8 ways to blaze a trail through unknown parts of China
Beyond the famous sights lies a China few have explored. (Image: Getty/Jac Zhou)
| THIS ARTICLE WAS CREATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Wendy Wu Tours |
Famous cities and sights get all the attention from overseas visitors to China, but you’ll be amply rewarded if you explore beyond the expected paths.
Everybody who visits China wants to see Shanghai and Beijing, the Terracotta Warriors and Yangtze River – and so they should. But China is a vast country with a 5000-year history, magnificent landscapes and interesting small cities. Plus, an exhilarating number of other incredible sights that are just as impressive, and deserve to be known much better.
What’s more, China is an easy country to travel to and around, with a new 15-day visa-free policy for Australians making it more accessible. Here are a lucky eight spectacular natural and cultural sights to whet your appetite for more.
Get up close with monkeys in the heart of Zhangjiajie. (Image: Getty/Oleh Slobodeniuk)
1. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Our image of China might be mega-cities with soaring skyscrapers, but in this central China national park, you get soaring sandstone rock formations instead: skyscrapers in stone that often sprout gnarled pine trees and pavilions, garlanded in wreaths of mist.
It’s the sort of landscape that seems to belong to a distant planet, and indeed Zhangjiajie has appeared in movies such as Avatar. On Wendy Wu Tour’s Gems of China an added thrill is the ride on Bailong Elevator, the world’s tallest outdoor lift (326 metres), to admire dizzying views.
Enter a world straight out of Avatar. (Image: Getty/Nikada)
2. Yellow Mountain
Huangshan in eastern China has been famous for centuries. No surprise that this mountain range looks like something from a Chinese scroll painting: painters and poets alike have lauded its beauty, which wonderfully blends nature and human ingenuity.
Dizzying paths and staircases and well-placed pavilions provide glorious scenery of humped peaks and forests at every turn. No need for arduous hiking on Wendy Wu Tour’s China by Rail, however. Ascend by cable-car and spend a night atop the mountain for a relaxed experience of this stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Wander through twisting paths and staircases, surrounded by breathtaking scenery. (Image: Getty/JimFeng)
3. Black Mountain Valley
Wendy Wu Tour’s Natural Treasures of China journey amply demonstrates that there’s more to China than mega-cities. Heishan Valley isn’t far from Chongqing – population 23 million – but is serene and picturesque. Traverse a winding gorge on boardwalks and admire cliffs, waterfalls and a backing of dramatic mountains, all covered in lush sub-tropical greenery. Rare creatures such as clouded leopards and golden pheasants live in the dense forest of this protected ecological area. Streams gurgle through valleys where birds twitter, and hot springs gush. If you go in springtime, wildflowers bloom.
4. Tibetan Railroad
Trains are one of the wonders of China. Some are the world’s fastest, but all provide a passing spectacle of city or country life. Meanwhile the Qinghai-Tibet Railway bags another title as the world’s highest railway line, which links Xining and Tibetan capital Lhasa to reach 5072 metres at its highest point. The world’s highest station, Tanggula, sits at 5068 metres below a glacier. Wendy Wu Tours’ Tibetan Railroad journey showcases its magnificence as snowcapped peaks, barren plateau, desert, vast grassland and lakes, herd of yaks and occasional antelopes pass by.
All aboard for a record-breaking adventure. (Image: Getty/Marc Foggin)
5. Zhangye Danxia National Geopark
Travel on the Silk Road Explorer with Wendy Wu Tours and you expect the age-old culture and history associated with this great overland trading route through western China. And yes, crumbling remains of the Great Wall, temples, grottos filled with Buddhist sculpture and ancient trading towns are all amazing. But who knew the landscapes were incredible, too? The Rainbow Mountains are a geological wonder of deeply eroded, towering rocks forms splattered with improbable colours, from red and orange to yellow. Force yourself up at sunrise for a truly spectacular show.
Catch the sunrise over the Rainbow Mountains. (Image: Getty/JacZhou)
6. Lijiang
Deep in the foothills of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountains in southwest China you’ll find one of the nation’s most atmospheric old towns, with meandering cobbled streets and bridge-spanned canals lined by venerable wooden houses. Jade Spring Park is dotted with monastic buildings dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and a pavilion from which to gaze across Black Dragon Pool to snowcapped mountains. On Wendy Wu Tour’s Classic China you can also get out to 3000-metre-deep Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the country’s most remote and extraordinary sights.
Explore a timeless old town. (Image: Getty/NopponMeenuch)
7. Nine-Villages Valley
The great Chinese poet Li Bai said the road to Sichuan is harder than the road to heaven, but not on Wendy Wu Tour’s Secrets of Southwest China, which will take you to Jiuzhaigou (Nine-Villages) Valley in the comfort of a bullet train. This stunning national park has rugged peaks, abundant forests and cascading waterfalls that make it a favourite film location for martial-arts movies, but all your attention will be on its improbably coloured lakes created by dissolved minerals. The cobalt, sapphire and green waters are superb against a backdrop of forested hillsides.
Discover cobalt and sapphire lakes, framed by rugged peaks and cascading waterfalls.(Image: Rosalind Chang)
8. Great Wall at Huanghuacheng
The Great Wall hardly flies under the radar, and we all want to see it. Its section at Huanghuacheng north of Beijing is however not well known to foreigner visitors, even though particularly scenic – and, unusually, reached by boat across a reservoir, as you’ll discover on Wendy Wu Tour’s Enchanting China itinerary. The Great Wall runs like a crazy medieval rollercoaster across the forested hills. Its steps are heart-bangingly steep, but you’re rewarded with exceptional views and water scenery that make this another unique experience.
Take a boat ride to the lesser-known Huanghuacheng section of the Great Wall. (Image: Getty/bjdlzx)
Lijiang is so gorgeous. So easy to enjoy being lost in those cobbled lanes. I had the best beef noodle soup ever in a little place I never found again. The trek in Tiger Leaping Gorge is not too hard and those huge walls of stone! I kept saying Wow! over and over.
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