23 Apr 2024
My fiancé and I booked this 2 day tour while in Zhangejiajie and it was absolutely breathtaking. The national forest was vast and beautiful and the white water rafting was the most fun I had during my stay in China. The only thing better than this tour was our guide Nora. She had so much knowledge about the history and culture in Zhangejiajie.
She accommodated our pace climbing up the mountain steps and ensured we sat on the best side of the shuttle buses to see the most amazing views. She was so personable and just a joy to be around. She even helped us get our luggage to a new hotel when the first one did not work for us. She called my hotel at my next location in Xi'an to ensure the airport shuttle would be available to us since I could not speak Mandarin. And offered to help us order food!
Our visit to the national park was the day before a festival and so it was packed more so than usual but she got us through the crowds and even wore bright colors so we would not lose sight of her. She explained the different traditional clothing of the diversities that called the mountains their homes and have fascinating information about those groups. We learned so much. Her knowledge of the iconic individuals that helped shape the history only showed how much she loves Zhangejiajie. We not only saw the canyon and mountains were learned about the origins and meaning of their names. We even got to saw a few wild monkeys that live on the mountains.
On the second day we saw the views from the base of those mountains down on the river. Even though Nora did not join us on the raft she did meet us and ensured we arrived at the location then waited almost 3 hours and the final destination to pick us up. During the trip there she continued to provide a history lesson of Zhangjiajie and answered all the questions we had about the area, China, and her personal experience. During the rafting we got to see a bunch of amazing waterfalls, gorgeous mountain views and even a few goats.
If you plan on partaking in any tours ask for Nora. You won't just be getting an amazing tour from a local native but you'll get a tour from a lifelong friend.