Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

Some of Zhangjiajie's rock formations have creative names. This one's called Wulang Worshiping Buddhism.

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (湖南张家界国家森林公园) is my favorite place in China (so far). The park is full of sky-high stone pillars, some of which soar over 1000 meters above the forest floor. Supposedly, these natural formations inspired James Cameron to create the “Hallelujah Floating Mountains” for his movie Avatar. Never one to turn down free publicity, Chinese officials renamed one of the pillars “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain” (阿凡达-哈利路亚山).

Zhangjiajie can get quite crowded in the summer, so I went in December. I stayed in a hostel in the middle of the park. For the next four days, I wandered around the park's many hiking trails. Most people visit Zhangjiajie as part of a package tour, so they only get to see two main areas. Outside of those areas, the park was nearly empty.

On my last day, I got up before dawn for a sunrise picture of Hallelujah Floating Mountain. But there was a problem: we were in the middle of a blizzard! The snow was wet and heavy, and the road was covered with broken tree branches. I didn't see any vehicles, or even any tire tracks in the snow. When I reached the main touristy area, I had the whole place to myself. The snowfall grew heavier as the day wore on, so I missed that iconic sunrise picture. But the experience of seeing this beautiful place in the winter was once-in-a-lifetime.

Here are some highlights of my four days in the park:

Avatar Hallelujah Mountain

They're really embracing this Avatar thing.

There are some cool stony paths, perfect for prancing.

Here are some more rock formations, spotted during my walk.

I sat around and watched the sunset. Nobody else was there.

Selfie time!

I only had to walk five minutes from my hostel to get this view.

This pillar is called Singing in the Antiphonal Style .
You can see the thousand-foot outdoor elevator in the background.

This place is called Soldiers' Gathering. Some of my favorite views came from here.

Soldiers' Gathering

Here is a tea plantation called Fields in the Sky. Again, you can see the elevator in the background.

This is the village next to Fields in the sky.

Here's a sprawling view.

Hmm, we'll see about that.

Oh yeah, that sign wasn't lying.

Plenty of red ribbons hanging from trees in this park.

This one, unsurprisingly, is called Greatest Natural Bridge.

Selfie, selfie, selfie.

It was snowing on my last day, so the buses couldn't make it into the park. This bridge would normally be packed with people. Today, I had it to myself.

Shit's getting' real.

Zhangjiajie: Picture of ribbons in snow.

Ribbons in the snow.

There's a lovely trail leading to the bottom. It's a great alternative to the elevator.

At the end of a long day of exploring, what better way to kick back than with a tasty Big Mac? Thank God they installed a McDonald's in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.