The Mountains That Inspired Avatar: Zhangjiajie & Hunan

The sandstone pillars of Zhangjiajie are the reason this tour exists. Over 3,000 of them rise from the valley floor of the Wulingyuan Scenic Area — some to 200 metres, some taller — draped in sub-tropical forest and wrapped in low cloud for much of the year. James Cameron’s production team came here in 2008 and photographed the pillars for six weeks. The floating mountains of Pandora are what they took home. Standing in Yuanjiajie and looking at the original is a different experience to watching the film, and a better one. This 7-day itinerary covers three distinct zones of Hunan Province. You begin in Changsha and travel to Fenghuang by high-speed train — a 2.5-hour journey into one of the best-preserved ancient towns in China, where Tujia and Miao stilt houses line the Tuojiang River and the alleyways have barely changed in 300 years. Day three moves through Furong Town — a Tujia settlement built around a two-tiered waterfall that runs through the centre of the old streets — before arriving in Zhangjiajie for three full days in the national park. In the park: Tianmen Mountain via the world’s longest cable car, the glass-bottomed Sky Walk at 1,400 metres, the Bailong Elevator descent from Yuanjiajie, the Ten Mile Gallery by scenic tram, and Golden Whip Stream on foot. Day six adds the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge — 430 metres long, suspended 300 metres above the canyon — before the drive back to Changsha and the overnight flight home. Halal meals are included throughout. Note: there are no halal restaurants in the Furong Town or Wulingyuan scenic areas — packed halal meals are provided on those days. This tour is for you if you want the landscape that launched a thousand imitations, seen from the ground up.

• ◆Yuanjiajie — the sandstone pillars that inspired Avatar’s floating mountains
• ◆Tianmen Mountain cable car — 10km, the world’s longest, above the valley
• ◆Sky Walk glass path at 1,400m — cliff-edge walkway on Tianmen Mountain
• ◆Bailong Elevator — 333m outdoor sightseeing lift descending the cliff face
• ◆Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge — 430m long, 300m above the canyon
• ◆Fenghuang Ancient Town — Tujia stilt houses and the Tuojiang River at dusk
• ◆Furong Town waterfall — walk behind a two-tiered fall through a Tujia village
• ◆Malaysia Airlines direct from Kuala Lumpur — 30kg baggage included

Day-by-Day