” I started with an overnight flight from London Heathrow direct to Changsha on Hainan Airlines. I was met at the airport by a Wendy Wu Rep to start us on our adventure.

I arrived late afternoon into Changsha and checked into the Wyndham Hotel, a very luxurious and welcoming stop. Once unpacked and settled, I headed to the night markets and central shopping area of Changsha that featured lots of weird and wonderful antics and was a real eye opener. 

The next day we drove from Changsha to Shaoshan which is the birthplace and childhood home of Mao Zedong, founder of the people’s republic of China. We visited former residence and the bronze statue square where people still to this day pay homage to him. It was a very crowded and busy area with local domestic Chinese tourists. We were the only Westerners there so there was a lot of interest in us. Whilst here, we stopped off at Orange Island on the Xiangjiang river which flows through Changsha, full of people enjoying a Sunday afternoon walk in the gardens and walkways around the isle with kids playing, having picnics and flying kites. If you don’t want to walk around, you can take a motorised golf buggy around the whole island that provides great fun.

Bullet train day was very exciting! I took the bullet train from Changsha to Zhiangjiajie, surprisingly it was a very modern and clean train with lots of leg room and space to store luggage. Very fast, hence the name ‘bullet’ and efficient, it took just two hours through the Chinese countryside and various small towns to reach my destination.

In the afternoon I took a cable car high up into Tianmen Mountains where the glass walkway around the top of the mountain awaited me, here I found some of the most incredible views. Fast paced and no time to stop, I jumped onto a bus and headed to ‘stairway to heaven’. The stairway to heaven consists of 999 steps up to the archway through the cliffs, past a huge waterfall that provides more breath-taking views. 

I descended back to ground level via the cable car which I had gone up on. Taking the cable car back down at sunset providing me with the stunning scenes that I won’t be forgetting in a hurry. The finale of the day was a spectacular show set against the backdrop of the mountains, a live action musical called Tianamen fox spirit, one not to miss if you visit, finishing the day perfectly.

The following day, after a much-needed rest, we had a full day exploring Zhangjiajie National Park, the land of Avatar landscapes and natural beauty, such an incredible area, especially if you love Avatar.

First stop was the Bailong elevator, built into the side of a cliff 326 metres high. Fun fact, this lift is in the Guinness World Records for being the fastest passenger elevator in the world. Ascending the side of the cliff in one minute and 32 seconds! Upon reaching the top there were huge areas to walk around, lots of viewing platforms and steps up and down all over the mountain top to explore plus lots of monkeys exploring too.

This was a fast-paced tour to see all the best bits, so the next day we headed to the glass bridge and Grand Canyon scenic gorge. Yep, there’s one in China too, not just Vegas! If you love adrenalin, there’s the chance to bungee jump from the bridge or zip wire across the gorge. Once I reached the bottom of the gorge, I followed the beautiful river and cliffs for four miles along to Baofeng Lake where I had a very relaxing and scenic boat trip. Witnessing various waterfalls and lush scenery was not what I expected China to be like, simply beautiful.

On my last full day, I headed back onto the bullet train to Changsha. I spent the afternoon learning about local history in the Hunan Museum and visiting the Yuelu Academy, one of the ancient Chinese academies of classical learning. There were lots of local school groups there who were fascinated to see Western tourists and wanted to take lots of pictures.

Overall, a fascinating trip to places I had never heard of before with so many new experiences and amazing landscapes to remember. It was truly an epic trip and somewhere that I strongly urge you to visit.” ~ Sarah