Huang Long Dong (Yellow Dragon Cave), Zhangjiajie

Ctourus -- 7-day Tour of Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China 

Day 7 - Huang Long Dong, November 12, 2017

Our last day on this tour and still had half a day of sight seeing before the long bus ride back to Changsha. As usual, we checked out of the hotel before 8 and then on our way to one more shopping stop, the jade and pearl store. It turned out that this was also at the same compound as the silk shop that we were at the other day, except that this one is in the back of the compound. It was kind of comical as we watched and followed through with their presentations. 

Huang Long Dong (Yellow Dragon Cave) 黃龍洞

After the jewelry store we arrived at the Huang Long Dong (Yellow Dragon Cave) which is not that far from town. It is now much prettier than our last visit here just a few years back. The whole area was very well designed with easier access to the cave. Instead of just a cave entrance with steep steps near the parking lot, it now has a huge park that gently leads to the cave. 

Crossing the bridge between the parking lot and the park.

Hmm... a monkey holding a skeleton.

Waiting to get on the electric tram...

or whatever you may call these...golf carts? Very nice though, saved us the long walk from the entrance to the cave.

I was sitting at the back of the cart, facing backward, so a few quick snaps on the camera got me these photos as we drove around.

Most other tourists were walking on the other side of the park.

Finally got off and did our share of walking.

Very pretty!

Some old wooden water mills.

We were taken to a 'well' to see the old salamander.

Taking turns to see the salamander at the well.

By the way, we had a private guide from the park taking our group through the cave.

Wall near the entrance of the cave.

A small entrance...

to a large cave. That was our guide in tribal costume.

The colorful lights inside the cave made it less natural but more colorful and not as boring.

This could very well be the largest cave in China if not the world.

With boat rides inside.

Quite fascinating! It was hard to imagine that we were actually underground, inside a cave floating on water. We had to go up and down some slippery steps which means that there are different levels inside the cave. I had to hang on to the railings as we walk because of the wet and slippery steps. Other than that, it was almost like having a Disneyland ride. Fun!

After the cave, we had to walk through the park back to the entrance.

Statue of Lu Yu, the tea saint.

As we walked back to the parking lot, we had to go through these stalls of vendors selling all kinds of souvenirs and snacks. Hard to resist not to buy some.

Lunch was next and then we started our journey back to Changsha around 1:00. After about an hour and a half we stopped at this very busy rest area for a break. This was the first and only stop that I have seen where an all-you-can-eat restaurant was available and it only cost $30 RMB. Seemed like there were many choices but I really did not get close for a good look.

A snack bar on the opposite side. There was a very busy convenient store on the right also.

Took this picture on the stairs that leads to the 2nd floor of the building where less busy restrooms were available.

Now I have no idea where we had dinner that day, but we were taken to the same hotel (Dolton International) in Changsha for the night. We liked this hotel and it was nice spending our last night in the city at this familiar hotel.