My first week of school was interrupted by two Chinese holidays: Teachers day and Midautumn Festival. There were no classes Friday afternoon, instead there was an assembly where some teachers and administrators spoke and were given sashes and certificates. Yi Zhong Xuexiao gave both Thomas and myself a gift of 300 yuan. It was very kind, and it cemented in my mind that I should go to Zhangjiajie this weekend. Emily had planted the idea, it sounded like tons of Wters were going to go. But then everyone bailed. So a plan was made, meet at the west bus station at 7.
The next morning my alarm went on and I left to go to the 146 bus stop to go to the west bus station, after an extremely long city bus ride where we nearly hit several scooter riders, I finally made it. The west bus station was crawling with people, there were food stands everywhere. I bought some baozi and waited for my four traveling companions. Maureen and Courtney arrived first, then Emily and Nora. Emily, Nora and I played phone tag for a while trying to find one another. Finally we made it in, and armed with a piece of paper that said Zhangjiajie, we walked to the ticket counter, and bought 5 tickets for Zhangjiajie!
Long distance buses in China are completely different than long distance buses in the USA. In China it is a valid form of travel and there are tons of people. Unlike greyhound which is like a sampling of some of the creepiest people in the US mixed with people too poor to take an airplane or drive. But in China it is expensive to use the freeway, on the way up once we left Changhsa and got on the freeway I think we mostly saw bigrigs and maybe 2 cars total.
Traveling to Zhangjiajie was interesting, it was all fields of rice, and other crops small villages and hills. Then all of a sudden you start climbing into the misty mountains and the scenery changes completely. Zhangjiajie is a town that is big enough that you can find a few western products, McDonalds and KFC. But it is so much smaller than Changsha. Less traffic, smaller town and when you get on the outside you run into wet markets with dogs hanging, and live animals. Not just chicken! Ducks, pheasants, moles, rabbits, geese. The wet markets are so lively. But the real reason everyone goes to Zhangjiajie is to see the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wulingyuan!
The first day it was closed by the time we made it there, so we walked around the town at the entrance which was even smaller and if you ever go do not use the public bathrooms. Walk into a hotel and use their bathroom. Always look like you belong and you will never be kicked out. We returned to Zhangjiajie and got food near Becky's school. It was delicious and spicy and made 3 out of 8 people's mouths go numb for a while. We still aren't exactly sure why.
The park, when we finally made it, started out a little disappointing. The sign said if you were under 24 you only needed to pay 160yuan, as opposed to 248yuan. But it meant if you had a student id, so I paid a bit more after some confusion where the ticket seller just gave me back my passport and money and said "sorry." But finally we made it, and we got on the right bus to go to the 10 mile scenic gallery.
The hike led us on a paved path next to a stream and a tram for total LPT (Lazy Person Travel) The final destination of this path was Tianzi Mountain. There was an elevator on one side that you could take up and then walk down but no LPT for us! There were tons of butterflies and a single lone Rhesus monkey who was chilling in the trees. Next time I go, I want to hike on a less crowded path so I can see more animals. But finally at the end of the tram we started to climb stairs, they started on about a 45 degree angle. So after a few flights we were all huffing a puffing. We split into three groups accidentally: Emily, Nora, Courtney and Sarah were in the lead, Maureen and I were in the middle, and Becky and Kiersten were bringing up the rear. We were harrassed by sedan carriers the entire way up. It was ridiculously unfair, I am huffing and puffing, they are relaxing and smoking and have the stamina to climb all these stairs carrying a person.
Normally I assume the view is spectacular but as it was, we could see some trees and then fog where the mountain dropped off, the higher we got the more it was like walking in the clouds and the wetter and cooler it got. Halfway we all met up again and were given corn jellies and sunflower seeds by some kind travelers who were hiking the stairs with small children and literally carrying the little guys up. So we started hiking again, this time on a steeper incline must have gone up to 70 degrees. But we made it up to the top and took some group photos and had some Chinese people take group pictures with us! Some of the wters used their bargaining skills to buy trinkets. We tried to find another path down, but to no avail. So back down the main path we went, we paused at one spot and shot the shit with some of the sedan carriers, including one who had arm wrestled with Kiersten!
We climbed all the way down, tried to find another hike to do before we left. Got on a bus and came across the Zhangjiajie International Music Festival. We listened to the singers from Georgia (the country) and then saw dancers from South Africa wearing Zulu warrior outfits. They were playing drums and dancing. It was the last thing I ever expected to see in China. But it was nice! Really nice! We took pictures of them afterwards and spoke to them. There were some Chinese people who wanted to take pictures with them. This one woman took a picture with one of the Zulu "warriors" decked out in animal skins, she looked really nervous.
We walked along the stream and Emily and Nora paid to put on some of the traditional outfits and we took tons and tons of pictures. We were starving and ready to leave, we headed to a pizza restaurant owned by Levi (we called him Cool Guy). He is a westerner who came to China a year ago and opened a pizza place about 8 months ago. He was friends with Kevin the wter at Becky's school last year. But right as we pulled up the power went out, so we went down for hot pot. That burned so much, tears rolling down my cheeks. But it was so good!
The ride back was less than stellar so i will gloss over it! But Zhangjiajie was amazing and I can't wait to go back. I want to see Tianmen Mountain!! and more of the park.
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