Sorted out the hotel breakfast fiasco this morning by turning up so late that they simply HAD to cook me something.....a nice bowl of noodles to start the day is a vast improvment on yesterday. Still no cup of tea which is almost unheard of in China......tea is just about served everywhere. After the fantastic show last night we both had a good night sleep and although the legs are still sore I am ready to go and see more of this amazing area.

First thing today we headed to the Huanglong Scenic Area for a different view of the world. Instead of going up mountains we are going underground into one of the worlds largest limestone caves. The surrounding scenic area is very pretty especially as the spring flowers are just coming out giving a kaleidoscope of colours. Within the scenic area is a model minority village house complete with hanging corn and bee hives so we have bought ourselves some fresh honey...just have to get it back to Nanjing safely - dont really want a gooey mess in my bag!! Delightful area to sit and people-watch but the underground is calling.....

Yellow Dragon Cave (Huanglong Cave) is one of the earliest caves open for tourism and it is known as the wonder of the world's caves. It is a typical Karst cave, consisting of an area of irregular colorful, glittering and translucent limestone in which erosion has produced fissures, underground streams, and caverns. So far, the discovered cave area is about 15 kilometers long and 140 meters high, and covers 48 hectares. The Cave can be divided into two parts. One is the dry cave and the other is the water cave. There are caves inside caves, and one cave may lead to many others. Stalactites, stalagmites, stone blossoms, stone curtains, stone branches, stone canals, stone pearls, and stone macrospores can be seen in various places in the cave, constituting a fantastic yet natural scene.


Well the cave is everything in the above description and more. My photos have not turned out very well and really don't give you the proper perspective on just how BIG the cave is. We seemed to walk forever and then got on a boat to look even deeper into the cave. After the glorious sunshine outside it is cool in the cave. Our guide tells us that it is a constant 16 degrees all year round - so you either feel hot or cold in the cave depending on the season when you visit. wandered around in the sunshine of th scenic area before we got into our car and headed back into Zhangjiajie for lunch.

After lunch it was time to visit Golden Whip Stream and walk off our delicious lunch

The Golden Whip Stream is one of the most attractive spots in Zhangjiajie. The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are prominent on a world map, but even on a small-scale map of Zhangjiajie, Golden Whip Stream appears as just a fine thread. With a length of 7.5 kilometers (YES I walked every inch of it), Golden Whip Stream is famous for its pristine water, its verdant mountains, its steep cliffs and its serene valley. As a veritable "paradise" for plants, its pathways are adorned by an abundance of flowers, trees, and grasses. And it is also a kingdom of animals. Golden Whip Stream is named after Jin Bian Crag, its landmark spot, and runs from Laomo Bay to Shui Rao Si Men(water-surrounded gates). The major spots along the stream include Yingbin Crag (greeting crag), Jinbian Crag, Zicao Pool, Qian Li Xiang Hui (long distance meeting between man and woman), Shui Rao Si Men (water-surrounded gates). The Golden Whip Stream is a poetic stream, with crystal clear water running quietly between strangely-shaped peaks.

As described above the stream is almost poetic in nature. It was so peaceful walking along enjoying the views with the water babbling in the background. We didn't see any of the monkeys (unless you count Shirley and I) that people complain about. Perhaps they have been too well fed today - not worried as we have seen monkeys before in several countries!! There are many wonderful names of areas along the walk such as couple meeting from afar, spitting mountain to save mother, Mother-son peak and at the end of the walk is Lovers Lock. a huge brass lock in which couples can have their photo taken........had my photo taken but solo unfortunately!!!

It was dark by the time we finished our walk - not surprising as I think Shirley stopped at EVERY shop/market stall along the way!! Heavens above I thought I could shop but she left me for dead in that arena today!! Mind you I did have to do quite a bit of bargaining on her behalf!!

Stopped in ZJJ for dinner with our guide who stayed with us and then took us out to the airport for our midnight flight home!! Of course the plane was running late (by about 40 minutes - which is almost on time in China). We got back to our apartment at about 3.00am looking like the walking dead. BUT oh what a wonderful few days we have had.....the fresh air (luxury item in China), the scenery which has just left me speechless but I have so many magnificient memories to keep forever.....

Guess I had better start planning our next adventure soon.......