The first thing you need to know about Zhangjiajie is that it consists of two mountains:

Prvo što trebate znati o Zhangjiajieu jest da se sastoji od dviju planina:

• Tianmen mountain – near Zhangjiajie city (this is where the train station is).
• Planina Tianmen – blizu grada Zhangjiajiea (ondje je željeznički kolodvor).
• Avatar mountains (Zhangjiajie Natural Forest Park) – near a town called Wulingyuan.
• Avatar planine (Nacionalni šumski park Zhangjiajie) – blizu gradića Wulingyuana.

Zhangjiajie and Wulingyuan are 45 minutes away by bus and half an hour by taxi.

Zhangjiajie i Wulingyuan udaljeni su 45 minuta autobusom i pola sata taksijem.

I have arrived in the evening to Zhangjiajie and have decided to spend one day exploring Tianmen mountain and two days exploring Avatar mountains.

U Zhangjiajie sam stigao navečer i odlučio jedan dan provesti istražujući planinu Tianmen, a dva dana Avatar planine.

DAY 1

1. DAN

My accommodation was conveniently located 5 minutes walk from the entrance to the Cable Car for Tianmen mountain. I really wanted to hike to the top but it is a bad idea. The only path you can take is to follow the road buses use to the top, and that is pointless hiking.

Moj je smještaj bio zgodno smješten, 5 minuta hoda od ulaza na žičaru za planinu Tianmen. Jako sam se htio pješice popeti na vrh, ali to je loša ideja. Jedini put kojim možete ići jest cesta kojom autobusi voze do vrha, a takvo je planinarenje besmisleno.

I did not book my tickets in advance and was surprised to find out that cable car tickets were not sold out. I was already consigned to using buses to get to the top. I even brought my motion sickness pills with me. You might be laughing but the road up is super curvy. My last hike to the Hengshan mountain ended up with me almost puking my guts off when returning down with the bus – the road really is just a collection of left-right-left-right turns. I managed to survive it, but the girl in the seat in front of me was not so lucky. Everyone has left the bus and she was still inside vomiting. Motion sickness is no joke…

Nisam rezervirao karte unaprijed i iznenadio sam se kad sam vidio da karte za žičaru nisu rasprodane. Već sam se bio pomirio s time da ću do vrha morati autobusom. Čak sam ponio i tablete protiv mučnine u vožnji. Možda se smijete, ali cesta prema gore jako je zavojita. Moj prošli izlet na planinu Hengshan završio je tako da sam skoro ispovraćao dušu dok sam se autobusom vraćao dolje – cesta je zaista samo niz zavoja lijevo-desno-lijevo-desno. Ja sam nekako preživio, ali djevojka na sjedalu ispred mene nije bila te sreće. Svi su izašli iz autobusa, a ona je još bila unutra i povraćala. Mučnina u vožnji nije šala…

The cable car gets you to the top of the mountain and then you can hike around the mountain. The path is a loop so you can walk around the entire mountain. The path is also mostly flat so it is better described as walking path than hiking trail. The scenery is spectacular.

Žičara vas dovede na vrh planine, a onda možete hodati po planini. Staza je kružna pa možete obići cijelu planinu. Staza je i većinom ravna pa je prije šetnica nego planinarska staza. Krajolik je spektakularan.

There is one very beautiful temple at the top but honestly, I am fed up with Chinese temples. They all look the same – Taoist, Confucian, Buddhist all the same – or I have failed to notice the difference. European churches are very different if they are built in the romanic, gothic or neoclassical style. Chinese temples are all built in the same style, the only difference I noticed is the color of the rooftiles.

Na vrhu je jedan jako lijep hram, ali iskreno, dosta mi je kineskih hramova. Svi izgledaju isto – taoistički, konfucijanski, budistički, svi isti – ili ja nisam uspio uočiti razliku. Europske crkve jako se razlikuju ovisno o tome jesu li građene u romaničkom, gotičkom ili neoklasicističkom stilu. Kineski hramovi svi su građeni u istom stilu, a jedina razlika koju sam primijetio jest boja crijepa.

In the centre of the mountain is the viewing platform. This is the only “steeper” section but very easily manageable. It is not a long way from the main path and I think it is worth making this extra effort for a few good photos from the top.

U središtu planine je vidikovac. To je jedina „strmija“ dionica, ali vrlo se lako svlada. Nije daleko od glavne staze i mislim da se isplati dodatno potruditi za nekoliko dobrih fotografija s vrha.

The most famous part of the mountain is actually not at the top but hidden below. To get there, you need to take a lot of escalators. The escalators are in the western part of the walking path. Make sure that you have visited all the points at the top of the mountain before you descend with elevators, because you cannot go back.

Najpoznatiji dio planine zapravo nije na vrhu, nego je skriven ispod. Da biste došli do njega, morate se voziti dugim nizom pokretnih stepenica. Pokretne stepenice su na zapadnom dijelu šetnice. Pazite da obiđete sve točke na vrhu planine prije nego što se spustite pokretnim stepenicama jer se ne možete vratiti.

Below is the stairway to heaven – a big whole in the mountain that looks like the entrance to Heaven. Well, at least this is how it looks like to the Chinese. Next to it is also a cave but I am absolutely not a fan of the caves so I have skipped it.

Dolje su Stube do neba – velika rupa u planini koja izgleda kao ulaz u Nebo. Dobro, barem tako izgleda Kinezima. Pokraj nje je i špilja, ali ja nikako nisam ljubitelj špilja pa sam je preskočio.

Close to the Stairway to Heaven is the cable car to get back to the city. I started going up the mountain at 7:30 and was back in the city at 12:00. I had lunch, picked up my staff and took a bus to Wulingyuan.

Blizu Stuba do neba je žičara kojom se vraćate u grad. Na planinu sam krenuo u 7:30, a u gradu sam bio u 12:00. Ručao sam, pokupio stvari i sjeo na autobus za Wulingyuan.

I reached Wulingyuan around 14:00 and I could have went to explore the park that day. The tickets for the National Park are valid for 4 days! But I decided I will go to sleep and then to the gym. I made myself a promise to go to the gym minimum 3 times per week and hiking all day did not count as a gym, regardless of how many steps I made.

U Wulingyuan sam stigao oko 14:00 i mogao sam taj dan otići istraživati park. Karte za nacionalni park vrijede 4 dana! Ali odlučio sam da ću otići spavati, a zatim u teretanu. Obećao sam si da ću u teretanu ići najmanje 3 puta tjedno, a cjelodnevno hodanje ne računa se kao teretana, bez obzira na to koliko sam koraka napravio.

Avatar mountains is a very big national park which consists of a number of attractions you can reach with bus, cable car, elevator or mini-train. It sounds complicated but it is not. This is my map with my inscriptions of how to get from one point to the next. I am sure it is all clear. J

Avatar planine vrlo su velik nacionalni park koji se sastoji od niza atrakcija do kojih možete doći autobusom, žičarom, liftom ili vlakićem. Zvuči komplicirano, ali nije. Ovo je moja karta s mojim bilješkama o tome kako doći od jedne točke do druge. Siguran sam da je sve jasno. J

There are two entrances to the National park:

U nacionalni park vode dva ulaza:

• Eastern – walking distance from Wulingyuan and thus much, much more crowded
• Istočni – nadomak Wulingyuana pješice i zato puno, puno veća gužva
• Southern – you need to take the taxi to get there, or a local bus, if you are not in a hurry.
• Južni – do njega morate taksijem ili lokalnim autobusom, ako vam se ne žuri.

DAY 2

2. DAN

On day two, I have entered the NP through Eastern Gate and these are the attractions that I have visited:

Drugi sam dan u NP ušao kroz Istočna vrata, a ovo su atrakcije koje sam posjetio:

• Yuanjiajie – you need to take the bus at the Eastern Gate to the elevator. Not all buses go to this place, so make sure you are going in the right bus. The elevator takes you up high into the mountains. You start inside the mountain and everything is dark, but towards the end you get to the open part with views of the mountains. The transition from darkness to the views of the Avatar mountains is truly magnificent. The walking path is on the edges of the mountain so you will have many excellent viewing platforms. You just go straight and you will in the end reach the bus stop for your next destination.
• Yuanjiajie – kod Istočnih vrata morate sjesti na autobus do lifta. Ne voze svi autobusi onamo pa pazite da uđete u pravi. Lift vas vozi visoko u planine. Krenete unutar planine i sve je mračno, ali pred kraj izađete na otvoreni dio s pogledom na planine. Prijelaz iz mraka na pogled na Avatar planine zaista je veličanstven. Šetnica ide rubom planine pa ćete imati mnogo izvrsnih vidikovaca. Samo idite ravno i na kraju ćete doći do autobusne stanice za sljedeće odredište.

2. Yangjiajie – this part allows you to go down and see the mountains from below.

2. Yangjiajie – ovaj vam dio omogućuje da se spustite i vidite planine odozdo.

You can walk or take the cable car. I walked, of course, but that was a mistake. The walk is not especially nice, in fact it was rather slippery, and then going up again was good work out for legs and gluts, but nothing more. I ran into an American guy who showed me the videos of the cable car ride and it is really something special. So definitely take the cable car, at least going up. The only upside of me walking is that I ran into a very friendly Chinese guy who kept me company. I was on a very tight schedule and I am a quick walker, so I am cautious about going with other people if they are slowing me down. But worry not, this guy is a soldier and even better, he is very interested in history. It was my opportunity to test my theories about Chinese history. I started giggling when he told me the only history thought in the Chinese military is Communist China. 2000 years of imperial history – zero points; 3000 years of pre-imperial China nul point. I was not surprised, but I was still sad when he told me he does not know much or cares much about my favorite Chinese dynasty – the Song Dynasty – when China reached its cultural and scientific peak, but was militarily quite weak and kept losing wars to barbarians like Khitan, Jurchen and finally Kublai Khan’s Mongols.

Možete pješice ili žičarom. Ja sam, naravno, išao pješice, ali to je bila pogreška. Šetnja nije osobito lijepa, zapravo je bilo prilično sklisko, a ponovni uspon bio je dobar trening za noge i stražnjicu, ali ništa više od toga. Naletio sam na jednog Amerikanca koji mi je pokazao snimke vožnje žičarom i to je zaista nešto posebno. Zato svakako idite žičarom, barem prema gore. Jedina dobra strana mog pješačenja jest to što sam naletio na vrlo ljubaznog Kineza koji mi je pravio društvo. Imao sam jako gust raspored i brzo hodam pa sam oprezan kad treba ići s drugim ljudima ako me usporavaju. Ali bez brige, ovaj je čovjek vojnik i, što je još bolje, jako ga zanima povijest. To mi je bila prilika da provjerim svoje teorije o kineskoj povijesti. Počeo sam se smijuljiti kad mi je rekao da je jedina povijest koja se uči u kineskoj vojsci povijest komunističke Kine. 2000 godina carske povijesti – nula bodova; 3000 godina predcarske Kine nul point. Nisam se iznenadio, ali ipak sam se rastužio kad mi je rekao da ne zna puno i da ga baš i ne zanima moja najdraža kineska dinastija – dinastija Song – u čije je vrijeme Kina dosegla kulturni i znanstveni vrhunac, ali je vojno bila prilično slaba i stalno je gubila ratove od barbara poput Kitana, Džurdžeta i na kraju Mongola Kublaj-kana.

3. Aerial garden – another bus ride away and you get to the Aerial garden where you have two options: walk or take a minibus ride. Minibus ride is 32 yuan one-way and I definitely advise you to take it. I went walking and it was not a very pleasant walk. I was walking on the same road the minibus took. It was quite a long walk, over an hour before anything of interest happens. Basically, you want to reach two rice fields to take photos from above. The minibus will drop you off at these two stops. I feel that the only reason they are cultivating these fields is for the tourists to take photos. After the second field, you should follow the path down and you will reach a nice viewpoint of the mountains around the elevator you took to climb up the mountains.

3. Zračni vrt – još jedna vožnja autobusom i stižete do Zračnog vrta, gdje imate dvije mogućnosti: pješice ili minibusom. Vožnja minibusom stoji 32 juana u jednom smjeru i svakako vam savjetujem da ga uzmete. Ja sam išao pješice i to nije bila baš ugodna šetnja. Hodao sam istom cestom kojom vozi minibus. Šetnja je bila prilično duga, više od sat vremena prije nego što se dogodi išta zanimljivo. Ukratko, želite doći do dvaju rižinih polja da ih fotografirate odozgo. Minibus će vas ostaviti na te dvije stanice. Imam dojam da ta polja obrađuju samo zato da bi ih turisti fotografirali. Nakon drugog polja nastavite stazom prema dolje i doći ćete do lijepog vidikovca s pogledom na planine oko lifta kojim ste se popeli gore.

4. Viewing platform – after a very short bus ride (maybe 3 minutes) you will reach the viewing platform, which consists of three paths that take you to the viewing platforms. Two paths are very close, but the last one is around 20 minutes walk.

4. Vidikovac – nakon vrlo kratke vožnje autobusom (možda 3 minute) stižete do vidikovca, koji se sastoji od triju staza što vode do platformi s pogledom. Dvije su staze vrlo blizu, ali do zadnje ima oko 20 minuta hoda.

5. Tanzhi mountain – the last stop on my tour and definitely one of the highlights. It offers many viewing points, though it is also one of the most crowded areas. The area is full of shops, restaurants – there is even a McDonalds. When you finish here, you take a cable car down and there another bus to the exit at Eastern Gate.

5. Planina Tanzhi – posljednja stanica mog obilaska i svakako jedan od vrhunaca. Nudi mnogo vidikovaca, iako je to i jedno od područja s najvećom gužvom. Sve je puno trgovina i restorana – postoji čak i McDonalds. Kad ovdje završite, spustite se žičarom, a zatim još jednim autobusom do izlaza kod Istočnih vrata.

I have entered Eastern Gate at 7:30 and have exited it at 17:10.

Kroz Istočna vrata ušao sam u 7:30, a izašao u 17:10.

DAY 3

3. DAN

The next day I took a different route. I started at Southern Gate and from there you walk to the square, where you take the bus to your first destination.

Sljedeći sam dan išao drugom rutom. Krenuo sam od Južnih vrata, a odande se pješice ide do trga, gdje sjedate na autobus do prvog odredišta.

1. Huangshizhou – you take the cable car which takes you high in the mountains. There is a loop path – you go in a circle around this mountain and you have hundreds of places to take excellent photos. You will also very likely run into a few monkeys. These are macaques, who have an unfortunate combination of extreme intelligence and vile temper, so beware, you have been warned. You can hike to this mountain, but after yesterday’s misses, I have decided to take the cable car on the way up and down.

1. Huangshizhou – idete žičarom koja vas vozi visoko u planine. Staza je kružna – obilazite planinu ukrug i imate stotine mjesta za izvrsne fotografije. Vrlo ćete vjerojatno naletjeti i na nekoliko majmuna. To su makakiji, koji imaju nesretan spoj iznimne inteligencije i gadne naravi, zato pazite, upozoreni ste. Na ovu se planinu možete popeti i pješice, ali nakon jučerašnjih promašaja odlučio sam ići žičarom i gore i dolje.

▶ Watch the videoPogledaj video

2. Jinbianxi – you take the bus back from the Huangshizhou to the square and there you turn left to take the 7.5 kilometers walk through a lush forest. You are following a stream and looking at the mountains from below. In fact, this is definitely the best place to see the mountains from below. Most of the time you are in the shade, which is an additional benefit. If you like scoundrels, aka monkeys, you will see plenty of them because the Chinese keep feeding them. The path is not a loop, you will end up your walk right next to the Elevator (my first stop on previous day).

2. Jinbianxi – autobusom se vratite s Huangshizhoua na trg i ondje skrenete lijevo na šetnju dugu 7,5 kilometara kroz bujnu šumu. Pratite potok i gledate planine odozdo. Zapravo, ovo je definitivno najbolje mjesto za pogled na planine odozdo. Većinu vremena ste u hladu, što je dodatna prednost. Ako volite nitkove, to jest majmune, vidjet ćete ih napretek jer ih Kinezi stalno hrane. Staza nije kružna, šetnju ćete završiti odmah pokraj Lifta (moje prve stanice prethodnog dana).

▶ Watch the videoPogledaj video

3. Ten-mile Elevator Gallery – at the Elevator station you need to take the bus for Ten-Mile Elevator Gallery or something like that. The problem is that every translator translates it differently. This was my final stop in the Zhangjiajie and they have done it: I have fallen into a massive tourist trap! What a piece of shit this is! You can either walk or take the mini-train. Since I was in a rush, I took the mini-train. You are looking at the mountains from below, except that everything is much less beautiful than at Jinbianxi, and to my great frustration, the mini-train was progressing with the speed of the snail! Avoid! Avoid!

3. Ten-mile Elevator Gallery – na stanici kod Lifta morate sjesti na autobus za Ten-Mile Elevator Gallery ili nešto slično. Problem je u tome što svaki prevoditelj to prevodi drukčije. Ovo mi je bila zadnja stanica u Zhangjiajieu i uspjeli su: upao sam u golemu turističku zamku! Kakvo je ovo sranje! Možete ili pješice ili vlakićem. Budući da mi se žurilo, sjeo sam na vlakić. Gledate planine odozdo, samo što je sve puno manje lijepo nego na Jinbianxiju, a na moju veliku frustraciju vlakić je napredovao puževom brzinom! Izbjegavajte! Izbjegavajte!

After taking the same painfully slow train back, I took the bus to the Eastern Gate. This was a much shorter hiking experience. I was at the Southern Gate at 7:00 and have left the park at 11:30.

Nakon što sam se istim bolno sporim vlakićem vratio, sjeo sam na autobus do Istočnih vrata. Ovo je bio puno kraći izlet. Kod Južnih vrata bio sam u 7:00, a iz parka sam izašao u 11:30.

I was quite in a rush because I needed to catch a train to the famous Yellow Mountain. The next day the weather forecast is sunny and then the next few days it says clouds, rain and more clouds. The Yellow Mountain is notorious for clouds ruining the views so I could not take that chance.

Jako mi se žurilo jer sam morao uhvatiti vlak za slavnu Žutu planinu. Za sljedeći dan prognoza kaže sunčano, a za nekoliko dana nakon toga oblaci, kiša i još oblaka. Žuta planina na zlu je glasu po oblacima koji kvare pogled pa nisam smio riskirati.

If you are in a rush and want to do Avatar Mountains in one day, you can, and you will not lose a lot. If I was doing it again, this is how I would do it:

Ako vam se žuri i želite obići Avatar planine u jednom danu, možete, i nećete puno izgubiti. Da to radim ponovno, evo kako bih:

• Get into the NP at Southern Gate
• Uđite u NP kroz Južna vrata
• Huangshizhou
• Jinbianxi
• Take the elevator to Yuanjiajie (the added benefit is that your walk through Jinbianxi will end at the Elevator station)
• Liftom do Yuanjiajiea (dodatna je prednost što šetnja kroz Jinbianxi završava na stanici kod Lifta)
• Aerial Garden (but take the minibus, do not walk)
• Zračni vrt (ali idite minibusom, nemojte pješice)
• Tanzhi Mountain
• Planina Tanzhi
• Take the cable car down and then the bus to the Eastern Gate.
• Žičarom dolje, a zatim autobusom do Istočnih vrata.

This tour gives you everything:

Ovaj vam obilazak daje sve:

• The best views of the mountains from the top – Huangshizhou, Yuanjiajie and Tanzhi mountain
• Najbolje poglede na planine odozgo – Huangshizhou, Yuanjiajie i planina Tanzhi
• Best view of the mountains from below – Jinbianxi
• Najbolji pogled na planine odozdo – Jinbianxi
• Something “special”: rice fields plus the mountains – Aerial Garden.
• Nešto „posebno“: rižina polja i planine – Zračni vrt.

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