Wulingyuan Scenic Area, lying to the north of Zhangjiajie City, is a charming tourist attraction. It is one of the 40 famous scenic spots in China. It is said to be 'The ampliative miniascape and the contractible fairyland' and was admitted to the 'World Heritage List' in 1992.
It contains three major sights including the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Suoxi Valley, and Tianzi Mountain with the coverage of 396 square kilometers. There are totally over 3000 mountains, eight hundred rivers and streams. The mix of unique pillar hills, queer ridges and peaks, tranquil valleys, thrilling streams and abundant plant and animal resources has long been the inspiration behind many traditional Chinese paintings.
The five most spectacular scenes in this spot are the peculiar peaks, deep canyons, beautiful waters, thick forest and the mysterious caves.
The peculiar peaks refer to the 3000 or more mountain peaks of quartz sandstones. These peaks are of various shapes, low and high, among which the three representatives are the Camel Peak, the Drunk Stone Peak, and the Five Finger Peak. The peaks are elegant and magnificent.
The deep canyons refer to the 32 canyons of more than 2000 meters long each. The most famous ones are the Jinxi Canyon, the Shentang Canyon and the Gallery Canyon.
The beautiful water refers to the waterscape in the scenic spot area, including the streams, springs, lakes, pools and the waterfalls. It is said that there are more than 800 waterscapes in the area too.
Meanwhile, there are different shapes of caves here. Among them the most outstanding one is the Yellow Dragon Cave. There are beautiful stalactites in the cave.
It wasn't until the 1990s that the Yangjiajie Scenic Area was preserved. Legends had it that in order to suppress rebellion, the famous Yang Family (a family quite loyal to the court and contributed to the fighting against Qi Dan in the Song Dynasty) camped and settled here later because of the continuous war. And as a result, Yangjiajie emerged. So far, the pedigree of the Yang Family is still well kept in this area which also contains the Tian Bo Mansion, Liu Lang Bay and Qi Lang Bay.
Together with the natural scenery of the four sections of the park, the life and customs of several Chinese minority groups (Tu, Miao, Bai) are also of interest. Their houses, farms and their singing and dancing undoubtedly add an element of happiness and beauty to Wulingyuan.
Admission Fee: CNY 248 (entrance charge)