On our second day at Zhangjiajie, we spent the day at Tianmen Mountain (which literally translates to “Heaven’s Gate”); visible from anywhere in the city, this mountain features a huge natural arch, located approx. halfway up to the summit. To get here, you can take either a 30-min cable car (longest aerial tramway ride in the world, covering 7,455 meters!) or a van that will drive you along the 99 Bends. On our way up, we decided to take the latter; 99 Bends is a 6.8 mile curvy road with 99 sharp turns. While it offers beautiful views, it’s considered a pretty dangerous path and perhaps not the best for those who have motion sickness!
When the van brought us to the 999-step staircase leading up to the arch, we decided to skip the climbing and instead, paid an extra 36 RMB to take the escalators. What a great decision that was! Those who made it via the staircase were panting, dripping in sweat, all of them exclaiming it had been the most tiring exercise they’ve ever had (much kudos to them though, seriously!). After another set of escalators, we finally arrived at summit.
The view (and air) was lovely! We saw rare plants and natural bonsai. We also walked along the 60-meter glass skywalk. With sheer rock on one side and a 4,700 ft drop on the other, this glass path should not have been as scary as it looked. However, I did feel my knees shake and resisted the urge to look over the ledge as I sat down to take a photo. After walking through another cliff-hanging walkway, we descended by the equally-thrilling cable car. At its steepest gradient, the cable car moved at a 37 degree angle.
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