Wednesday, October 24, 2012

We start of the day early with a trip to Tianmenshan in a Cable car.
 
天門山
 
Map of Tianmenshan
Cable Car Trail

 
Mist was rather heavy at this time from far
 







  Proximity Skyflying at Mount Tianmen
 
Wing-suit flight is also called "Proximity Skyflying", which started less than 20 years ago. The flyers fly down from tall buildings, towers, bridges and cliffs wearing wing-suits, close to the high buildings or natural landscapes. In 2011 Red bull wing outfit flight through Tianmen Mountain performance was held by Zhangjiajie Government, aiming to let the world know Zhangjiajie better.
 This year, on October they are back again for the challenge. Too bad our timing was not right.
 
 
 Yangtze River
 
Boarding the Century Diamond Cruise for our
Yangtze River Cruise, with a balcony room.
 
View from the balcony.
 
 
 
 
三峽人家
 
We docked at one of the port and joined a trip to visit the tribes of the Three Gorges.
 
The Three-Gorges Tribe scenic spot consists mainly of the Village on the Water, the Brook-Side Village, the Mountain-Top Village. The area has been officially designated as a "Protected Center of the Popular Culture and Art of the Three Gorges.”
The Three-Gorges Tribe is located on Xiling Gorge in the city of Yichang, between the Three-Gorges Dam and the Gezhouba Dam, in a region of mountains and streams where the scenery has the beauty of landscape paintings. Young women dance and sing as old sailboats moor placidly below stilt houses hidden in the bamboo grove. Maidens wash clothes by the brook side with their whirling batons, fishermen cast their nets in the misty distance… Entering the region feels like coming from afar into a dreamland garden.







  
Later..in the afternon
 An excursion to the construction project
of the Three Gorges Dam,the biggest in the world.

Still constructing.

Entering the Dam.


 
  The Three Gorges Dam 三峽大壩    is a dam in the Three Gorges region on the Yangtze River.   The dam was built for flood control, irrigation and electricity.
 
 
 Cruising into the three little Gorges
 
 This day, we packed into a smaller boat and visit the three little gorges...
which refers to the three gorges of the lower reaches of Daning River (the largest branch of Yangtze River) in Wushan County - Dragon Gate Gorge (Longmen Xia), Misty Gorge (Bawu Xia), and Emerald Gorge (Dicui Xia). Because of its beauty, it has been said that although Wushan Three Little Gorges are not the Three Gorges of Yangtze River, they are almost the same.
 





Coffins spotted in the hill caves... these are actually old times ritual
which no longer being practise now.

 
With these ends our China Zhangjiajie trip............
Signing off with the entertainers from the Cruise ship.
 
 

 

 
 
再見
 

Monday, October 22, 2012



张家界 沈从文

险极腰肢寨,幽深金鞭溪,
更上黄石寨,一览众山低



We started off the trip at Changsha amd caught a coach to Feng Huang City
 
鳳凰古城
 
It is a small county renowned for its natural beauty, rich history and culture as well as colorful ethnic customs, located at south Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan province, China. Fenghuang means Phoenix in Chinese. Phoenix is a mythical sacred firebird in Chinese mythology representing good omen and longevity. Fenghuang town is given the name after Fenghuang Mountain which resembles Phoenix situated 50 miles away from it.
 
 









 
A special dessert that comes stuff with red bean fillings.
 
FengHuang ancient city is a very beautiful town with
unique streets and houses. However, I somewhat felt
that it is a little wee bit over touristic.
 
 
We proceeded to Zhangjiajie on the next day and
went on a cruise along Baofeng Lake, which is an
Alpine manmade lake surrounded by mountains.




You wouldn't for one second believed that this is a
manmade lake. And with the spectacular scenery
around us, it is simply awesome !!!


A fresh Morning. We took a cable up to Yuanjiajie
National Park and proceed to Tianzishan
天子山

Mt Tianzi is famous for its stunning views of peaks, which rises one after another. At the top of the mountain,one can see the full view of the Wulingyuan Scenic Area. Four most attractive sceneries are : the Clouds Sea, the Radiance of the Moonlight, Sun rise and the snow in winter.







What you see below is a Avatar's Banshee...er..
made in China I think.
If you watch the blockuster movie AVATAR, here's a bit of facts.....
Banshee or Mountain banshees (Na'vi name : ikran) are large, bird-like aerial predators that are native to Pandora. They are used by the Na'vi for hunting from the air and traveling larger distances. Ikran are also used in battle, where the mount attacks its opponents from the air.
In case you are still wondering what I am talking about,,,, pls watch the movie.



Mt Tianzi became even more famous, if not already have,
when the floating Hallelujah Mountains (based on Mt Tianzi)
was featured in the Hollywood Blockbuster..the AVATAR .