Hunan (Day 7) : Zhangjiajie (Grand Canyon) and Farewell

On the last day of our tour, it was time for Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon featuring the world's longest (430m) and highest (300m) glass-bottomed bridge. Built in 2016 by an Israeli architect, it is a truly magnificent structure as it is supported by only 4 pillars built on the edges of the canyon wall. Only 800 people are allowed on the bridge at any one time and we were informed by the guide that during early testing of this bridge, they drove cars across it to test the durability.   

Entrance to this place, like all other places we been visiting for the past week, comes with a price. Fees to the canyon and bridge is about RM 150 per person. Security checkpoint in the mountainous area is pretty strict I must say, with most requiring to scan some form of ID (or passport in my case) and/ or facial recognition before allowing entry. Some even require our bags to be scanned. 

Breathtaking view from the bridge!

Attaching to the underside of the bridge is a platform that allows brave and death-defying individuals to bungee jump. To be precise, a 285m bungee jump, touted to be the highest bungee jump in the world! Hence, everyone's eagerness and curiosity to witness the jump preparation through the transparent glass. The price to free fall and bounce back up and down here - about 3000 RMB, or MYR 1,800!  

The only downside of our Grand Canyon visit was forgoing the zipline way to get down from the mountain due to a very long queue. Do take the opportunity to zipline your way down when given the chance! 

So, instead we went down the slide, which is an indoor slide built with polished granite chute. We were given gloves to wear in order to control our speed of sliding down. My kids claimed it was the best thing for them throughout the entire tour (roll eyes).

Of course there is also the option for the less adventurous to use the elevator to get down the mountains. But believe me, this slide is so much more fun and super safe even for an 80 year old as those gloves were really useful to slow down or speed up your journey down. 

Here's a clip at how slow and easy it is, much to the chagrin of my girl who was just behind me, complaining on my slowness. LOL.

We also took a slow boat ride at the base of the canyons to admire the majestic waterfalls and cool weather. 

Took a video of people scrambling to switch seats when the boat simply went into a reverse direction instead of turning around halfway through the journey. lol.

Yet another amazing view in which you can see people ziplining from afar. 

We have reached the end of our Grand Canyon visit and off we went for a quick lunch. I guess too much time was spent in the canyon as we were only given 30 minutes to eat in order to catch our high speed train back to Changsha. 

This too was one of the better meals i would say! But oh, too little time to enjoy all these mouth watering dishes. 

Tastes as good as it looks!!

Here we are at the high speed train station to catch our train back to Changsha. It was a relief we did not need to lug our heavy bags with us as our trusty bus driver was gonna drive for 5 hours to meet us back at Changsha. 

Running at a top speed of 200 km/h, this comfortable journey took us about 2 hours. In fact, during the journey, the friendly crew were busy selling local snack and tidbits to passengers, even handing out free samples to try.  

Upon reaching Changsha, it was already late evening and we were ushered to this restaurant in downtown city for our final meal before flying back. 

It was a buffet dinner with the biggest variety of dishes and ingredients for steamboat and BBQ-ing. 

And this, .... I cannot even brain whose brains are these. Urgh, 

Buffet came with unlimited supply of alcoholic drinks too - like these foreign beer with a crazy 40%/ 50% alcohol content in it!

I for one, found my Sexy Tea milk tea (complimentary from Alexis!) much more satisfying. 

Found a cinema inside the same mall of our dinner place, called 'The Cinema'.

Ponzi Street is something like our Bukit Bintang area, brimming and bustling with commercial vibes, street food, souvenir/ snack shops, free style street buskers and truly very happening at night time. 

This was our last stop and indeed a memorable way to end our trip. 

I love that i got to travel again :)  It's always an eye-opener to see what the world has to offer out there and so enriching to learn the culture of other people.

art piece made out of broken plates

Overall, it was a great and memorable time with Sri America for this Zhangjiajie tour. Both guides Sam and Alexis were very courteous and helpful throughout the entire trip, always making sure we have more than adequate toilet breaks, are well fed and that we leave nothing behind in our hotel hopping except our footprints. 

What can i say but you get it all in this place - canyon, streams, waterfall, cliffs, mountain, forest and caves. Zhangjiajie is truly the work of nature at its best!

The companionship of 16 other new boisterous friends made it even more fulfilling.   

From top left : Arul, Ming & Kim, Dora & John, Peter, Bee Ling, Rebecca, Cecilia, Mrs & Mr Lee, From bottom left : Hong (standing) and Vivian, ME and hubby, Hayley, Bee Choo, Darren, Teh and Raju (standing)

Thanks guys for making the trip more awesome than you already are! Hope we meet again! :D