Huangshi Village (Yellow Stone Stronghold)

"If you don't visit Huangshi Village, your Zhangjiajie trip is in vain" (Liuqi Pavilion viewing tower / Star-Plucking Platform), 360° panorama of the peak forest; an aerial viewing platform. Zhangjiajie's earliest famous viewpoint, with the folk saying "If you don't visit Huangshi Village, your trip to Zhangjiajie is in vain": viewing platforms ring the summit, and from Liuqi Pavilion you can survey the full peak-forest panorama in 360°; Star-Plucking Platform juts out over the cliff above a bottomless abyss—standing there in fog feels like plucking stars from a sea of stars, hence the name. Huangshi Village is said to be the stockade where Zhang Liang of the Han dynasty lived in seclusion and practiced Taoism; the aerial viewing platform cantilevers out beyond the cliff face, with sheer stone peaks below. The cableway (CNY 65 one way) climbs straight to mid-mountain, or you can hike up a path shaded by dense old-growth trees. As the original highlight of the Forest Park, it complements the floating-mountain scenery of Yuanjiajie.

Getting there: Forest Park ticket-gate entrance