Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge and Grand Canyon

Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge

30 minutes to the east of  Wulingyuan is Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon. Once a side attraction of natural space, it is now one of the premiere tourist destinations in the world, and construction is not yet complete. Covering over 23 square miles, the valley (much of it flooded by downstream dams) is a mix of cliffs, forest, waterfalls, caves, and hiking trails.

Now it is home to the world-class attraction, the highest and longest glass bridge in the world. Stretching 1,410 ft across the canyon, 850ft above the river below, its 120 massive glass panels hold over 8,000 visitors a day (max 800 at a time). The attractions has proven to be so popular, it closed 13 days after opening due to lack of infrastructure to support the crowds of tourists, and while that has been quickly remedied, demand remains more than expected. It is recommended that tickets be purchases weeks, if not months prior in order to ensure a spot.

 

It looks like the Google map image needs an update. You can see the construction of the endpoints of the bridge southeast of the pin.

 

Here is a photo I didn’t take (seems to be from a press kit).

No cameras, no backpacks

In order to prevent damage to the bridge (accidental or intentional) visitors are not allowed to bring anything but a phone and/or a wallet. The rules are pretty strict. You can rent a locker and visit the bridge, the return and get you stuff back, but my plan was to cross the bridge and hike the plant trail down in the canyon. So I would be going phone-only for the day.

 

iPhone 6s Camera

Is not as good as a stand-alone camera. It’s actually pretty terrible outside of controlled conditions. Bad resolution, slow shutter, over-processed results, erattic and often-wrong colors. The down-side is that a lot of these negatives aren’t revealed with a quick-glance of the faded, reflection-filled LCD in bright light. Not only that, since I will be out in the park all day, with no charger, battery life to my only translator and life-line was a huge concern. I wasn’t going to review and retake photos and risk being at 5% when I’m trying to get back to the hotel. My conclusion, the iphone is not a substitute for a quality camera.

The lobby of the tourist building here is massive, and was mostly empty. There were a lot of people there but with online ticketing, things moved fast. You get a printed ticket, you go through a bunch of unnecessary lines to get the ticket checked, you pick up some toasty warm slippers, and then you head out into the bridge.

 

 

It doesn’t looks so “glass” close up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worth it?

I’ll be honest, the Bridge is beautiful. The Canyon is breathtaking. The Glass…well it’s glass. Small panels of layers upon layers of glass. It’s not like the bridge is transparent. You can barely see through it. It’s definitely not like you are walking on air. There reflections pretty much obscure any view below. It’s a huge gimmick. ANY bridge in this location is going to be amazing. Glass is pure marketing overrated and will most certainly disappoint those looking for a thrill. There is no sense of danger here. Well, you do have to be super careful or you will get poked by a selfie stick or collide with someone backing up to take a photo. If you are going here for the glass, don’t. It’s a drag. If you are coming to see the canyon trail that follows, go for it.

Down into the canyon

Once on the other side of the bridge a long series of wooden and stone steps built into the cliff gets visitors down into the canyon. The best part about this trek is that it does weed out a lot of tourists that can’t make the journey.

 

 

 

 

This waterfall was made recently. It is actually fed by a canal. Yep. That cit in the cliff-face is a man-made canal. Southern Red Flag Canal was constructed over 7 years and travels from mountain springs to supply fresh water to 8 villages across its 8-mile stretch. Although I can’t verify it, it is said that several died during construction. Given it’s in the middle of a shear cliff, I don’t doubt it.

 

 

 

 

Wooden plank trail

Despite the cold and the rain, I loved this  part of the canyon. Clean running water, lush vegetation, beautiful rock formations, and mirror-like ponds.

 

Bandit’s cave

 

 

 

At the end of the 2 or 3 hour hike we came across a large lake. This is the start of it. I was running low on phone battery so I didn’t really take many more photos. A boat ride takes visitors to the other side, and then that’s it.

Once you climb back out of the canyon at the north end, there are strips of vendors selling hot food and Chinese medicine and other crap.

Spicy french fries.

 

 

To Zhangjiajie City

With a flight out tomorrow, I love hotels to the south in the heart of the city. The airport is a neat 15 minutes away.
Zhangjiajie City is large but still feels pretty rural and disconnected. There are a ton of hotels around.

 

 

Off to Jiefeng Road, the commercial district to kill some time and find something to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

Entered a mall, enticed by the “VR experience” on the top floor. Unfortunately it was under construction.

 

Was not tempted to stop for a glass of corn juice.

 

Dine on some frog? No thanks.

I did hit the arcade for a bit.

 

 

 

Spicy hot pot it is!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few more…