tianmen experience as it is ensconced inside the mountain, devoid of scenery.
From there we boarded electric buses down to the base of the mountain back to our bus. It is a steep 11-kilometer stretch that has 99 sharp turns and goes from 1,300 meters down to 200 meters. Our driver says he does the 20-plus-minute run up and down a couple hundred times a day. A week after we were there, an Italian driver in a modified red Ferrari raced up the twisty road in a record 10 minutes 31 seconds. Other daredevil drivers have joined the Red Bull “drift king” event that had them sliding down the tight bends.
Being with the tourism conference allowed us to visit the new Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge, which at the time was closed to the public. The world’s longest (430 meters) and highest (300 meters) glass bridge gleamed in the morning sun, delicate and graceful, from afar appearing like a spider’s filament stretched between two mountains.
Even those of us with a fear of heights checked it out; this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things (not to mention expensive, 118 yuan to gain entry to the Grand Canyon and another 138 yuan to go on the bridge). With just a few hundred of us, we had room a-plenty for selfies and group-fies, getting photographed lying on the glass and walking the length with relative ease. We were told bungee jumping will in the future be allowed, but that is best left to the true thrill seekers. Because for us, there are more than enough thrills that Hunan is ready to share with its visitors.
