An awe inspiring, pristine wonderland of native plants, animals, and geology is what you’ll find in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Hunan Province. Easily accessed by ei-ther rail, road, or air, Zhangjiajie is rarely visited by the adventurous eco-traveler. While the most famous scenic sites are crowded with throngs of Chinese and Korean tourists, many well developed trails are deserted, perfect for solitary communion with the lush environment. These spur trails are so deserted as to give the feeling that their beautiful stone walkways were crafted by an ancient civilization, then lost in time until your arrival. The incredible network of stone and slated pathways are themselves an architectural and engineering marvel, inspiring our party to name them “the Great Staircase”. We ap-preciated having guide and translator Tang Ming help us get oriented. He lead us be-yond the crowds to some very special places. He was very patient, trustworthy, did his best to answer all of our questions, and gave us comfort given that our Chinese lan-guage skills were essentially non-existent. Tang Ming shares this place with a genuine sense of pride and reverence which we enjoyed greatly.

For the naturalist, whether amateur or professional, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is sure to please: 720 plant and 149 animal species. It is said that 98% of the park is cov-ered with vegetation, and during the four days of our journey we hiked by an astounding diversity of plant life, from towering trees to the most delicate herbs to giant vines, many of which were adorned with a spectrum of flowers. The animals were not commonly seen, no doubt due to the joyful shouts of tourists, who delighted in hearing their calls echoed by the deep rock canyons. Still, we without leaving the improved trails we were able to observe rhesus monkeys, squirrels, and most memorably, a 4 foot salamander caught from the Golden Whip Stream by local people to show the tourists. No doubt an exploration to even more remote recesses of the park could improve the chance of other animal encounters.

The weather in late April was colder than we expected, and we found ourselves remov-ing and then donning various layers of clothing to stay comfortable, depending on if we were hiking or resting. This was a good season for seeing many of the local plants in flower, and the rainy mists were a spectacle to behold, yet next time we visit, it will be in warmer months,and we’ll come prepared to sleep under the stars.