Yangjiajie Scenic Area

Yangjiajie Scenic Area, the fourth and the last subsection of Wulingyuan Scenic Area, is located northwest of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and southwest of Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve – and borders on both of these subsections of Wulingyuan. Yangjaijie is a fusion of majestic nature and bandits’ legends, which offers visitors an opportunity to experience its unique ethnic culture and customs.

Quick Facts about Yangjiajie Scenic Area

• Name in Chinese: Yángjiājiè 杨家界
• Location: West of Wulingyuan Scenic Area, Zhangjiajie
• Opening Hours: 7:00-18:00
• Ticket Price: free (the entrance cost is included in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.)
• Best Time to Visit: April-October
• How to get there: catch a tourist bus from Zhangjiajie Central Bus Station to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and then change to the free sightseeing bus with your entrance ticket to Yangjaijie.

Zhangjiajie and Yangjiajie Map

How Yangjiajie Got Its Name?

Just as much of the area around the city of Zhangjiajie is associated with the Zhang Family, the area around present-day Yangjiajie near the southwestern foothills of Tianzi Mountain is linked to the Yang Family, a family of aristocrats who rose to power and fame during the Song Dynasty (CE 960-1279). Three generations of Yangs, most of whom served the state either in civil administration or as military leaders (especially the latter), left their mark on this area, which was named by posterity in honor of the family.

Many of the sites in Yangjiajie – which translates to "Yang family homeland" – bear either a direct or indirect relation to the Yang family. The Yang Family continued to expand in the area through the Ming Dynasty (CE 1368-1644) and well into the Qing Dynasty (CE 1644-1911). Indeed, the Yang lineage thrives to this day in the Yangjiajie area, and the tombs of Yang ancestors are well looked after by currently living Yang descendants.

For example, the scenic site, Liulang Wan is named after the sixth son of one of the Yang ancestors. Liu means "sixth" while Lang means "young man", or "son". Tianbo Fu, or Tianbo Mansion, is the family mansion of the Yang Family.

What to See in Yangjiajie

Yangjiajie Scenic Area is also the smallest of the four subsections of Wulingyuan, spanning only about 35 square kilometers, but since it consists of over a hundred individual scenic sites, it is no wonder that Yangjiajie is considered the most impressive – even if not the most frequented to date (it lies somewhat apart compared to the other areas) – of all of the subsections of Wulingyuan.

Overview

Generally speaking, Yangjiajie is denser in its structure than the other subsections of Wulingyuan Scenic Area. There are also plenty of sheer cliff faces here, and in its details, Yangjiajie is as jagged as elsewhere in Wulingyuan. What there is less of here are the freestanding obelisks found in abundance elsewhere in Wulingyuan. But perhaps this is simply because the erosion process in Yangjiajie hasn't reached the same stage as elsewhere in Wulingyuan.

In Yangjiajie, the upper parts of the massive blocks tend to end in multiple, stubby minarets, as it were. In a few million years, when most of the freestanding obelisks of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park will have crumbled to dust and oversized bricks, the landscape of Yangjiajie may well have progressed to the stage where Zhangjiajie National Forest Park finds itself today.

The flora of Yangjiajie is also denser and greener, perhaps because it grows on richer soil, though the heavy mists found both here and elsewhere in Wulingyuan contribute greatly to the lush foliage. Here are many streams, waterfalls and gullies, often lined with sheer cliffs. Yangjiajie is an interesting break from the typical block-and-obelisk landscape of the other subsections of Wulingyuan Scenic Area.

Top Three Attractions in Yangjaijie

Of Yangjiajie's hundred or so attractions, three stand out, though precious little information is available on them in English:

• Xiangzhi Brook is a meandering stream that flows through a deep gully lined with densely packed shrubs and trees.
• Longquan Gorge, “Dragon Spring Gorge”, presents a more barren landscape with a valley walled by high and low cliffs, all in a jumble and some at bizarre angles, as if this had once been some kind of natural defense – a gigantic wall of sorts – that was badly damaged by an earthquake or a similar epic catastrophe.
• Baihou Valley, “Hundred Monkey Valley”, full of tall trees and meandering streams, is home to large flocks of macaque monkeys and egrets, cranes and numerous smaller birds as well as ground animals. There are many ancient trees in Baihou Valley, as well as rare flowers that blossom in season.

Longquan Waterfall

Longquan Gorge is also home to Longquan Waterfall, as indicated. It is called the oddest waterfall in the world, mainly because of the way the waterfalls over the high cliff, Fei Xie. Longquan Waterfall spills down the cliff face in two stages.

The first stage is at about 55 meters, where it lands in a trough just behind a row of jagged rocks, causing the water to spurt in three distinctly divided but ever-changing streams – left, right and center – up and over the jagged rocks, creating an effect that is said to resemble the scaly back of a writhing dragon.

In the second stage, the waterfall drops another 25 meters, spreading out in this second fall into a 15-meter-broad "curtain" that is partly composed of the fine mists that were produced by the violent, first-stage contact with the jagged stones, and splashes into the jade-green pool below.

On either side of the second stage of the waterfall, thanks surely to the curtain of mists, grows a thick carpet of ivy – said to be the densest ivy growth anywhere in China – that flowers in five different colors, making the waterfall not only unique but uniquely beautiful.

Other Attractions

Other renowned scenic sites in Yangjiajie Scenic Area include Twisted Mouth Cave and Ghost-Feared Fortress. Twisted Mouth Cave is reputed to have once been the hideout of bandits from the late Qing Dynasty – early Republic of China (1912-1949) period, while Ghost-Feared Fortress was named because even a ghost, it is said, would fear the steepness of this peak, though once at the top, the intrepid climber is rewarded with some pretty fantastic vistas.

Sister's Gully, One Hundred Li Slope (a li corresponds to 500 meters today, but it is doubtful if the name stems from the Song Dynasty, it would have corresponded to 2/3, circa, of that length, or 333 meters) and Mati Rock are also on the list.

A Tour to Yangjiajie: Enjoy Cultural and Natural Beauty

Besides the Yang Family, there are numerous enclaves of minority groups who live in the rather fertile Yangjiajie area, including the Tujia, the Miao and the Bai. Tours to Yangjiajie often include visits to these ethnic enclaves where the visitor has the opportunity to observe firsthand the distinctive dress and customs, generally with song and dance performances, of these various ethnic groups.

Like most of the other subsections of Wulingyuan Scenic Area, Yangjiajie Scenic Area has four priceless treasures that are not to be missed: the ever-present mists; the brightly rose-colored skyline, both at dusk and at dawn; the full moon at night – when Yangjiajie is perhaps at its most hauntingly beautiful; and Yangjiajie dressed in winter snow. Since it is difficult to manage all four of these in the same season, you really should visit Yangjiajie Scenic Area both during the summer and again during the winter, shouldn't you?