Nature
PUBLISHED
Luscious green islands meet fluffy white clouds in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, where curious pillars of rock soar high into the sky. Having formed hundreds of millions of years ago, they now support two record-breaking structures and even inspired a blockbuster movie.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.In China’s Hunan Province, a geological wonderland can be found inside the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. Sitting within the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s famous for its towering quartz sandstone pillars. They reach high enough into the sky that clouds often seep in between the pillars, a sight so beautiful it inspired James Cameron.
Yes, that James Cameron, director of Avatar and *checks notes* occasional world-record holder for solo deep-sea diving (some folks just can’t be pigeonholed). The alien world of Pandora featured in the movie is home to the Hallelujah Mountains, enormous floating blobs of rock that drift among the clouds and collide mid-air.
Zhangjiajie’s columns might not float, but they do stretch dizzyingly high into the sky. Many of the over 3,000 quartz sandstone pillars reach over 200 meters (650 feet) tall, creating a pointy landscape upon which green foliage meets fluffy white clouds.
The tallest, the Southern Sky Column, was officially renamed Avatar Hallelujah Mountain in 2010. It looms a whopping 1,080 meters (3, 543 feet) into the sky.
.jpg "Tall sandsrtone pillars with forest growing on them loom into the clouds floating around their tops")
The rocks here are 400 million years old, taking us back to the Devonian period when the region was submerged in a shallow sea. The marine environment provided the perfect conditions for sandstone and quartz to accumulate and compress, creating solid rock that was later lifted above sea level due to tectonic activity. This rock was then eroded by heavy rains, creating the unique columnar formations that still stand today.
You’ll need to crane your neck to see the top of them but you don’t have to break your back to get on their level thanks to the Bailong Elevator, known as the “hundred dragons sky lift”. It holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s tallest outdoor elevator and can lift 46 people 326 meters (1,070 feet) in less than 2 minutes.
If giant elevators aren’t your thing, then how about a massive glass bridge? The Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge opened in 2016 and connects two mountains 430 meters (1,410 feet) apart at a height of 300 meters (980 feet).
If you prefer to make like James Cameron’s alter ego and take a dip, you’ll find one of China’s most famous aquatic residents scrabbling through the streams of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park: the Chinese giant salamander. Hailed as the world’s largest amphibian, we received the puzzling news in 2024 that it could represent up to nine different species. Identity crises aside, who could resist those beady little eyes?
How to get there: It’s just a 40-minute drive from Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport to the Wulingyuan Scenic Area where you’ll find Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.
This feature first appeared in Issue 32 of our digital magazine CURIOUS. Older issues of CURIOUS are free for all users. To access new issues, become an All Access Member.
