No.1: Zhangjiajie (China)
Deep in China’s Hunan Province, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park reveals a landscape so extraordinary that it inspired the floating mountains of the film Avatar. Over 2,000 towering sandstone pillars rise dramatically from mist-filled valleys, their vertical cliffs covered in lush vegetation. When the morning fog drifts through the gorges, the scene transforms into a mythical world—a “paradise of immortals,” as ancient Chinese poets once described it.
The park’s most famous viewpoint, Yuanjiajie, offers jaw-dropping vistas where the so-called “Hallelujah Mountains” appear to hover in midair. Visitors can ascend via the Bailong Elevator, the world’s tallest outdoor lift, to stand atop 300-meter cliffs and gaze across a dreamscape that feels utterly detached from reality. Zhangjiajie isn’t just a natural wonder; it’s a realm that blurs the line between Earth and the imagination—a place where myths seem to breathe.
