Day 12: Zhang Jia Jie and The Avatar Mountains

We woke up at the crack of dawn this morning to find that China had decided to rain on our parade. We were planning to leave the hostel around 6:45 for a long day of about 25 miles of hiking. However, the thunderstorm in Zhang Jia Jie slowed our plans down slightly. We decided to wake up an hour later, and we conquered our fear of the rain and went to hike in the mountains anyway!

We took an amazing cable car ride up the first part of the mountain. We were riding through the clouds, where you could see the mountains through the fog. The clouds blended in with the mountains – it was absolutely surreal. The view was breathtaking – I think it was even better because of the rain! There was one spot at the top where we worked as a group to blow away the clouds so we could see the Avatar-inspired mountains. It really worked!

We walked around a few different areas in the mountain and took a few bus rides before reaching our final hiking destination. We walked down countless stairs spiraling down the mountain, through lots of greenery, and alongside the rivers. We walked in a pretty desolate area in the mountain – the only people we saw were some Russians from our hostel (small world!). After a few hours we reached the touristy part of the hiking area with lots of little shops and food.

We took a group picture in one of the gardens at the end and then took turns taking pictures in the “lock of love” – half of Team Half & Half (EGL) has significant others – they plan on photoshopping their boyfriends or girlfriends into the pictures. Jenette and I bargained for ice cream and then we all took the bus back to our hostel.

After a short siesta, we walked along the riverside in the city (with all the lights and dancing) looking for somewhere to eat. We found a really awesome restaurant along the river where we ate some well-deserved food. I really enjoyed the Chinese version of doughnuts – they were delicious. After we finished, we returned to the hostel, discussed our plans for tomorrow, and went to bed after an exhausting day.

-Nikki