Although we had just arrived back from rural Changsha, it was time to embark on yet another adventure toward the land of Avatar also known as Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. We woke up early this morning (no time like the present) and ate a fried dough patty with meat and onions on the inside. Delicious. We then walked to meet our driver who would be taking us on our four-hour journey towards the mountains. On the way, we stopped at my first ever Chinese convenience store/gas station. There were a lot of overpriced snacks (very similar to what you see in the United States.) I tried to go to the bathroom, but they were in such deplorable conditions that, I opted to wait until we arrived somewhere more desirable. Before our mountain adventure, we stopped at a colorful restaurant to grab a bite to eat. I noticed there wasn't quite as much staring. I suppose many of the people there were used to seeing a foreigner. We ate local greens grown on the mountain as well as watermelon and eggplant. The eggplant was simply delicious. 

The National Park was gorgeous. We actually road a cable car all the way up to the mountain. I took some beautiful pictures of the countryside as our car was moving. We walked up and down stairs, taking pictures at every stopping point. The greenery was just beautiful. We took a picture of what is known was the "five fingers." This is basically an area of the mountains that resembles five fingers. In addition, on one of our climbes down the mountain, we stopped to see a bunch of monkeys that were hanging about. I took some live, closeup footage of three mother monkeys and their babies. The monkeys enjoy the mountainside as many people feed them as they pass by. Thus, they do not mind the ruckus of the tourists becuase tourists signal food. 

Our nighttime adventure was magical on this first night in the mountains. After eating dinner at a local shop on the street, we traveled back to the mountains to watch a Chinese theatre performance. The stage where the performance took place was extensive. There was a group of actors on the left and then bridges, houses and rivers and a ridiculous amount of lighting. It put any show that I have ever seen in the United States to shame. Although it was difficult for me to follow what was going on, I finally gathered that there were actually two old Chinese folktales spun into a single performance. There were English translations that were projected onto a single rock. This helped me to better understand what was going on. After our journey back to our hotel, it was time to call it a day.