2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
One of the most popular films of recent years is James Cameron's sci-fi drama Avatar. The mountains in China where this picture was filmed really exist. This is not computer graphics, but nature that everyone can see on planet Earth with their own eyes.
National Park
They are in the Zhangjiajie National Park, which is now even called the Avatar Park. The mountains in China, in which the shooting was organized, are located in the southwest of the country, this is a real unique natural wonder. They are located in the province of Hunan, which is about three hundred kilometers from the provincial capital of Changsha. Where Avatar was filmed, the mountains in China belong to the Wulingshan system.
The main asset of this national park is the rocks. Bizarre mountains in the form of original pillars rise to the sky, creating an amazing natural landscape, which is formed as a result of washing out of rocks and prolonged weathering.
Many admit that this place is becoming a favorite forvisits as soon as they become aware of its existence. At the same time, it is worth noting that even while living in China, it is not so easy to go to the mountains ("Avatar" impressed many viewers). You need to guess with time and weather, calculate finances.
Tourist boom
Told to be the inspiration for Cameron's iconic soaring mountains on the fictional planet Pandora in the "Avatar" photo of mountains in China. This became the most powerful advertisement of the national park in its entire history, because after the release of the picture on the screens, the flow of tourists here increased significantly. The Chinese, in gratitude for this, even renamed one of the mountains into "Avatar-Halelujah", installing several figures of "avatars" in the park, near which long queues of people who want to take a memorable photo are now constantly lined up.
While walking around the filming locations of "Avatar" in China, through the mountains in Zhangjiajie National Park, you really get the impression that you are on some other distant planet - such incredible landscapes open up before your eyes.
Features of Zhangjiajie
It is worth noting that not only the mountains attract so many tourists to this national park. Diverse fauna and flora, amazingly beautiful and picturesque landscapes play a certain role. For example, certain species of birds, plants and animals that are found in these places are so rare that they are listed in the Red Book. These include civet,giant salamander, clouded leopard, pangolin, rhesus monkey and many others.
All nature lovers will find a lot of amazing things here, the local scenery will especially appeal to them.
When to travel?
To get the full experience of visiting a mountain park in China, you need to choose the right time at which you plan your trip. Of course, the national park is open to visitors all year round, but the weather does not always allow you to fully enjoy the beauties of the local nature. Therefore, when planning a trip, you need to decide what you expect from this visit, what landscapes you want to see.
The best time to visit the mountains in China, where "Avatar" was filmed, is autumn. The best period is from mid-September to early November. During these months, the weather here is almost always exceptionally warm and sunny, and the temperature is comfortable enough to spend the whole day in the national park. At the same time, experienced travelers say that it is in autumn that these mountains will be best seen.
Other seasons
If you go here in winter, then be prepared that it will be too cold. In addition, due to bad weather, some trails may be closed for safety reasons, and fog and snow can cause poor visibility, so it will be very problematic to see anything.
But even this does not stop tourists, many go to take photos of the mountains in China in winter, trying tosee fantastic snow-covered landscapes, admire these views almost all alone. The undoubted advantage of a winter trip will be the fact that tickets at this time of the year are much cheaper.
In spring, the rainy season begins in these places, which lasts from March to June. Agree, it is unpleasant and uncomfortable to go along the paths and inspect the mountains when it is constantly dripping from the sky. True, it is at this time that fog covers the entire valley, many go to enjoy the effect of soaring peaks. In the moments when the fog hides the bases of the mountains, it seems that the mountains are simply hanging in the air. However, there is a chance that nothing can be seen at all behind the veil of fog.
But the amount of time required to visit the park is strictly individual. It's best to reserve an extra day anyway to visit the Avatar filming location in China, the mountains in Zhangjiajie National Park, in case the weather turns bad.
If you're lucky, you can visit other local attractions. Among them are Huanglong Cave, Baofeng Lake, Tianmen Mountain. In order to enjoy the beauty of the mountains themselves, someone needs one day, and someone needs at least two to see the main beauties without haste, and a couple more days to travel to other remarkable places that also deserve the attention of travelers, since they got so far.
If you want to avoid large crowds, it is better not to plan a trip for the first week of May and October (at this time the parkthere are a lot of local tourists coming because of the holidays), during the summer holidays it is not crowded because of the holidays and vacations.
Route options
How to get to the mountains in China? Avatar has inspired many travelers to visit this unique place. To visit the national park in which they are located, you first need to come to the city, which is called Zhangjiajie. After that, you should get to one of the villages directly at the entrance to the park.
There are several options to get to Zhangjiajie. You can take a plane, bus or train.
Airplane
First, let's take a look at how to get there by plane. If you are faced with the task of spending minimal time on a trip, then this is an ideal option. The easiest way to get here is by plane from some other Chinese city.
The local airport is located five kilometers from the city center. On a daily basis, it receives flights from Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Changsha, Qingdao, Wuhan, Tianjin and other cities. There are also several international flights. Planes from the capital of Thailand - Bangkok and the South Korean city of Busan land at this airport.
The fastest way is to fly from Xi'an or Guangzhou - about an hour and a half. A ticket will cost approximately 70-80 dollars (5-5,5 thousand rubles). It takes about two and a half hours to fly here from Shanghai, you will have to pay 115 dollars, and from Beijing almost three hours. The ticket will cost from 110 to 130 dollars(7.5-9 thousand rubles).
From the airport to the city you can get by bus or taxi. True, public transport is extremely rare. A taxi will cost from two and a half to five dollars, depending on where exactly you have to go. For a taxi to the entrance to the national park, you will need to pay about 15 dollars (1000 rubles).
The main thing - do not forget to bargain with taxi drivers, as the distances here are relatively short, drivers take advantage of the fact that tourists do not know the area, they can ask for too much.
Train
Now, knowing where the shooting of Avatar in China, where the mountains are, you can get to your destination by train. There is a railway connection between Zhangjiajie and many major cities in the country. It should be noted right away that this method is suitable only for patient travelers with plenty of time.
Travel from Beijing will take 22 to 26 hours, depending on which train you choose. At the same time, a ticket for a reserved seat costs 60 dollars (4200 rubles), and in a compartment - 100 (7000 rubles). The train from Shanghai travels from 20 to 22 hours, the ticket price is 60 and 80 dollars, respectively (4-5.5 thousand rubles). You can get from Guangzhou in 13-17 hours, paying 50 dollars (3.5 thousand rubles) for a reserved seat car and 77 (5500 rubles) for a compartment car. Changsha is the closest, only five hours away by train.
It is worth noting that the railway station in Zhangjiajie is located as conveniently as possible. It is close to both the airport and the city center. Walking distance to the stationcable car to Tianmen Mountain, which is considered another must-see place. From the central bus station you can get to the national park.
Bus
Another option is the bus. The city has several bus stations at once, which regularly receive regular flights from neighboring large cities.
For example, buses run from the central station to Shanghai, Wuhan, Changsha, Zhuhai and several other smaller cities. Buses run quite often.
The path to the national park
The last leg of the journey to the treasured mountains will be the path from the city of Zhangjiajie to the national park of the same name. To get to the territory of the reserve itself, you will need to go to one of the entrances, near which there are small villages. In one of them you can stay overnight so as not to waste time returning to the city if you have spent several days at this attraction.
The nearest entrance to the city is located 32 kilometers from it. The local village is also called Zhangjiajie. At 40 kilometers from it there is an entrance in the Wulingyuan area, and at 50 kilometers there is an entrance directly at Mount Tianji.
Where to stay?
When you reach your destination, you need to decide where you will stay for the night. The first option is to rent a room in one of the hotels in Zhangjiajie. There are many hotels and restaurants here. There are options for how to have fun and usefully spend your leisure time. But if you stay in the city, you will have to spend about two hours daily on the road to the park and back.
By staying in one of the villages at the entrance to the park, you will save much more time. There are also hotels and cafes here. For example, in Wulingyuan there is a hostel just a 10-minute walk from the entrance to the park. Within walking distance is a market with souvenirs and fruits, several shops, a pretty decent cafe and an ATM. In addition to hostels, there are quite expensive hotels.
Housing is better to book in advance, as in the high season all the rooms are occupied. Housing is sold out in about a month.
Park opening hours
The park officially opens at 6:30 am. As a rule, the entrance is opened at about seven o'clock in the morning, by which time a rather large crowd of tourists, mainly Chinese, has accumulated.
In summer, the park is open until 19:00, and in winter - from 7.30 to 17.00. Two types of tickets can be purchased at the entrance: for four days for $38/2700 rubles. and for a week for 46 dollars / 3200 rubles. In the winter season, the cost of visiting will be only $ 22 / 1500 rubles.
($12/850 RUB), tourist mini-train (from six to eight dollars/400-550 RUB).
Children under 120cm tall get in for free, children under 150cm pay only half the price. With an entrance ticket to the national park, you can travel by bus between stops.
At the entrancerather strict control - fingerprints are tied to tickets. So don't buy tickets secondhand, even if they're very good value, and don't lose or you'll have to buy new ones.
Tourist Tips
Experienced travelers are advised to come to the park early to enjoy these beautiful views while there are very few people.
If you want to use the Bailong elevator, then it is better to go to it in the morning, and go down around 15-16 hours, otherwise you can get into a queue that will last at least an hour.
Keep in mind that you will have to walk a lot, so make sure you have comfortable shoes that will not rub, comfortable clothes, just in case, bring a band-aid with you.
Since the distances are long, it is better to combine hiking with cable cars. If you rely only on yourself, then you can simply not have time to see a lot. The most convenient way is to go up by cable car, and go down on foot. Be prepared for the fact that on some trails you may encounter wild monkeys. Some are aggressive, so don't tease them.
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