Hunan Zhangjiajie Day 3 Wulingyuan National Forest Park

Good morning Pullman Zhangjiajie our comfy accommodation and we simply love it. The yellow bus awaiting for bus in front of the hotel.

The 11 of us in the tour among us were school mates, classmates from the same home towns Padang Serai and Kulim, brother and sisters etc etc from 3 nations Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. And our next destination for the day was the Avatar World at Yuanjiajie at Zhangjiajie National Park which is about 40km away.

The main entrance pagoda building of Wulingyan area of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park was designated as a World Heritage Site in 2002 and it was first set up in 1982.

The access card for the entrance with a charge of 136 yuan per head.

For a faster ascend to the peak we opted for the amazing lift. Bailong Elevator百龙 (Hundred Dragons Elevator) to the peak which is a glass elevator built onto the side of a huge cliff.

It is the highest and heaviest outdoor elevator in the world. On 16 July 2015, the elevator was officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s tallest outdoor lift.

Zhangjiajie is famous for its 3,000 vertical pillars, each hundreds of feet tall and covered in dense green foliage. These pillars were formed by erosion and draw in more than 30 million tourists every year.

Monkeys are common sight at the national park and this species is the rhesus macaque, one of the best-known species of Old World monkeys.

Yahoo! I am on one of the Avatar flying creatures. Up up and away ......

Camera clicking non stop with so many beautiful sights to capture.

Avatar Hallelujah Mountain 阿凡達-哈利路亞山 is a mountain of  1,080 metres quartz-sandstone pillars. After much inspiration from the vertical pinnacles within the floating mountains called "Hallelujah Mountains" in the film Avatar.

The 5 boys in the tour.

There was a lot of spots to cover besides seeing the pinnacles and the wonderful floating mountains of the park.

Of course there was also lots of walking to to do in order to see more places. This is also known as the Yuanjiajie Scenic Area.

The weather was cold as usual with snow and ice topping everywhere. One has to be careful at certain paths as the surfaces could be very slippery.  

The first bridge under the sun, a natural rock bridge between two mountain peaks and it is truly majestic. The bridge is about 2 meters wide, 5 meters thick spanning a distance of 50 meters.

 It was formed due to weathering and erosion with the lower rocks fallen off and creating a natural bridge. The bridge is decorated by pad locks and red banners by romantic lovers.

And walking continued and enjoying the lovely scenery on top of the highland.

One more at the end of the world first bridge.

Leo our Tour Leader & Liang having fun with the camera lens.

Little Duck our local guide is of a competent capability explaining in depth the places we visited, she is well versed with both Mandarin & English.

Coincidentally I managed to capture this monkey and a background that looks like him, I guess this is the Monkey pinnacle of the National Park.

Having fun tackling obstacles crossing a clear water stream. 

The obstacles before we moved back to Pullman Hotel for a rest.

With a few hours to spare before we gather for dinner me & Jo took a walk into the commercial area of Wulingyuan. Avatar stuff is seen everywhere in the commercial town of Wulingyuan.

Walking across the main river of the town and enjoying its atmosphere.

The commercial shops along the river side.

My guess for the murky water in the river is the heavy construction activities going on in this town and I bet the scenery would be different in the near future if I do come back to visit this place.