Posts from an Australian lost in the Middle Kingdom
Zhangjiajie (张家界市), a city located in Hunan Province, is famed for its mountainous regions featuring karst rock formations that were the inspiration for the scenes in the movie Avatar. Near to the city is the Wulingyuan Scenic Area featuring large-scale limestone karst landforms in the northern part of the scenic spot have been eroded and dissolved by the transition of hundreds of millions of years of rivers, forming spectacular landscapes and native wonders.
Tourist cable cars are seen on Tianzi Mountain surrounded by fogs in Wulingyuan scenic area, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Zhangjiajie in Central China’s Hunan province, July 7, 2016.
Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, is home to 7 million people and renowned for its spicy local cuisine. For most tourists its a jumping point to head onwards to Zhangjiajie, Fenghuang, Wulingyuan, or Shaoshan and the birthplace of Mao Zedong. That’s a shame as Changsha offers quite a rich mix of history and cuisine.
Possibly one of the most beautiful ancient cities in China, Fenghuang of Hunan Province features all the ancient charm of traditional Chinese architecture, a rich history, and culture, all staged along either side of a beautiful river with lush green mountains as a backdrop. It’s otherworldly compared to China’s booming mega-cities.