Zhangjiajie, the inspiration for Avatar

While there aren't many wild places in the world that I feel the need to experience in person, when I found out that the floating Mountains of Pandora, from the movie Avatar, were actually based on real mountains, I felt compelled to visit. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is located in Hunan province, about a two hour flight form Shanghai. Even though Avatar was largely CGI, James Cameron  went to Zhangjiajie to film them for the movie. Katy is from Vermont and loves the outdoors, and I love the movie Avatar, so it was both perfect and a once in a lifetime opportunity to get as close as possible to the fictitious alien planet of Pandora.

So if you haven't got it yet, I am a huge fan of Avatar: I saw it in theaters four times (in 2D, 3D, IMAX and IMAX 3D) and I can't wait for the sequels to come out (hopefully next year). I was a film minor in college but had never geeked-out over a movie before I completely geeked-out over Avatar. Visually and technologically I think it was the most important movie in generations, the films it has inspired still haven't been made yet, but I think time will tell what a game-changer it was. On top of that, I loved the story and the various allegories to conservationism, ecology and protecting our planet. I believe art can change politics, albeit slowly and subliminally, and I was incredibly happy that Avatar came out when it did for the awareness it has raised. Anyway, Zhangjiajie looks like Pandora because it both inspired the scenery and parts of Avatar were actually filmed there.

Zhangjiajie prefecture is over 3,000 square miles and contains over a million people. The 150 square miles of National Forest Park is abutted by the small city of Wulingyuan, which is closer to the entrance to the park. There is also Baofeng Lake and Huanglong Cave, which we also visited. While there isn't much to do or see in Wulingyan, construction is rampant and tourism is booming for the Park, Lake and Caves. Wulingyuan also has a Giant Salamander Nature Reserve but it was closed for renovations when we tried to visit; the fact that it exists at all made us happy, mostly because Giant Salamanders are becoming endangered. In addition to seeing protected Giant Salamanders on display, we also saw Giant Salamander on the menu in Wulingyuan. At least they are starting to raise awareness I guess.

A recent discovery found hominid teeth that are at least 80,000 years old, suggesting that this area might be the first part of the world that supported human life outside of Africa. Perhaps humans didn't occupy this exact park: the very landscape of Zhangjiajie makes me question what little we know about geology and physics. How did these towers of rock form? How did everything around it disappear? There are unbelievable rock bridges, towers of leaning rock, and trees growing sideways out of these 'islands' of mountain.

 

Our favorite were the monkeys that you're not supposed to feed. I had never seen monkeys in the wild but like following rules pertaining to wildlife, so we didn't feed them ourselves - instead spent at least a collective hour watching other people feed them. The monkeys are definitely smart and occasionally exhibited aggressive behavior. We watched one large adult monkey pull apart a plastic bag of nuts a man was in the act of eating from. As soon as the bag split open, half a dozen other monkeys quickly gathered up the spilled goodies and scattered. We also saw park visitors feeding the monkeys packaged goods; the monkeys quickly bit open the wrapper, unwrapped and discarded the wrapping on the forest floor and enjoyed the treats inside. One woman was taking a selfie, leaning against the railing and not paying any attention to her surroundings when an adult male monkey was walking along the top of the railing and shouldered her out of the way! She was shocked but he honestly looked indignant - I guess he expected her to move for him.

During our four days in Zhangjiajie we also enjoyed the Huanglong Caves, that were incredibly busy but breath-taking. Unlike the stalagmites and stalactites I studied in school, there were all types of geological formations I had no words to describe. The tours seemed really educational and interesting, but they were completely in Manadarin so Katy and I missed out on an educational experience. Unlike any American park I have ever heard of, this cave was lit up with different colored lights, making the large cave-system appear a little like a concert venue. Unfortunately, visiting the caves involved pushy crowds and many flights of slick stone steps. I was more than a little uncomfortable with the human jostling, but we survived and it was worth the effort. It is possible we get pushed more because we are foreigners (there were very few non-Chinese in Zhangjiajie) but it seemed like everyone was pushing each other about as much as they were pushing us.

This was the most remote place in the world I have ever visited, it was hard to get to and no one spoke English, but, if you are an adventure-seeker like Katy, or willing to go on an adventure like me, I highly recommend making the trip. From an infrastructure, language barrier and unfamiliarity point of view, I have never been anywhere like this before. Bathrooms were basic, no one spoke English, and in crowds the concept of personal space was non-existent. The important things are that we survived all the crazy bus rides and had experiences we will never forget. The world is an amazing place and we are lucky to have gotten there.

I hope you like the pictures, but they really don't do the place justice. Zhangjiajie was the most beautiful place I have ever been in the world and despite the many obstacles of traveling there, I highly recommend taking the trip if you are ever in China. More spectacular than anywhere I have been in America including Yellowstone, Colorado (winter or summer), the Pacific Northwest, and the Adirondacks of New York. Visiting Zhangjiajie is as close as I will ever get to traveling to James Cameron's planet of Pandora and I hope our pictures inspire you to get some nature wherever you might find it.