For our last day in the Wulingyuan/Zhangjaijei area, we hired a guide who had been off and on bugging us for days. We bumped into him while looking for a place to eat last night. He suggested a newly opened area and we weren't sure what to expect since his English is so bad – he said he would arrange a mini-bus for us, but instead we ended up in an old VW taxi. Michele and I got in back and our guide, a friend of his, and the driver crammed in front.

After about an hour ride over curvy, steep, mountain roads; we drove up the first dirt road we have been on in China. At the end of the dirt road is a entry pavilion to The Canyon Ride. That isn't what it is called, but it is closer to a Disneyland ride than anything else. In a good way. Really. It is also, to me, emblematic of China. Start with a gorgeous place, over-develop it to make money and provide jobs. 

We bought our ticket at the Pavilion, walked through the gate, and were at the top of the longest steepest staircase I have ever seen – 300 meters high (at 7 steps per meter, that's 2100 steps). We were told this took 10 years to build but that seems long.

After climbing down the 2100 steps, we got to the top of a 100 meter high slide, all polished granite. (It looked much scarier than it was.)

All this was to get us down into a Escalante, Utah type slot canyon with a big stream at the bottom. It was beautiful and very familiar to any one who has hiked in South Eastern Utah, except…

At the bottom of the stair/slide entry was a waterfall – made by diverting part of the stream through a channel hacked through the almost vertical canyon walls at about 500 feet up.

Across from the bottom of the waterfall, sales stalls are being built to provide jobs for food and trinket vendors. Why anyone would climb all the way down here and all of a sudden decide they need a new Hello Kitty analog trinket is beyond me, but seems like there are billions and billions of these sales stalls everywhere; so they must work.

From there it is a wander down a very improved path along the canyon floor, and in long stretches, hanging from the canyon walls, over the stream.

At about three quarters of the way down the canyon, we went through a cave – still on the improved path.

At the end, is a boat ride across an old reservoir.

In Utah, this would be a two to three day day backpacking wilderness experience, if it could be made at all. And there is no question that it would not have been made by Michele and me without the improvements.  Here it is a two hour canyon ride (which we stretched to three by walking slowly) and jobs for, maybe, a hundred people.

There are very few westerners here, actually very few foreigners. Michele did run into a Japanese couple who asked her to take their picture and we have seen five westerners in the last five days – three who(m?) we were close enough to talk to.

There is a tram, a gondola, a elevator, and a small train to help everyone get around. And to get to the top of the canyon walls. Imagine going to Yosemite and taking an elevator to the top of Glacier Point and then finding a trail like this.

It is no worse than taking a bus, but it sure is different. On all the trails, there are vendors selling food and junky trinkets. And we kept seeing a sign that should warm the heart of any good developer: Human should coexist with nature. Exploitation should cohere with protection. 

Another surprise was a Buddhist temple at the top of the gondola ride. Actually, at the top of the gondola ride, we took a bus to another area where there were vendors (natch) hundreds of people

on their tours and a serene temple.

We got up early to beat the crowds only to realize that you don't beat the crowds in China.

Everybody is up, in their tour group, and on the go. And everybody seems to be having a good time. Wulingyuan is a national park, but not like any park we have been to in the US. It is much more developed and everybody even goes through turnstiles to get in: we buy a plastic ticket like a credit card and they take our thumbprint which is then checked against the card every time we go through the turnstiles. Inside, all the paths are limestone pavers, and all grade changes are steps – every path that goes up and down, has steps. We took a tram to the top of one crag and then walked down – it turned out to be thousands and thousands of steps. Our knees and legs were ruined. But, before we walked down, we decided to check out a tea house overlooking the valley-

only to run into a typical crowd scene of people renting "minority group"

clothing and having their picture taken. It was not a nature experience, but it was great fun to watch.

Then we started down the stairs, and down, and down; along with thousand of other people and past begging (and sometimes attacking) monkeys.

We spent the major part of one day walking down a trail next to a stream through a gorgeous canyon. Michele said This is the most beautiful place I have ever been and I  allowed that it wasn't more beautiful than Zion. Michele said Yea, except that it has wild Azaleas and Irises everywhere and monkeys. This is very true. Wulingyuan has the sane kind of beauty as Yosemite valley or Zion: we are in tree filled valleys looking up at the canyon walls. Here the walls are crags and pinnacles of quartzite, red in a lot of places, with trees leafing out in bright green, and lot of pink Azaleas. It is stunning.   

Actually, the raining and packedness of the park played right into our plans: now we could stay inside and watch the Chinese F1 race without guilt.

After the race, the rains started to clear and we wandered out to the park . Where we were given a few tantalizing glimpses of what we could expect tomorrow.

We are staying at the Xiangdian International Hotel which is a short walk from one of the entrances to Wulingyuan National Park. Wulingyuan is China's first National Park and a UNESCO protected site. By all accounts, it is one of the most beatiful places in the world.

We got a great deal on our hotel room which is huge and has a view of the park, but this is not really an "International" hotel, it is a Chinese hotel. And the differance is critical. From what we can tell, 99% of Chinese tourists travel in groups and the hotel is geared to handling groups. They are not sure what to do with two westerners traveling alone although the brochure in the room says "Our hotel is equiped with the alone type guestroom". There are two diningrooms, the Chinese Diningroom in which you can only dine if you have a group of ten or more, and the Western Diningroom, which is in the eastern part of the hotel and serves Chinese food.

We arrived at about 9AM and our room wasn't ready so they suggested we have breakfast in the Western Diningroom. I had noodles with pork and green onions and Michele had noodles soup and we both had cooked to order (in front of our very eyes on the buffet line) fried eggs. Eating a fried egg with chopsticks is a new expearance but, by putting it on top of the noodles or in the soup, it can be done.

Meanwhile, at the park, it was raining and packed.