China's Majestic Mountains That Inspired the Movie Avatar

Zhangjiajie, China's first national park, features glass-surfaced bridges, a mountain elevator and a food court with a McDonald's for those who prefer to take a break and refresh themselves before an exciting journey.

The area where the park is located is also known as Yangjiajie, which translates to "Land of Yang". According to ancient legends, a war between clans once broke out in the vicinity of these mountains. The military camp of the Yang Dynasty was set up right at the foot of Tianzi Mountain. The confrontation dragged on for decades and never resulted in a clear victory for either side.

Over time, descendants of the clan began to settle in the area, moving further and further away from the original location of the camp. Archaeological findings, such as the burials of Yang clan members, corroborate this story, adding to the legend's historical value.

Located in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, Zhangjiajie is China's first and oldest national park, established in 1982. The forest is part of the larger Wulingyuan scenic area, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and received Global Geopark status in 2001.

The name may seem very difficult to pronounce, but there's an easier way to remember it by associating it with the soaring islets of the Hallelujah Mountains, which featured in director James Cameron's blockbuster film Avatar, and whose creation was inspired by this very place.

Sheng Hong Yan, a tour guide at Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in central China, said Zhangjiajie was a little-known place even among Chinese tourists before the movie made it popular.

The movie franchise's official website states, "The Hallelujah Mountains are mountains floating in the air above Pandora." While they don't levitate, the way they rise above the ground, breaking through the mist and clouds, gives them an otherworldly appearance. Hence the tourists' reluctance to break away from contemplating the view.

And the scenery gets more impressive as you go higher and higher. The main attraction is a lone quartzite-sand pillar-rock that the local tourism department has named "Mount Praise the Lord" (loosely translated "Hallelujah"). "This is what everyone comes here for," Shen says. This is where crowds gather, huddled around the observation deck, trying to capture the impressive majesty of this natural phenomenon on their tiny phone screens.

This rock, originally called the "Column of the Southern Sky," soars 1,08,000 feet into the air, and thickets of dense foliage add vibrant green splashes to the overwhelming brown landscape.

"We call it 'qiankun'," Shen says. "This word means 'Heaven and Earth' and refers to this pillar-rock that connects the two. A fitting name for what appears to be a piece of land reaching all the way to the heavens. From some vantage points, the pillar appears to be thinner at the base than at the top, but it is not, it stands as steady and unwavering as it did millions of years ago."

The national park covers a small area of just over 48 square kilometers and is divided into small sections, making it easy to cover the main sights in a couple of days. The most impressive vantage points are in the areas known as Yuanjiajie, Tianzi Mountain and Yellowstone Mountain Village (known as Huangshizhai), and these are where most tourists focus their efforts.

There are several hiking trails for people of all levels of fitness and endurance, as well as buses, cable cars and even a mountainside elevator for those who prefer to take it easy and just capture the best spots in photos. The Bailong elevator, which lifts 50 people to a height of 326 meters in less than two minutes, is one of the park's main attractions, and during peak season people queue for hours to ride it.

Along all the trails there are clusters of cafes and souvenir shops, loud voices and even louder music coming from loudspeakers. At lunchtime, Shen suggests hikers visit the bustling food court at the top of the mountain, home to a McDonald's and dozens of street food stalls.

The breathtaking views and quirky names of each of the stalls - Fields in the Sky, Bridge Under the Sky No. 1, Three Sisters Peak, Terrace of Ecstasy - more than compensate for the lack of tranquility.

Walking through the park turns into a real adventure, because around every corner there is something amazing. Not only the majestic mountains, but also the diversity of local fauna and many unique natural and cultural monuments are awe-inspiring.

The Yellow Dragon Cave, created from karst rocks, reaches a height of 140 meters and is considered one of the largest in the world. Its natural beauty is amazing, with waterfalls and rivers forming a unique landscape inside. In this cave you have the impression that you are in the fairy tale abbey of Dragon.

Heaven Gate Buddhist Temple is a place with an ancient history, known since the Ming Dynasty, when it became an important pilgrimage center. The temple covers an area of 10,000 square meters and is located in a cave formed in 263 AD after the collapse of the Tianmen (Tianmenshan) rock massif. The impressive size of the cave - 60 meters long, 57 meters wide and 131.5 meters high - makes it truly grandiose.

The Chinese call this place the "Magic Cave of Western Hunan" for its mystical atmosphere. The thick clouds that seem to envelope the temple make you feel as if you are ascending into the heavens.

It is not by chance that the temple was built here. According to ancient chronicles, Tianmen Mountain is connected with the heavens, which gives it great energy and the ability to influence human destinies. The chronicles mention numerous mysterious phenomena that occurred in this place.

At the top of Tianzi Mountain, you can see the outcrop of "Heavenly Fairy Scattering Flowers", where the swirling mist gives the impression of a traditional Chinese painting come to life.

As you descend the mountain, the fog clears and you can walk along a babbling brook known as Golden Whip Creek for a couple hours. This easy stroll will provide an up-close view of the rock pillars, and the crowds thin out within a few hundred meters of starting the trail. Only the sound of running water and the occasional cries of brown macaques, who have learned to recognize humans as potential feeders, will break the silence.

Thick clouds, cover the landscape up to the 1,518 meter high Tianmen Mountain, located an hour's drive in the heart of Zhangjiajie city. This place is not part of Zhangjiajie National Park, but Shen's guide highly recommends it as "something special". Like the elevator in the national park, there is a cable car that goes up and down the mountain.

Sitting inside the eight-seat glass gondola, you can understand the reason for such a rush. It's the world's longest cable car, stretching more than 7 kilometers and taking about 30 minutes to reach the top. It glides at a terrifyingly steep incline, offering 360-degree views of towering peaks and a mountain road with 99 steep turns.

Tianmen, with its many glass-bottom bridges and precipitous paths, is not an area for faint-hearted tourists. According to Shao, the walk across the glass suspension bridge was originally called the "Faith Walk". The most interesting attraction along the way is the arch of a cave between two hilltops, which Chinese legend considers the door to heaven (hence the mountain's local name, Tian Men Shan, or "Heaven's Gate").

Many tourists, puffing and puffing, climb 999 steps to reach the mouth of this cave, but there is an opportunity to stand on the open ground at the foot and look at the white veil covering the landscape. And if you have the patience, at one unexpected moment, which is what makes the journey so exciting, the clouds will part, the fog will clear and the cave will appear.

Next to Zhangjiajie Park is another equally impressive park, Yangjiajie Park. There are many scenic spots, including the Baihur and Lunquan valleys, as well as the Xiangzhi Mountains. Each of these places offers its own unique scenery, mesmerizing guests with its natural wonders.