Zhangjiajie

Zhangjiajie needs 3 days: the National Forest Park, with over 3,000 sandstone pillars that inspired the floating landscapes of the movie "Avatar," on one, the world's tallest and longest glass bridge over Zhangjiajie Canyon, on another, and Tianmen National Park, with its natural "Heaven's Gate," on the third. April-June and September-November bring the mildest weather and least fog. It's mid-priced for China. Its quartz-sandstone formations, carved over millions of years, gave one of the pillars its official name -"Avatar Hallelujah Mountain"- after the film's 2010 release, in a marketing move that drove international tourism to the area.