If you speak some Chinese and want to get well off the beaten track, this staggeringly beautiful mountain valley and its caves, natural arches and vertiginous cliffs, 90 minutes by bus from town, makes for a sublime overnight expedition. You begin by descending through a beautiful flat valley called Moon Valley (ÔÂÖ®¹È, Yu¨¨ Zhi G¨³), surrounded by cliffs, before climbing to a vast cave called Cathedral Gate (½ÌÌÃÃÇ, Ji¨¤ot¨¢ng M¨¦n), after which you thread through a bamboo forest to make your way towards a 1km-long subterranean cave.
On the way you will pass the Two Layer Cave (Ë«²ã¶´, Shu¨¡ngc¨¦ng D¨°ng) before reaching the astonishing Angel Castle (Ììʹ³Ç, Ti¨¡nsh¨« Ch¨¦ng) ¨C a formation of vast cliffs that encircles you ¨C with the Angel Gate (ÌìʹÃÅ, Ti¨¡nsh¨« M¨¦n) at the far end, a further cave that drills through the entire cliff to the far side.
A low-hanging cave entrance on the far side of the valley leads to the M¨ª Cave (ÃÔ¶´, M¨ª D¨°ng), but whatever you do, don't enter without a guide and a headlamp. It's 1km long, pitch black, devoid of mobile signal and if you take a wrong turn, you could easily get lost. But it's an astonishing experience. One section is full of litter, not dropped by visitors, but swept in by river waters that flow in here during the rainy season (though usually only to a shallow depth). Eventually ¨C after about half an hour of walking in the dark ¨C you will see the faint glow of the exit, a cavernous opening leading to a breathtaking valley called Star Valley (ÐÇÖ®¹È, X¨©ng Zh¨© G¨³) surrounded by colossal limestone cliffs. Give a good shout: the echo acoustics are phenomenal.
Not far away is Binglang Hole (éÄÀÆ¿×, B¨©nl¨¢ng K¨¯ng), another natural cave leading through to the other side, from where you can make your way back to the bus drop-off point. Locals still use the naturally formed cave to reach villages on the far side, thus avoiding a circuitous detour.
To reach Binglang Valley, take a taxi (?20) to the pick-up point (´óÓ¹ÇÅÎ÷Õ¾, d¨¤y¨ngqi¨¢o x¨©zh¨¤n) in Zhangjiajie City and then take a bus (?17, 90 minutes, 8.30am) towards Q¨©ng'¨¡n P¨ªng (Çలƺ) and disembark at B¨©ngl¨¢ng¨³ N¨®ngji¨¡ L¨¨ (éÄÀƹÈÅ©¼ÒÀÖ), simply the name of a family homestead by the valley access point. The return buses are at 8.30am and 1.30pm, which means you'll likely need to stay the night. The F¨´gu¨¬ Sh¨¡nzhu¨¡ng can arrange lodging and a guide (?200, no English), but make sure you ask your Zhangjiajie hotel for help in arranging everything as the bus schedules and pick-up point are subject to change.
