Zhang Jia Jie, one of the most amazing places I have ever been in my life. Located about 8 hours (by train) south of the Yangtze river in the Hunan province of China. This is a picture of the famous peaks at the national forest that I took once we reached the top tourist area. Most people when they arrive take the lift up to the top of the peaks, which is about a 10-15 minutes ride. Our voyage to the top of the peaks was slightly different. We hiked the 3,000 steep steps, put in place hundreds of years ago to make it to the top, it took nearly 3 hours. The top of the peaks are 3 miles from the base. The "story" behind Zhang Jia Jie is that these peaks were at the bottom of the oceans millions of years ago and when the land separated all the water spilled out leaving the erect peaks stranded and useless. After reading an article on wikipedia.com the explanation of the standing peaks is constant erosion from winter freezes and summer thaws. Either way, this is an amazing location. Once we reached the top I stood in absolute aw staring out at the miles of peaks spread through this valley, amazed by the extensivenss of nature. I understand that China is not necessarily a desired travel destination for most western cultures, but if you go...may I suggest this location. And although hiking 3 miles directly up seems a little crazy and the 10 minute lift ride might be tempting, the hike is three quarters of the beauty and reaching the top is just the cherry on the sundae.
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