Our 30 years+ old classmates small union began on April 11, 2013 in China Zhangjiajie . The city is situated in the west of Hunan Province, covering an area of 4536 square kilometers with the total population of 1.54 million, and here live some nationalities of Han, Tujia, Miao and Bai.
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| Zhangjiajie (張家界) in Hunan ( 湖南)Province China |
Zhangjiajie got known to the world in 1980, and has become a famous tourist spot for its uniqueness of natural features and primitive charm.
張家界市為中國湖南省的省轄地級市，位於湖南西北部，澧水中上游，屬武陵山脈腹地。為中國最重要的旅遊城市之一。
1982年9月，張家界成為中國第一個國家森林園公林，1988年8月，武陵源被列入國家第二批40處重點風景名勝區之內；1992年，由張家界國家森林公園、索溪峪風景區、天子山風景區三大景區構成的武陵源自然風景區被聯合國教科文組織列入《世界自然遺產名錄》。
Day 1 Cloudy
Our tour began from Hong Kong. We gathered at the China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui at 7:30am. The ferry departed at 8:30am and arrived Guangzhou Shunde at 10:30am. After checked through custom, we had lunch right at the Shunde Ferry Terminal. restaurant. After lunch, we went to the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway station to took a high speed train to Cheung Sa South Station. The journey took another two and half hours.
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| High Speed Train to Cheung Sa |
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| High Speed Train Platform |
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| City View of Cheung Sha |
Our first sightseeing spot was Tianxin Pavillion (
天心閣).
天心閣 (Tianxin Pavillion)
為長沙重要名勝，也是長沙僅存的古城標志。位于長沙市中心東南角、城南路與天心路交會之處的古城牆內。樓閣三層，建築面積846平方米，碧瓦飛簷，朱梁畫棟，閣與古城牆及天心公園其它建築巧妙融為一體。基址佔著城區最高地勢，加之坐落在30多米高的城垣之上，近有妙高峰為伴，遠望岳麓山為屏，更顯挺峭、峻美。天心閣為全城最高處。登上天心閣，長沙城全景一覽無餘，遠望湘江，真有“極目楚天舒”的心曠神怡之感。
樓閣建于明代，重修于清乾隆時期，1938年毀于“文夕大火”，1983年再修。再修後的樓閣既保持了主閣的原貌，又參照古岳陽樓，增建了兩座二層的輔閣，象鵬鳥的主體和兩翼。三閣以通廊相連接，渾為一體，使矗立于32米高的錐垛之上的古閣，更加壯觀。閣樓高17.5米，用60根木柱支撐，主輔閣飾以用花崗石和其他高級石料雕鑿的獅子、葫蘆頭、梅、竹、芙蓉、車、馬、龍等。簷上32個高啄鰲頭，32只鳳馬銅鈴和10條吻龍，也都古色古香，造型別致。
今日天心閣，已成為城南的一座新型公園。內有攝影、飲食、茶點、副食和工藝品等旅遊服務設施。園內堆砌有假山、涼亭、魚池，園內樹木繁茂，花草眾多。每天有很多人到此練功、讀書、遊覽、品茗。
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| Tianxin Pavillion 天心閣 |
After Tianxin Pavillion, we went to the river side to view the Chairman Mao's statues when he was young.
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| Chairman Mao Statue 毛澤東雕像 |
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| 毛澤東雕像 |
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| 湘江風光帶 |
Day 2 (常德詩牆), Phoenix City (鳳凰古城) Sunny
常德詩牆全長3公里，臨沅江而立，樓臺點綴，氣勢恢宏.
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| 常德詩牆 |
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| 常德詩牆入口 |
After the Poem Wall, we headed to the Phoenix City where we would stay a night there.
鳳凰古城又稱沱江古鎮，地處湘西丘陵地區，沱江的中下游位置，全縣多山地。沱江從西至東橫貫鳳凰縣境中部地區，流經臘爾山、麻沖、落潮井、都里、南華山、沱江鎮、官莊、橋溪口、木江坪等9個鄉鎮。至瀘溪縣河溪會武水，在武溪鎮匯入沅江。幹流全長131公里。在鳳凰縣境長96.9公里，流域面積為732.42平方公里。多年平均流量11.9立方米/秒，自然高差533米。
鳳凰縣位於湖南西部的湘西土家族苗族自治州，地處武陵山脈南部，雲貴高原東側。
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| 鳳凰古城 |
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| Phoenix City |
Day 3 Tianmen Mountain (天門山國家森林公園)
天門山位於張家界市南，距城區僅8公哩，是張家界地區最早載入史冊的名山，也是張家界地區海拔最高的山。天門山因天門洞而得名，三國時期，公元263年，天門洞訇然而開，被吳帝孫休視為吉兆，天門山由此而得名。天門山主峰海拔1518.6米，平均海拔在1400米以上。1992年7月被批准為國家森林公園，是張家界是第二個國家森林公園，面積達190多平方公裡，同時也是國家地質公園和湖南旅游風景名勝區。天門山隆起開始於燕山運動，再經喜馬拉雅山造山運動，再經風雨剝蝕，造就成為凌空獨尊、舉世罕見的喀斯特台型地貌。天門山山勢高絕，陡險峻拔，景色雄奇壯麗，一年四季景象變幻萬千。山頂保存著完整的原始次生林，植物資源豐富，有著很多國家保護的珍貴植物品種，更有珍稀罕見的原始高山珙桐群落。天門山山頂面積近2平方公裡，森林覆蓋率逾90%，其間古樹參天，藤蔓纏繞，青苔遍布，石筍、石芽舉步皆是，處處如天成的盆景，宛如仙境，被人譽為絕美的空中花園。
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| Far view of Tianmen Mountain (遠望天門山) |
A cablecar was constructed by the French
company Poma from nearby Zhangjiajie railway statiTon to the top of
the mountain. Tianmen Mountain Cableway is claimed in tourist publications as
the "longest passenger cableway of high mountains in the world", with
98 cars and a total length of 7,455 metres and ascent of 1,279 metres. The highest
gradient is an unusual 37 degrees. Tourists can walk on kilometres of paths
built onto the cliff face at the top of the mountain, including sections with
glass floors. An 11 km road with 99 bends also reaches the top of the
mountain and takes visitors to Tianmen cave, a natural hole in the mountain of
a height of 131.5 metres.
Tianmen Mountain is a "must see"
location - unbelievably beautiful. The ride in the cable car provides stunning
views of the long and winding road up the mountain and that hole in the mountain
aptly described as the gateway to heaven.
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| Cable Car to Tianmen Mountain |
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| View from Cable Car |
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| Shuttle Bus to Top of Tianmen Mountain |
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| Trail Around Tianmen Mountain |
When you walked around the trail, you would reach a Glass Trail where you could see clearly what's under your feet. Of course you must not afraid of height in order to enter this trail. The Glass Trail is about 60 meters.
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| The Glass Trail at Tianmen Mountain |
After venturing through the Glass Trail, we had another challenge of walking 999 staircase to the cave of the Tianmen Mountain
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| Cave at Tianmen Mountain |
When we walked down from the cave , it was late in the evening and we had to watch a Chinese Musical Opera at Tianmen Mountain. We skipped the dinner and went to the Opera theater. The stage was at the Grand Valley of Tianmen Mountain and was an open air atmosphere. You could see the real mountains in front of you. The show was known as the world’s first real-scene musical drama with the high mountains and
deep valleys as the stage background. Originated from a
traditional Chinese myth and folk tale- "Love between Man and Fox", the drama
integrates the elements of folk music and modern art. As the story progresses,
you would find settings everywhere from the foot of the hill to the peak, be it
spotlight, stage for the chorus and background houses. and mountains. The visual
presentation was spectacular and amazing, the music was impressive, and those
dancers and singers were also charming.
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| Musical Opera Tianmen Fairy Fox |
The main stage integrated with wonderful mountains, valleys, forests, streams and waterfalls
to form the only large stage against the background of towering mountains and
valley in the world, measuring all over 1 kilometer in depth, width and height
respectively. A must see when you are in Zhangjiajie.
Day 4 Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon (張家界大峽谷)
Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon not only has the beauty of water, but also possesses the charming of mountain. Located in the Cili county( a county in Zhangjiajie), Zhangjiajie grand canyon, about 60 square km, is close to the world natural heritage, world geological park wulingyuan scenic spot. It is a new development place.zhangjiajie Grand Canyon attracts tourists with its magnificence, rareness, magnificence and beauty. It has become a sparkling pearl in the border area of Zhangjiajie.
張家界大峽谷植被茂密，野生動植物眾多，峽谷內冬暖夏涼，舒適宜人。一線天遊道垂直而下，有驚險刺激的景區滑道代步，不僅讓遊客零距離地體驗到張家界奇峰異石的峽谷地貌，還能讓遊客在有驚無險的遊覽途中高潮迭起；目不暇接的飛泉流瀑數不勝數，輕巧絕妙的掛在峽谷之中和絕壁之上；七色彩虹在瀑布上方架起人世間的姻緣鵲橋，美輪美奐，疑似仙境；神泉溪流，神泉峽谷，神泉湖泊，山水和諧，天人合一。
to be continued (待續) . . . . . .
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