Off the beaten path in China
Most trips to China are Beijing, Shanghai, and possibly Xi’an for the terracotta army. These three are further out, harder to reach, and none of them is a secret inside China. They are simply skipped by most people arriving from abroad.
Zhangjiajie, the Avatar mountains
Thousands of sandstone pillars, some over 1,000 metres, standing in forest that fills with cloud so the tops appear to float. It is in Hunan province and it is the landscape that inspired the floating mountains in Avatar, to the point where one pillar has been officially renamed Avatar Hallelujah Mountain.
- Wulingyuan is the main scenic area and a UNESCO site. Give it two days.
- The Bailong Elevator is a glass lift bolted to the outside of a cliff, 335 metres, and holds the record for the tallest outdoor lift in the world.
- Tianmen Mountain is separate from Wulingyuan: a cable car from the city centre, a road below with 99 hairpin bends, a cave through the mountain called Heaven’s Gate, and glass walkways along the cliff edge.
Go on a weekday, and outside Chinese public holidays if you possibly can.
Fenghuang, the ancient phoenix town
An old town in Hunan built along the Tuo River, where the houses stand on wooden stilts over the water. It survived largely because it was too remote to be worth redeveloping.
It is not undiscovered, and in the evening the riverfront bars are loud. Stay the night anyway. Early morning, before the day trippers arrive, women still wash clothes in the river and the mist sits on the water.
Emeishan, one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains
Mount Emei is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China, 3,099 metres, with temples the whole way up and monasteries you can sleep in.
- You can walk it in two days, or take a bus most of the way and a cable car for the last stretch. The walk is the point if you have the time.
- The Golden Summit looks out over what people here call the sea of clouds, which you get on a good day and do not on a bad one.
- The monkeys are a genuine problem. They are used to people, they know what a bag is, and they will take food out of your hands. Carry nothing loose, do not make eye contact, and do not try to get a photo close up.
Combine it with the Leshan Giant Buddha, which is nearby, and reach both from Chengdu.