China is well-known for its many amazing nature wonders. Having said that, allow me to introduce you one interesting place which both the Star & Astro featured an article/documentary on this attraction today,see photo:
A massive crevice in Zhangjiajie prefecture’s highest mountain is thought to be a gateway to celestial realms.
Mystical: Mysterious, mist-shrouded Tianmendong has served as inspiration for a number of local myths and legends.
JUST 8km from Zhangjiajie city in Hunan’s northwest is a mountain whose very name reflects the awe the ancients must have felt when they witnessed the miraculous natural phenomenon that radically transformed it.
Local folklore says that 1,750 years ago during the Three Kingdoms period, a gap suddenly appeared in what was then Songliang Mountain. Thinking it was a gateway to the world of gods and immortals, the king called the fissure Tianmendong or Heaven’s Gate Cave. The mountain has been re-named Tianmenshan since and in 1992, was designated a National Forest Park.
Situated at an altitude of over 1,300m, Tianmendong is reputedly the highest such “cave” in the world. At 131m high and 57m wide, its cavity is large enough to accommodate a 40-storey building; in 1999 three stunt planes flew through it to welcome the new millennium. This site had been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.
Awesome rite?
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When i showed this to my visiting German colleague just now, he was just like me, thinks that this natural formation of the crevice is really breathtaking but he was quick to remind me that our country is also having such wonder,this was what he meant:
Our famous Batu Cave! But then he added while the Tianmendong is the way to Heaven because of its bright background, he feels that our Batu Cave seems more like the way to Hell because of its pitched black entrance. I cautioned him not to say that as this is simply disrespectful to our fellow Hindu friends. Nevertheless, I tend to agree with him that the entrance to Batu Cave might need be lit up appropriately to prevent such thinking of my German colleague. what say you?
