The Wulingyuan Scenic Area comprises three parts - Zhangjiajie National Park, Suoxiyu National Reserve and Tianzi Mountain Natural Reserve. Located in China’s northwestern Hunan province, the site stretches out across 26,000 hectares of magnificent viewing experience.

Known by tourists as the Yellowstone Park in China, it is one of the largest forests of natural peaks, boasting of more than 3000 narrow quartz sandstone pillars and over 1000 peaks. Between these peculiar shaped peaks lie deep ravines and gorges that are dotted with pools and waterfalls, caves and even two natural bridges.

The quartz hills in the Wulingyuan Scenic Area have a fairly pure composition, being anywhere between 75 and 95 percent quartz. In different seasons they present different views to visitors, making them highly attractive tourist spots. The highest peak among these is the Tuerwangyue Feng or ‘Rabbit Watching the Moon Peak’.

The two natural bridges are the Xianren Qiao or ‘Bridge of the Immortals’, and the Tianxia Diyi Qiao or ‘Bridge Across the Sky’. While the first one lies about 100 metres above the valley floor, the latter is about 357 metres high, making it the highest natural bridge in the world.

Of the forty caves in the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, concentrated on the Suoxiyu River and the north east side of the Tianzi Mountains, the Huanglong or the Yellow Dragon Cave is supposed to the largest. It is in fact one of the ten largest caves in China and is roughly around 11 kilometres long and contains two rivers, one underground lake, four pools, thirteen halls, 96 corridors and as many as three waterfalls, one of which is 50 metres high.

There are dense forests that cover over ninety percent of the scenic area. These are full of rare species of flora and fauna.

At the centre of the Wulingyuan Scenic Area lies the Zhangjiajie National Park, the first of its kind in China. Roughly about 13 kilometres, it is rich in forest resources and provides a home for over 3000 varieties of plants, 35 of which are rare species. There are about 191 species of trees, including the rare ginkgo and spruce. There are also some exotic flowers like the unique lobster flower, giant mountain lotus and various azalea, iron plum and orchid blooms.

It also houses 116 types of animal species. Some of the rare among them are the Asiatic black bear, clouded leopard, Chinese giant salamander, Asiatic wild dog, Chinese water deer, rhesus monkeys, civets and pangolins. There are also some rare birds such as the golden pheasant, red-billed leiothrix, tragopan and the white-headed duck that have made the scenic area their home.

While the Suoxiyo Valley, known by locals as a natural greenhouse, boasts of housing the Yellow Dragon Cave, the Tianzi Mountain area possesses the ‘Bridge Across the Sky’.

For those wishing to explore the cultural diversity of Wulingyuan, they can visit the Puguang temple that combines the Chinese Buddhism with ancient Taoism values and the Yuhuang Cave with a 200-year-old grotto history with 19 stone carvings.

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