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This is a natural spectacle: a surreal forest of thousands of towering quartzite sandstone pillars rising sheer from mist-filled chasms within Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, the karst formation whose otherworldly silhouettes inspired the floating peaks of the film Avatar, earning the tallest column its Hallelujah Mountain nickname.

Sculpted over 300 million years by erosion, wind and water, these narrow stone columns pierce through drifting veils of cloud, their vertical faces cloaked in a tenacious cover of emerald subtropical forest that clings improbably to near-vertical rock. At dawn, the chasms between pillars fill with luminous mist, creating the illusion of islands suspended in air above a boundless white sea.

Rooted in Tujia culture, the range takes its name from the folk hero Xiang Dakun, celebrated locally as Tianzi, or Son of Heaven. Viewing platforms at Yuanjiajie and the Tianzi Mountain summit offer travelers unobstructed panoramas over this UNESCO-listed wilderness, best witnessed in the shifting light of early morning or after rainfall.