Getting ahead of the hordes - Day 5

 

Tianmen Dong

The pre-Lunar New Year trip continues. After three days exploring parts of the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park 张家界国家森林公园, our attention turned to visiting Tianmen Mountain 天门山, and in particular Tianmen Dong 天门洞, a natural hole 113 meters/371 feet high that is prominently featured on social media posts related to traveling in China. Googe it if you don't believe me. 

A lot of those posts show a stunning natural archway in beautifully clear conditions, but the smog was thick when we awoke at our hotel room at the Hampton by Hilton Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain, with the AQI app on my phone reading a generously low 179. My wife had booked the Hampton as it was located just across the street from the Tianmen Mountain Cableway 天门山索道, the longest in Asia at 7.5 kilometers/4.7 miles. Had it been in operation it would've been a 30-minute ride to the upper station, but unfortunately the cableway was closed, and would not re-open until the start of the Lunar New Year holiday period. So instead we took the free shuttle bus to the Tianmen Cave Expressway Cableway, a shorter ropeway that deposits visitors 500 meters/1640 feet from the staircase that leads up to the cave: 

Walking from the shuttle bus stop to the lower station of the cableway. At this point the photochemical smog was being replaced by natural cloud and mist:

The ascent:

There is a winding road that makes its way to the cable car stations, but it was also closed this day. Apparently races are periodically held on this course, and we would occasionally hear what were presumably cars practicing on the road, but little could be seen below through the clouds and fog:

 

At the approach to the archway. The 999 steps leading up to the top are dubbed the "Stairway to Heaven" 上天梯:

There was no way that Shu-E was going to climb that many steps so she had paid in advance for the two of us to use a series of escalators rising nearly 900 meters/2953 feet inside the mountain to the summit. This is what it looked like at the arch: 

The view from the other side of the keyhole: 

A further series of escalators took visitors to the top - these ones were free to use:

This group was enjoying themselves despite the less-than-ideal climate conditions:

The day before I came across a McDonald's located in the mountains of Zhangjiajie. Here it was an outlet of Burger King. In any event, we had sausages for lunch from a different food stand:

After eating we started walking around the eastern side of the summit. Yuhu Peak 玉壶峰 kept vanishing and reappearing as the mist floated by:

At one point we walked across the Eastern Glass Bottom Cliffside Path 东线玻璃栈道. which should've been a terrifying experience as the glass panels allow visitors to look down at the ground 300 meters/984 feet beneath their shoes (see video below). In our case, however, we couldn't see how high up we were due to the fog, so there was no sense of fear. This section of the path was over so quickly I didn't even stop to take any photos:

Making our way along the cliffside path:

The highlight for me of our time on the mountain was the Tianmen Mountain Temple 天门山寺. The original Buddhist structure was laid out in 870 CE during the Tang dynasty 唐朝, though what's seen today dates from after the establishment of the People's Republic of China 中华人民共和国 in 1949. On this day only a handful of visitors had ventured that far, which combined with the fog gave the temple and its grounds a suitably mysterious aura:

Instead of continuing with our walk around the mountaintop, Shu-E, worried about the possibility of rain, suggested we instead take the Forest Sightseeing Cable Car 森林观光缆车 (actually a chairlift) as a shortcut to return us closer to the escalators we used to initially arrive at the summit:

Some of the chairs going in the opposite direction were being used to bring up supplies for a convenience store located near the temple: 

Walking back toward the escalators:

This section of raised walkway was called the Fairy Land Corridor 高空云朗:

Eventually we reached the transmountain escalator and soon found ourselves back at the archway:

The view looking down the staircase...:

...and, no, my wife still insisted on taking the escalators all the way down to the bottom:

There, we lingered for a while, taking in the sight of Tianmen Dong one last time before we had to leave. As we were walking back to the cableway station the fog enveloped the cave, which must have been a disappointment to those just arriving (and there were surprisingly many in the middle of the afternoon), though the clouds eventually parted: 

Shu-E spent a considerable amount of time taking selfies, while I wandered around framing my own shots:

 

One last look back at the mountain as we were walking to the shuttle bus stop. The archway was visible again:

We retrieved our bags from the Hampton, and then took a Didi to our next accommodations in another part of Zhangjiajie City 张家界市. Our room on an upper floor of the Days Hotel came with a loft that included a sofa, which I thought was a nice touch:

Next door was a park with some interesting old aircraft on display. I wanted to have a look but the planes were located on the grounds of some kind of military facility, and considering both my nationality and vocation, entry would probably have been very difficult: 

On the opposite side of the hotel (away from our room) stood Zhangjiajie 72 Qilou 张家界七十二奇楼 aka 72 Wonder Tower, which was the main reason we were goinng to spend the night in this area. Before going in that evening we stopped outside a restaurant specializing in dishes made from Chinese giant salamanders, one of the largest amphibians in the world:

Although considered critically endangered in the wild, large numbers are being farmed in China, which my wife assured me meant we could try some meat without hastening their decline. The dumplings and skewers tasted like...dumplings and skewered meat. Not bad, but my barbarian palate couldn't detect a unique salamander taste:

72 Wonder Tower is a giant dining and shopping complex that charges an entrance fee to non-Zhangjiajie residents. The main tower stands 110 meters/361 feet high and is supposedly styled after the stilted buildings of the Tujia people 土家族, one of China's 55 recognized ethnic minority groups. Builidngs in other parts of the complex feature Disneyesque versions of Ming 明朝 and Qing dynastry 清朝 architecture: 

Two men pound the hell out of what appeared to be lo mai chi 糯米糍, a glutinous rice flour pastry similar to mochi 餅:  

A closer view of the central tower, which was admittedly a pretty impressive structure:

Feeling hungry we bought some food from a Uyghur stall: 

Sampling some craft beer, a welcome break (for me) from the usual mass market Chinese varieties:

Free dance and music performances were held throughout the evening:

Shu-E strolled off to have a closer look, and came back with better photos and videos:

The young girl behind me interrogated in English a South American visitor who graciously answered all her questions. She also hit another table but ignored me, either because she didn't notice or I was just too old to bother: 

This area was meant to evoke images of old Shanghai 上海:

We had a look inside a small museum, one of several in 72 Wonder Tower:

While my wife stopped to watch a longer show I wandered over to the Principal Scholar's Building 状元楼 and had a look inside:

I have my doubts as to whether this model selling ice cream is really from the Tujia minority, but I don't think that matters to most Han Chinese men:

This martial arts practitioner would beat himself repeatedly with his sword:

The view of Zhangjiajie 72 Qilou as seen from a night market across the street...:

...where this old woman was on smoko from selling souvenirs to the tourists:

 

And so our last night in Zhangjiajie came to an end after five days, four nights and four hotels. Our pre-LNY holiday would soon wind up in one of China's most popular "old towns". I hope you can continue to join me on these adventures.