Haven’t done a travelogue in a long time cos it’s just too time-consuming but I decided I shall try to cover my China trip which was months back though I did feel like many people travelled to China last year. I picked zhangjiajie cos I was lured by socials (lol) so I went to check out 小红书 for possible travel agencies. I shortlisted 2 but decided to go with 好口碑 travel agency in the end cos the hotels they selected for me were nicer. So how do these agencies work? Well, I contacted them via 小红书 after which communication is done via WeChat (yes everything is done in Chinese). They have a customer service officer that tailors your trip according to your requests. I went with a private tour (just me and my family) with no other participants (and understandably more expensive) and there will be a dedicated tour guide/driver that accompanies you throughout. The customer service officer was actually quite meticulous. They will check who are travelling/how old they are/what kind of accommodation you looking for etc and they will come up with a proposal for you. I told them it’s my first time in zhangjiajie so they can bring me to whatever attractions they think I should go and also I requested for 5 stars hotel (after hearing horror stories of how bad local hotels can go). If you are happy with what they had planned, they will guide you on how to make payment which is done via 携程 (ctrip) so there’s customer protection for you. Then they will proceed to arrange your guide/driver for you which you need to add them via wechat as well. Honestly, I did have seconds of doubt – what if the guide never turned up. lol. But well, since I’m back to tell the story, at least you know everything I’ve gone through is real 🙂

I booked an international flight to Shanghai cos I was worried about missed or cancelled connections given there’s actually not many flights going into ZJJ. So I thought flying in from a bigger airport will be better. So hence that embarks my journey to China

Airport was so crowded at 6.30am in the morning. Gosh. I had actually wanted to get a cup of hot tea but given how the line was not moving, I gave up and proceeded to the gates since it was opened by then

Flight departure time was 7.55am. Well, door closed promptly at 7.55am and the plane started to pullback in minutes. I made myself comfortable with my seat. Well it was spacious and even had a control for you to navigate your IFE. I thought the PE seats were rather decent. And before we knew, meal service had commenced. Since PE class has the option of BTC, I gladly used it

Dry Bar Chor Mee

Honestly, the BCM was really good. In fact, better than the ones in J class. lol. Yes, I can’t believe I’m saying that. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was served covered up so the heat was retained until you peeled open the aluminum foil so you get to enjoy a delicious plate of BCM with a side of sambal. It might not be plated nicely as those in J class, but I legit think it’s really good, like exceeding my expectations

The other option we chose for BTC was nasi lemak which the dad seemed very pleased with it

Also had my cup of Singapore Sling cos SQ always do it differently, until they changed the pineapple juice supplier which made the cocktail not so nice anymore. But I it felt like they have switched them out since this one tasted rather okay

Flight was peaceful. We landed at 1.25pm on time but passport control took 1 hour (oh gosh). Thankfully we weren’t in the rush for time since our next flight was at 7.15pm. lol. We collected our luggage in no time cos I guess if you have queued long enough, the bags would be waiting for you already

Explored the airport which had nothing much so we proceeded to look for the shuttle bus that will bring us to Terminal 1 which was located just outside the arrival hall

And when we got to Terminal 1, it was very empty. We found a very nice lady who helped us with our check-in at the self service kiosks and thankfully we could check in already else I really had no idea what to do. So we roamed around the airport searching for airport lounges

Found one courtesy of Dragonpass. Went in. No idea why they charged me extra when I could bring a guest in for free. But I didn’t wanna argue. So anyways the lounge was tiny and the food was sad and bad

I mean it’s basic, very basic. Half of me thinking I hope the rest of the trip is nothing like this. lol. So anyway we chilled, killed time and the guide contacted me to let me know he would see me later

We decided to leave the lounge and start walking to the gate earlier cos the lady told us it would be a long walk. And wow, no joke. It’s really a long walk. And most of the shops weren’t opened so there’s nothing much to see. Sadly our gate was all the way at the end and that means an even longer walk. Halfway through I was so tired already

Even though the airport seemed empty enough but when we got to our gate, it was full of international tourists and guides with mini flags. I guess it is really a popular destination. Even though the entire journey was just a quick 2-hour flight, but it felt longer than expected

And finally, we are here for the next 5 days

I love how airports have stuffed animals at their baggage area to brighten up the day

We made our way to the carpark where we were supposed to meet our tour guide/ driver and while waiting, there were random people trying to get you to get on their cabs. This uncle was really persistent even though I just ignored him and pretended I didn’t understand. Thankfully the guide appeared in the nick of time

The hotel was just a short 15 minutes drive away from the airport which was good cos it was already quite late at night. We stayed at Zhangjiajie Huatian Hotel for 1 night. Check-in had some issues as it seemed like there was some issues with the booking but the thankfully the guide was there to sort it out. We went up and even though the hotel may look luxurious, it was definitely not 5-star quality cos some of the interior didn’t seem very well maintained

It was basic. But I just wanna wash up and head to bed. It took me awhile to KO since I could hear flies flapping against the window and I was half wondering if the flies were inside the room or outside. lol. Anyway morning came rather quickly and it’s time for breakfast

In conclusion, breakfast was a nightmare. I never been to a hotel breakfast that was so disorganised. The staff literally took down your room number and you are on your own. It’s like every man for themselves where you had to find seats foodcourt style, and snatched for food. It felt like a war zone to me. And worse was, food sucks. The fried egg was drenched in oil I’m not sure I was eating fried egg with oil, or oil with fried egg. And the rest of the food was either cold or tasted strange. And the dirtied plates all piled up on the tables cos there were just no staffs clearing them. So it was difficult to find an empty table with nothing on it. All I could say was, I am so thankful I’m only there for one night. You give me another night free I also don’t want. lol..

Thankfully there was a mini mart below the hotel so I bought some wang wang and biscuits just in case I got hungry later. And then I spotted a cafe on the other side

This cafe was a life-saver

The hot mocha made me very happy

We left our hotel at 9am for our first destination – 天門山. But before that, we dropped our bags in the car since the guide said it would be faster and more sensible to walk to entrance rather than driving given it’s a short 15 mins walk away

We decided to go for the A route where we will take the cable car up and the extended escalator down. We also got the VIP pass (¥100) which is technically an express queue. And I must say this VIP pass is very important at every attraction in ZJJ cos it saved so much time. Each attraction can easily wait up till 2-3 hours if you decided to take the normal route. By my standards, anything that I need to wait more than 20 mins is not for me. So express pass it shall be

The essential pass

And it’s zoom… all the way to the top via cable car. Was initially worried we won’t be able to see anything cos it was just alot clouds. But the guide told us it was apparently the best weather condition to see 天門山 with the 云海

Alot of clouds

But thankfully it was brighter at the top with a touch of blue sky

Well, not bad la

We went to the 西线 first and the view was really pretty

We took awhile to take some photos since there was nobody (how rare) and scenery was great before proceeding to the other side which was the 东线. Hmm, I conclude the 西线 was much nicer. lol

They made statues of free-solo climbers who attempted this mountain which wow – these people are crazy. This is adventure on another level

Then we slowly made our way down via the super long escalator to see 天門洞, which really took quite awhile. Half the time I was wondering are we there yet? lol. And, there’s really a lot of tourists

The hole

If you didn’t want to pay to take the escalator down, the other option is to use these stairs which goodness knows how long it will take and also, it’s apparently quite steep for certain flights of steps

The view of the hole from below

Then it was time to head down the mountain. We took another cable car down where we passed by this theatre that tells a story of the fox falling in love with a human

The guide said if you call the fox loud enough, she will open her eyes and blink at you. I tried. Clearly I wasn’t loud enough. lol

Is it me or the fox seemed pretty scary?

And that’s the end of the 天门山之旅

I was expecting the tour to end around 2pm cos the guide did mention it will take quite awhile so was pleasantly pleased when it ended much earlier, and that means we could have lunch earlier

So the guide brought us to this place there was near the exit and we settled lunch quickly there

Some complimentary sides to go along

密制三下锅 ¥128

Since it’s one of the signature dishes so we gave it a try. Well. It’s not bad in terms of flavour. Just abit oily

有机花菜 ¥28 and 温泉蒸鸡蛋 ¥25

The stir-fry cauliflower was quite fragrant though also abit oily. The steamed egg itself was quite bland. With the soya sauce, I felt the whole dish became a little saltier

In conclusion, the meal was abit oily and a touch salty. lol. But it’s quite a passable place if you just wanna fill your stomach

Went on to 宝峰湖 next where we were welcomed by 2 mascots of ZJJ. One was a mountain and the other was the 娃娃⻥ (which I had no idea what is it called in English)

So anyway, was glad there was no queue but we were joined shortly by a Singaporean tour group and many other big tour groups. Talk about timing

It’s an artificial fresh water lake where you can pretend you can film 武侠片 here

The most entertaining thing about this attraction was the part where you past by the 阿哥阿妹’s boat and if you can 对唱 3x successfully, you can bring them home. Clearly, nobody dared. Hee

Then we went to see the 娃娃⻥ which was located in the same compound

Can you see me?

The fish was apparently 120yo. Wow, it’s even older than me. Lol

And with that, our attractions for the day concluded and it was only 4.30pm. So we made our way to our next hotel which was Zhangjiajie Neodalle International Holiday Hotel that was previously known as Crowne Plaza hotel. After a not-so-great first night, I was kinda apprehensive of how the hotels for the next few nights would be. lol

But when we went in our room..

Wow, this hotel room is huge

I think you can play catching in here

Very pleased with the room – that’s all I can say. Went to check out the rest of the hotel since we were back so early

They even had a photography studio for those who wanna have a shot in 写真 but the guide said the best place to have the photoshoots is in 凤凰古城 due to the environment

I actually liked how they tried to implement traditional furnishing yet with a modern touch

And so since we had no itinerary for the rest of the day, we went to watch a 6pm show at the theatre next door called 魅力湘西 that is supposedly quite known for their acrobats and performances

It’s a show that utilises both indoor and outdoor spaces so means, you need to shift outdoor after a certain time

To be honest, I was quite confused by the seatings. I didn’t know the guide had bought us 贵宾区 so the whole time I was just wondering if we were at the right rows. Even our neighbours kept looking at their tickets. I guess they didn’t know what seats they bought either. lol

But the most annoying thing about this entire experience was people not adhering to their seat numbers cos they came late so they happily just sit at places not meant for them. Even more annoying was the staffs let them be and told them to move only when the original owners of the seats arrive later. And guess what, the original owners did turn up, which started a whole lot of musical chair and blocking the rest of the audience from watching the performance. Really, whose smart idea was this. What’s the point of having a seat number if you are just gonna do as you please

So it was an interrupted performance cos there were just people moving infront of you non-stop

The guide did tell us to start going outside once they called for audience participation else we would be stuck later. So we listened

And managed to get a seat outside before the entire community turned up

so yup, if you had waited till the end, you would need to stand for the next 30 minutes or so

Then we slowly made our way out once the performance ended with a whole lot of people

Well, if you ask me. The show is good to watch (if you got time to kill), but not necessarily a must-watch. It’s okay lor..

Dinner was at 筷乐湘西, recommended by the guide, which was just directly opposite the theatre. So we made our way there across the busy roads

And surprise. The restaurant wasn’t crowded. We were glad we had missed their peak hours though from time to time, there were foreigners coming in

8 degree Glutinous rice wine ¥29

 We started off with 糯米酒 cos I read that 湘西米酒 is a specialty here. It’s quite nice though the alcohol percentage is quite little but that made it very easy to drink

蒿子粑粑 ¥18

Cos it says 儿时的回忆 so I wanted to try how their childhood taste like. Oh. It’s like pan fried mochi cake with some form of chopped vegetables in it. It’s actually not bad I think. I told the guide the next day about this and he said this is the modified version. Their 儿时的回忆 version is from roadside stalls. lol

深山岩耳神仙鸡  ¥89

It’s called Deep Mountain Chicken soup in English. The chicken soup was quite flavourful. At least it wasn’t oily. But the chicken, even though it’s called 神仙鸡 but there’s really not much meat in it. I think the 神仙 never eat enough. lol. Too skinny

野山葱炒土鸡蛋  ¥32

Wild Mountain Onion Stir Fry Egg. (I love all their English translation. lol) This was really fragrant. It reminded me of cai po omelette though I wonder how many eggs they had used to cook this. It was a huge bowl of omelette. Thankfully, it’s nice

20 Degree Osmanthus Wine ¥48/kg

I decided to be adventurous and we went for the 桂花酒 next. Initially I was wondering why does it go by per kg then I realised oh, they made it by the barrel so they serve it according to how much you wanna order. This 桂花酒 – you could really taste their alcohol in it. I have to say the wine actually goes well with the chicken soup. One mouth of alcohol, one mouth of soup. You should give this a try

And complimentary fruits to end the meal

Took a slow walk back to hotel after that and I can’t wait to have a good night sleep!