We arrived in Wulingyuan, Hunan on a late night flight. After some sleep I found some breakfast. We then walked to the cable car station that took us up the mountain.
It is a 7 km cable car ride which is the longest in the world. It took us through the edge of the city and then through farmland before climbing up the mountain for a very steep ascent.
At the top we noticed a shrine covered in locks. It is for fertility, wishing for a boy or girl. Legend is if you walk the ish to the came the type of echo will determine the child.
We walked along the cliff hanging walkway which is 1400 m above the ground and used to be made of wood planks. Now it is concrete with a rail but nothing underneath.
At the top we walked around but did not walk around the whole perimeter as it was so foggy and not many views.
We took the internal escalators down to where we could see views at a lower level. We were standing at Heavens gate. This is an unusual and natural rock formation that had a hold on the middle. It is also the site of many daredevil attempts. The legend is that gods meet the mortal world here.
From there we went down the 999 steps to reach the bottom. It is approximately 4,100 feet or 1000 meters and the carved stone steps are being step and narrow.
Looking up at the views makes it obvious why generations of the people in Hunan believed that Tianmen Shan was the realm of the gods. It looked like the gateway to heaven even with the fog.
At the bottom we also snacked on some food. This is Jianbing which is a crow with crunchy fried dough in the center and of course chili spices for heat.
The 99 curves of Tongtien highway below us. This is the most dangerous road in Hunan and they have races here. We walked to get to the cable car to take us back down.
After we picked up our bags we took a short bus ride to another village to stay a few nights. We are at a local restaurant. Hunan food is spicy especially the costing in the fish and this eggplant dish that had lots of chilies and tremendous flavor.
We found tickets to an acclaimed live show that celebrated the stories of the minority people of Hunan including Yau, Bai, and Tujia.
