If exotic food, cool ancient music and architecture sound like fun to you, you should definitely check out China. Central China most definitely stands out when compared to any ‘ultramodern’ big city like New York. Everything is different.
While cruising through the mountains of Northwestern Hunan province, you will see some great contrasting views. There’s the 200 million dollar tunnel passing through the mountains of this part of China. Then as you get out of the tunnel, you are greeted with spectacular and welcoming views all over.
Far away from the chaos of the major Chinese city (where cellphones, superhighways, and unique cars dominate), is the serene and peaceful Wulingyuan National Park. After being declared a UNESCO world heritage site, troops of tourists started pouring in wreaking havoc in the wilderness area, stomping on the delicate vegetation and causing the authorities a lot of headache.
This Chinese National park is dominated by 3,100 tall quartzite pillars. These pillars can be 200 meters high sometimes. UNESCO designated this as a world heritage site back in 1992. The exact GPS coordinates for this site are: 29°16′-29°24′N, 110°22′-110°41′E
Besides these unique towers as seen from the ropeway, the park also offers plenty of other things to the tourists. You can go and watch the unique monkeys monkeying around. There’s plenty of flora and fauna to to check out as well.
All around you will see Korean tourists and others from other Asian countries. These people flock here as much as Western tourists do. The towering pillars are what attracts tourists to this part of the world.
This heritage site is something that you can compare with the Grand Canyon or the Monument Valley. However, instead of endless earth, you get endless and infinite towers in this region. But, it ain’t cheap to visit this Chinese National park.
The Costs: Besides the cost of renting a car, hotel and flight tickets, you will also have to pay entrance fees to the park. It can sometimes be overwhelming. The cost is 248 yuan or $32 just to get into the park. Along with the park, you can check out other things while in the vicinity of Hunan.
First is the Hunan museuem. Covering an area of 50,000 square meters, this is located on No. 50, Dongfeng Lu, Changsha City. It has been open since 1974. There are plenty of cultural relics and awesome neolithic pottery to check out in this place.
Next up, is the Dongting Lake. Early morning, the visitor will see the lake shrouded in mist. However, as the mist clears up later in the day the lake awards it’s visitors with unique scenery. This is the second largest lake in China.
Also, you can visit the Changsha (a cultural center of Hunan). This is a great tourism center offering tourists many historical sites. When you get hungry during your trip, try the Hunan cuisine (which is supposed to be just one of the eight cuisines in China). I can’t forget the lip smacking taste of these dishes.
You can have some hot(spicy) and delicious food in this part of the world. You can try some sweet and sour chicken, tangerine peel beef, sizzling rice soup or even a roasted duck. So if you are craving for all these unique Chinese dishes and the great views, book yourself a China air ticket to Shanghai or any major hub. This will be a trip of a lifetime.
Image Credits: Nytimes, Tradedelegations, Triptochina
