Zhangjiajie, Part II

At this rate I think I probably will be able to finish all the Zhangjiajie entries by the end of today.

We didn't do anything on our first day there, as we didn't get to Wulingyuan till about 4, and we mostly just lazed about, settled in a bit, talked with the landlord and pored over our maps. We ate lots of food, and went to look around Wulingyuan a bit. The prices here are slightly cheaper than TWN, but the food comes in huge servings. In the evening we got some food to eat - all of them fried with spices: fried tomato and egg, fried potatoes, fried pork, and stir-fry green veg. We then watched White Vengeance - one of the things that Pris and I really liked about this hostel was that the landlord put on a film every night, and we were allowed to pick which film we wanted to watch. He had all the newest films, too.

We met a group of Norwegian students who were backpacking throughout China: Jacob, Turjus and Christian, who were about the same age as us. We spent the entire night talking, and speaking with them transported me back to Europe and 2014 and hostelling; Europe, always Europe, always the hours, the airports, the waiting, finding serendipitous strangers, talking to them and feeling that connection, and talking books away. It brought so many memories and feelings back: the feeling of leaving my life behind, of hastily drunk coffees in the wee hours of the morning, of my rucksack on my back, our lives, everyone's lives, hostel couches, and trains and buses and that feeling, that heady sensation of not knowing what the morrow held in store for us.

Pris and I washed and went to bed, and woke up the next morning feeling reasonably refreshed. Pris got up early and had breakfast, whilst I slept in a bit. We went out at about 9, and got our tickets at the ticket booths. I was a bit unnerved when I had to give them my fingerprint, but I'm not a criminal and I've done nothing wrong, and everything's in the name of safety. I suppose.

Our first taste of Zhangjiajie's majesty..

Zhangjiajie National Park was simply vast. We had to catch buses from one destination to another, and each bus ride was about half an hour long. The first place we went to was the famous elevator, Bailong Tienti - 佰龍天梯 - which is the tallest open-space elevator in the world.

The ticket booth.

The view outside of the ticket booth was breathtaking, too.

Once we'd gotten our tickets, we had to walk along this rather damp corridor to get to the lift, and then take another lift from there.

It dropped several more degrees as we went up, and the view was wonderful. Another UNESCO world heritage site for the record, then.

Less amusing were the crowds and the people, who were simply everywhere.

And another glimpse of dem cliffs.

There were vendors and stalls all over the national park, and the food they sold looked quite nice, especially the baked potatoes, some of which we actually bought. They also sold cucumbers, which they ate like ice lollies, but we didn't buy those.

Yes! To be continued.