Avatar Mountains, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

Located about 30 kilometers from the city of Zhangjiajie, near the town of Wulingyuan, is China’s oldest national park: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. This is the place that inspired the floating mountains in the movie Avatar, earning it the popular nickname "Avatar Mountains". The park covers a large area, with shuttle buses, cable cars, and even lifts operating inside to connect the main scenic spots. (Shuttle buses are free with the ticket; the rest are at an additional cost.) There are popular cliff-edge paths as well as quieter hiking trails. The national park is divided into 4 main areas, and the entrance ticket is valid for four consecutive days, which is useful if you want to explore each earea to some extent. It's not likely that you can hike every trail in four days unless you’re an extreme walker. The four main areas consist of Tianzi Mountain, Yuanjiajie, Yangjiajie, and Huangshi Village (Huangshizhai), and between them are other locations such as the Golden Whip Stream, Ten Miles Gallery, and Suoxi Valley. (Read more here and here.) I visited two areas in two days: Yuanjiajie on the first and the Tianzi Mountain on the second.

Starting from Wulingyuan town, as on the previous day, via the main east entrance of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, I took a shuttle bus toward the Bailong Elevator. However, I got off early at the second stop, Sansuo Fire Station. A trail starts here that leads via the Southern Heavenly Gate (Nantianmen) to the top of the flat Tianzi Mountain (Tianzishan) massif. The trailhead is not obvious, and the bus stop is just a signpost, so it's easy to miss — you have to know where to get off and let the driver know in advance. This bus stop is only about 400–500 meters from the previous one, which is more prominent because it leads to the Tianzi Mountain cable car lower station. I will come back this way, descending with the cable car at the end of the hike. The stop after the Sansuo Fire Station trailhead, Ten-Mile Gallery, is also a well-known location and offers a scenic train ride and another hiking route up to Tianzi Mountain. The trail via Ten-Mile Gallery and the one I chose via the Southern Heavenly Gate meet further up at a T-junction near a small shop, just below the edge of the flat mountain top and Tianzi Pagoda. Based on what others told me, the route I chose is more interesting. At the T-junction, I took a short detour and climbed a nearby peak (Heavenly Platform or Tiantai), from where the lake was clearly visible, then returned and continued on to the summit’s edge. Tianzi Pagoda is closed, but you get good views from surrounding viewpoints and along the cliff-edge walking path, which ends at the large bronze statue of He Long in Helong Park. From here, buses run westward, and there are two notable viewpoints in that direction — one at the first and another one at the second bus stop — called respectively the Commander’s Platform and Shentang Gulf. After visiting these spots, I returned by bus to Helong Park and transferred to the bus heading to the cable car upper station. The line for the cable car was very long; in the time I spent waiting, I could have walked down from Tianzi Pagoda to the main road. But the ride itself was quite impressive, so it turned out to be a good choice. From the lower cable car station, a bus took me back to the main entrance of the national park in Wulingyuan.

Original Maps
(Source: pcbisolation.com)

Wulingyuan Wujiayu Entrance - The main, eastern entrance of the national park, nearest to Wulingyuan town.

Trailhead at the Sansuo Fire Station bus stop.

First, there is a paved road that leads to an official compond.

The actual hiking trail starts after the official buildings. There are several stone bridges along the way in the beginning.

After the last bridge, the climb becomes steeper.

There are informative boards at some points next to the path.

The arch of the Southern Heavenly Gate (Nantianmen).

The path continues up.

The building atop the ridge is next to the trail coming from Ten-Mile Gallery, separated from this trail by a beautiful valley.

The path continues up.

To the left, there is a short connecting trail to the Ten-Mile Gallery route, but we carry upwards to the right.

The T-junction with the little shop, where the trail coming from Ten-Mile Gallery and this one meet.

I took a little detour in the direction of Ten-Mile Gallery, and climbed to the the Heavenly Platform (Tiantai) viewpoint at a small peak. This is the only spot in the national park from where I saw the lake. You could also see Wulingyuan town in the distance.

After descending from the Heavenly Platform viewpoint, I carried on further away along this trail as I wanted to see that building I spotted from the other trail.

I was expecting a lookout point, but it is an industrial building, so I returned to the T-junction.

Leaving the T-junction behind, I continued towards the top of Tianzi Mountain, passing another shop, a little agricultural plot, and a few abandoned buildings.

The Tianzi Pagoda at the top of the Tianzi Mountain plateau.

There are several viewpoints around Tianzi Pagoda.

The cliff-edge trail carries on to the west, with crowded and more tranquil viewpoints along the way.

The cliff-edge path ends at the large bronze statue of He Long in Helong Park.

From Helong Park you can take a bus for one or two stops to reach another two viewpoints, but the distances are not that big so you could walk between them.