Zhangjiajie Waterfalls (张家界的瀑布 [Zhāngjiājiè de Pùbù])

Our original intent was to see the Yuanyang Waterfall in the Wulingyuan part of Zhangjiajie (all in northern Hunan Province – the province of Mao Zedong’s birthplace).

Tianmen_020_05072009 - The Tianmen Arch and a waterfall below it — The Tianmen Arch and a waterfall below it

But I think our guide was more interested in taking us shopping and conveniently misunderstood that waterfall for the fake Baofeng Waterfall.

So we didn’t get the legitimate waterfall sighting that we wanted here.

However we did see the type of scenery that has inspired Chinese landscape paintings and drawings as well as a handful of giant natural arches and bridges.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Zhangjiajie from a waterfalling point of view were some of the temporary waterfalls we noted that fell beneath the impressive Heaven’s Gate (Tianmen) Natural Arch.

Baofeng_Hu_048_05072009 - The artificial Baofeng Hu Waterfall near the Zhangjiajie scenic area — The artificial Baofeng Hu Waterfall near the Zhangjiajie scenic area

There were also more unnamed ephemeral waterfalls that we witnessed while doing their high-elevation walks above the clouds.

Authorities

The Zhangjiajie Waterfalls on this page resides in north of the Hunan Province. To my knowledge, I have not found a reliable official government authority administering this area. Therefore, I can’t recommend a particular website belonging to said authority for the latest conditions or other inquiries.

Route to this Waterfall

I have to admit that we were a little disoriented during our time at Zhangjiajie.

I only recalled that after landing at the nearest airport here, we were driven about 2 hours to a hotel near the entrance to the Wulingyuan part of Zhangjiajie.

Maybe if we come back, we might be able to see both a legitimate waterfall while we could provide a better writeup of the area.

For geographical context, Zhangjiajie was 911km (10.5 hours drive or 90 minutes flight) east of Chengdu, 1,285km (nearly 14 hours drive or over 2 hours flight) west of Shanghai, 1,011km (11 hours drive or 90 minutes flight) south of Xi’an, and 1,568km (16 hours drive or about 3 hours flight) south of Beijing.

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Featured Images and Nearby Attractions

Zhangjiajie_017_05062009 - The Wulingyuan part of Zhangjiajie was famous for its tall finger-like pinnacles scraping through misty clouds like a Chinese landscape painting — **The Wulingyuan part of Zhangjiajie was famous for its tall finger-like pinnacles scraping through misty clouds like a Chinese landscape painting**

Zhangjiajie_146_05062009 - This towering natural arch was called the World's Number 1 Bridge, which we saw while visiting the Wulingyuan part of Zhangjiajie — **This towering natural arch was called the World’s Number 1 Bridge, which we saw while visiting the Wulingyuan part of Zhangjiajie**

Tianmen_157_05082009 - Incense sticks burning before the 999 steps leading up to the Heaven's Gate (Tianmen) — **Incense sticks burning before the 999 steps leading up to the Heaven’s Gate (Tianmen)**

Tagged with: zhangjiajie, wulingyuan, scenic area, hunan, china, waterfall, tianmen, dong, natural arch, 999 steps

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