ON THE GRAND CANYON OF CHINA

NATURE'S ART

It's not often that a travel article truly surprises and makes you add it to your imminent travel list.  But this New York Times piece on a very under-appreciated part of China does just that.  Titled "China's Ancient Skyline", here's how the piece starts to describe it:

" I AM in a deep, deep tunnel, die-straight and dark and two miles long, a fingernail of faraway brilliance at its mouth brightening every second until, with startling suddenness, it is daylight.

Ahead of the car are scores upon scores upon scores of mighty towers, climbing endlessly into the foggy sky, like some surreal and unexpected ruined city.

It is a sight utterly to astonish the unprepared, akin only perhaps to the moment when a Midwestern soybean farmer is flushed out of the Lincoln Tunnel into the canyons of Midtown Manhattan.

But this is not New York. This is central China, and a remote part of the mountains of northwestern Hunan province, until lately seldom visited and indeed until 50 years ago barely even settled.

The tunnel is brand new, built last year for the equivalent of $200 million, and the towers to which it leads are not skyscrapers — well, they are, though not made of steel and glass, but natural, of a buff Cretaceous sandstone, and topped with clinging pine trees.

There are well over 3,000 spires, and they make up what the United Nations 15 years ago declared to be one of the most remarkable geomorphological spectacles existing on our planet. The Wulingyuan National Park is magnificent enough — for its topography, for its rare plants and trees and for its stupendous (though panda-free) fauna — that it has been officially designated by Unesco as demanding protection for the benefit of all mankind."

The piece also does a great job explaining how the Chinese government is managing the millions of people, mostly Chinese for now, who are visiting the area in droves.

I've already added my name to the throngs of future visitors.

Comments

[kevin]

Great place, bring hiking boots. I just got back from there. Its a long walk along steps and the crowds, maybe 2-4 km. The scenes are wonderful and you'll need a wide angle lens. My point and shoot digital wasnt wide enought but worked ok. Even thought the place seems ready for western tourist with english and chinese signs. All the tourist there were the local chinese, I was the only asian american non-speaking chinese with this small(18ppl) chinese group along with my travel guide. I got tons of stares because I look chinese but only spoke english. I didnt understand the local guides, my travel guide tried her best to translate but the guides speak to fast. The only bad thing with this place was the crowds, the local chinese push and pack the choke points so its better to be either first group in or near the last groups in. The price was about 1960 RMB for 2.5 days, includes train tickets (hard bed sleeper car)and hotel stay within the park at one of the local inns (besides your regular toiletries, pack a towel, soap, tiolet paper, and wash towel. lysol spray and immodium AD are optional but should bring) some things are not supplied and must be purchased at the many shops near by. You should pack light, a back pack, fanny pack, plus cap or soft hat. You must get use to traditional chinese eating, no fast food or western food. includes was 2 breakfasts + 1 dinner. The first train was with A/C, the return wasn't. You must get use to the local squat toilets. As much as the train company tries to keep clean sleeping materials... I'm glad I had my towel (thx auther dent and writer Douglas Adams for the advice. email me at [email protected] and I can give more deails plus some pics on what is needed for "doing it the Chinese way"

[kevin]

Great place, bring hiking boots. I just got back from there. Its a long walk along steps and the crowds, maybe 4-6 km. The scenes are wonderful and you'll need a wide angle lens. My point and shoot digital wasnt wide enought but worked ok. Even thought the place seems ready for western tourist with english and chinese signs. All the tourist there were the local chinese, I was the only asian american non-speaking chinese with this small(18ppl) chinese group along with my travel guide. I got tons of stares because I look chinese but only spoke english. I didnt understand the local guides, my travel guide tried her best to translate but the guides speak to fast. The only bad thing with this place was the crowds, the local chinese push and pack the choke points so its better to be either first group in or near the last groups in. The price was about 1960 RMB for 2.5 days, includes train tickets (hard bed sleeper car)and hotel stay within the park at one of the local inns (besides your regular toiletries, pack a towel, soap, tiolet paper, and wash towel. lysol spray and immodium AD are optional but should bring) some things are not supplied and must be purchased at the many shops near by. You should pack light, a back pack, fanny pack, plus cap or soft hat. You must get use to traditional chinese eating, no fast food or western food. includes was 2 breakfasts + 1 dinner. The first train was with A/C, the return wasn't. You must get use to the local squat toilets. As much as the train company tries to keep clean sleeping materials... I'm glad I had my towel (thx auther dent and writer Douglas Adams for the advice. email me at [email protected] and I can give more deails plus some pics on what is needed for "doing it the Chinese way"