Arrival in Zhangjiajie (11/16/19)
I was woken up by a train attendant shaking my foot at about 4 am this morning. From watching other folks get woken up earlier I assumed that meant my stop was coming up soon and climbed out of my bed. Most of my stuff was already packed so I just sat and waited as the train rumbled on. The attendant came around a second time to make sure I was awake and pointed me to the door where I hauled myself over to and stood with 6 or 7 other people. Around a half hour after I had been woken up the train pulled into the station and I hopped off and followed the other passengers to the Zhangjiajie station exit. I did make sure that the station title matched the characters on my ticket (张家界) before getting off though, just to be sure.
I had arranged to be picked up by my AirBnB host from the station but nobody was in sight so I sent them a message and sat down on concrete divider to wait. And wait I did. I sent them another message every half hour but didn’t get a response until nearly 7 am, when the sun had already risen. I was pretty out of it at that point, having just sat in the cold for the last 2.5 hours watching people and trying to kill time, so I legitimately didn’t care that they changed plans and wanted me to walk a mile to their place instead of picking me up. I trudged on over, passing underneath the Tianmen Mountain cable car, admiring the jagged mountains off in the distance, and noting the city’s blend of skyscraper and historical shops and stall along the streets. When I got to my designated skyscraper I was locked out by an electric fence.
Fortunately, a garbage man was just leaving and I snagged the door before it closed behind him and slipped inside to find the elevator up to the 16th floor. When I finally arrived at the unmarked door and knocked I was greeted by an older man who didn’t speak any English but handed me a note that his daughter had wrote explaining that she ran the AirBnB but had to leave town a couple days ago for a family emergency so she wouldn’t be around but was happy to give me advice on where to go, especially in Zhangjiajie Nation Forest Park, since she had worked as a guide there for several years. The man then showed me to my room, handed me a map of the city and park, and left to attend the young kid who was eating breakfast in the main room.
I flopped down on the bed and my sleep deprived brain was shocked at how hard the mattress was. Almost like a thin futon on a solid wood frame. I actually like hard beds so it was fine by me, my brain just got fixated on the idea that many folks would not like it. Anyways, I passed the heck out and didn’t stir until night had already fallen and I was starving. I consulted the city map and walked a couple blocks to the nearest street packed with restaurant icons since I figured if there was a high density they’d all have to be good. I picked one at random and was led through a plastic curtain to a small seating area next to a massive tank filled with some of the ugliest fish I’ve ever seen. From what I understood off the menu and hand signals with the server they were stone fish and the restaurant’s call was that you point at a fish you want and that’s the one they clean and cook. I was certainly intrigued but also a little intimidated so I opted for a beef and onion stir fry that I hungrily devoured. I think I could have had tea too, since there was an empty tea set at the table, but the cups were all wrapped in plastic so I wasn’t sure if it was an extra charge like hotel bottled water or something, so I just didn’t touch the whole setup.
I practically licked my plate clean so there weren’t any leftovers to speak of and walked back to my room. I noticed a lot of light and noise coming from the downtown direction a few blocks away and was curious, but not enough so to overcome my desire to take a shower and pass back out. My hope tomorrow is to visit Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, which is also known as Avatar Park because the misty mountains and spires of the movie were inspired by the park’s landscape.
