China It has incredible landscapes. I think that a calendar with 12 months would not reach to be able to select twelve representative postcards of its natural beauties. It really is a wonderful country.
All the Tianzi Mountains, for example, we find them in the province of Hunan, and I think they are one of those landscapes that you can find in Chinese porcelain or in the typical decorations to hang on the walls. let's meet today their secrets.
Tianzi Mountain
Sometimes in the plural, sometimes in the singular, the mountains They are in Hunan province, in the south of the country. It is actually about pillar-shaped mountains occupying an area of 67 square kilometers.
The pillars seem to have been carved by the gods, but they are of quartz sandstone and geology tells us that formed about 400 million years ago with the movement, up and down, of the earth's crust. Later, with more millions of years of continuous erosion, they ended up having their current appearance, towards the New Cathaisian.
Why is it called that? It has that name in memory of a local leader of the Tujia ethnic group. During the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), this gentleman named Xiang Dakun led a successful farmers' revolt and called himself Tianzi (Son of Heaven, as the Chinese emperor himself used to be called).
Legends about Tianzi abound, so the whole area is mysterious.
Visit Tianzi Mountain
Today the mountains are in a protected area, the Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve, one of the four subsections into which the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, which is part of the list of World Heritage. But since it is so beautiful, it is the most visited part of the place and it even appears on the entrance ticket.
Tianzi Mountain provides visitors with spectacular views of all the peaks rising one after another, but it is known as the Monarch of the Forest of the Mountains. At the top we can see a lot of land around us and be aware of how wide the Wulingyuan Scenic Area is, an area that tour operators say is unique because it combines the marvelous of Mount Hua, the magnificence of Mount Tai, the grotesque of the Yellow Mountain and the beauty of Guilin.
And if we have the best of luck during our visit, then we will be able to contemplate the best of its scenery, the so-called "four wonders": the Sea of Clouds, the Radiant Moon Rays, the Sun Rays and the snow in winter. Wow, with such a description one makes you want to go in person even more, doesn't it?
So you have to aim what should we visit yes or yes and we will start with the gulf of shentang, a forbidden and mysterious area. It's about a deep canyon in which the human being has left no trace. It has fog all year and according to the legend Xiang Tianzi died right here. There is no safe path through the area, only a natural staircase of nine steps that barely fit a foot. Not for vertigo sufferers, that's for sure.
La dianjiang terrace look to the west of the Stone Sea Forest, there is a small viewing platform from which you have a beautiful view of the Mount Xihai Forest and you will see rocks emerging from the depths of the canyon as if they were imperial soldiers. And it is that this area is decorated with remnants of mountain peaks, many eroded, in the shape of towers, obelisks... When there are clouds, it is simply the sky.
So far modernity has come in the form of a modern train. That's how it is, there is a little green train that goes about 10 miles through the reserve, by an area called 10 Mile Gallery, a beautiful and very picturesque valley. The little train is paid apart from the entrance to the park.
There is also the King of the Mountains, the Imperial Brushes, a picturesque duo of mountains that according to legend are so named because King Xiang himself left his writing brushes on them. If you look to the northeast you will see ten more mountains immersed in the blue sky and the highest peak of all seems, it is true, an inverted paintbrush. It's like a painting!
Finally, two more scenarios not to be missed: the Mountaintop Fields, something that seems taken from a fairy tale. They are at more than a thousand meters of altitude and are worked in farming terraces that cover a total of three hectares, between cliffs. On three sides the field is surrounded by trees and white clouds, as if it were a painting. A beauty. If you want to take photos you pay a small price and you can also take a tourist bus.
The last thing is the Tianzi Pavilion, a man-made site in traditional Chinese style, offering us the best view of all of the Tianzi Mountains. It is 30 meters high and is on a platform located 200 meters east of Helong Park. It has six stories and four double roofs, as if it were from imperial China.
How to visit Tianzi Mountain
La Tianzi Mountain is in the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, this is 55 kilometers from the city of Zhangjiajie, an hour and a half away by car. There are special buses that take you from Zhangjiaje Central Bus Station to Wuliangyuan Bus Station. You must take bus 1 or 2 and it's just two stations on the trip.
Once there you can either walk about 500 meters to the Scenic Bus Station and take the one that takes you to the cable rail station of the Tianzi Mountain. In the Wulinyuan Scenic Area there are free green cars.
La classic route It indicates to visit everything in this order: Shentang Gulf, Dianjiang Terrace, Helong Park, Tianzi Pavilion, Wolong Ridge, Mount Tower, 10 Mile Gallery and ending at Zimugang Station. Everything is done in one two or three hours and the good thing is that sometimes you walk, other times you can take a bus and other times the cable car.
A rail cable? yes this transport travel 2084 meters at a speed of five meters per second. Most of the visitors pay it back and forth to go up and down the mountain and thus save energy to move up, between attractions. In ten minutes he makes a round trip and the truth is that the landscapes he shows you are beautiful, so it's worth it. This cable car works from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in high season and from 8:5 a.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. in low season.
Most people visit the Tianzi Mountain and Yuanjiaje in a single day, first Yuanjiaje and then Tianzi Mountain. And in general It takes three days to visit the main attractions in Wulingyuan Scenic Area. On the first day you arrive at Zhangiajie and check into a hotel which is in the downtown area of Wulingyuan, on the second day you visit Zhanjiajie National Forest Park and on the third day you go to Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain.
With one or two more days available you can go a little further and visit the Zhanjiejie Grand Canyon, the Golden Dragon Cave or Baofeng Lake, for example, or walk through the ancient village of Fenghuang of the Hunan ethnic group or go to see the stone mushrooms of Fanjingshan Mountain.
And finally, What time of year should you visit Tianzi Mountain? The best time is undoubtedly spring, but autumn is also great. Let's say Between March and November is a good time.