Zhangjiajie 12/04/11 - 14/04/11

12/04/11 – Zhangjiajie

We caught the train in the morning to Zhangjiajie, we arrived quite late and nipped into KFC for some food, Johnson kicked off with half the staff in there for incompetence after a trainee spilt two of my fries whilst placing them on my tray. I didn’t think it was much of a problem but I suppose it’s a culture thing. We then got collared by two girls who wanted to follow us to the hostel as they had nowhere to stay, they took one look at the dorm room we had booked and walked straight out haha. Later we walked about town and around a market before going for food (rice noodles and meat on a stick Y25). Then off to the local bar, we played pool and darts, then sang some karaoke. As I had an option of about 4 English language songs I ended up singing Toxic by Britney Spears. Johnson sang a few Chinese numbers, even a duet.

13/04/11 – Avatar country

We set off early to the Zhangjiajie mountains (where Avatar was filmed apparently). I will explain the details of how we got there at the end. We arrived and set off along the forest trail, we saw monkeys but not a lot else to be honest, it was looking a bit dull but then we came across an elevator that shot up over 300 metres (Y56). We saw some amazing views from the top and spent the remainder of the day walking back down. It seems not that high but the steps start to go down but then go back up again, it wasn’t easy and the next day the backs of our legs were killing.
After getting back to town, we went for hotpot, it was much more upscale than the one Toffler took us to back in 2007. Then back to the hostel for a shower before heading out with a girl from Shanghai who we met walking out the door. I agreed with Johnson that we would only go out for one drink, the deal that was offered when we arrived at the bar was 6 beers for Y80 (I think Johnson has his suspicions that I’m an alcoholic, he often explains that Chinese people only drink with meals). Once again, Johnson got on the karaoke and also Ellen from Shanghai did a duet with him.

Two things I have noticed since getting to China is that everyone seems to be amazing on karaoke and Johnson get rat arsed after about half a beer.

• *From Zhangjiajie city, you can catch a mini bus from the small bus station in the centre (not the train station) to one of I think 3 main gates (Y11-13).

If you end up near the Y50 elevator I would not take it, instead use the free shuttle bus located at the start and end of each section.

14/04/11 – Still in the mountains

Up a bit later today and went to buy a ticket to see Johnsons other cousin, he will drive us half the distance to Fenghuang Cheng. Then back to the mountain as we bought a 2 day ticket yesterday. We caught the bus to a different entrance. On the way we passed mountain villages which were pretty cool and after arriving at the gate, instead of catching the transfer bus straight away we walked up the road for about 20 minutes before flagging it down. This was the more authentic part of the mountains for me as I wasn’t joined by 1000 new friends on every step I took. We got to the top and ventured around the rock we landed at, I also smoked a cigarette rolled by a nice girl that she gave me for free, it was nice even without a filter. After realising this was only a small part of the mountain and we would have to go back for another transfer bus, we started a journey on buses that would last the rest of the day until we finally gave up and jumped on the cable car (Y56). My phone ran out of battery after getting on but it wasn’t that scenic anyway and only lasted about 5 minutes. After getting off we got the bus back to town and had MacDonald’s before heading back to the hostel so I could write this thrilling story. Johnson has started snoring now…. Nighty night.

One more thing – If you ever want to know what it’s like to be a celebrity, just come to China. You are guaranteed that one in 5 people will see you and either wave or say “hello”.