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THE MOUNTAINS STOLE MY HEART 

Okay we have had some really cool vacations, but this is seriously one for the books!! It was also a really last minute trip for me so I am so so thankful that I was able to go, thank you to my mom and everyone that made it possible. 

First of all, we had to take a bus from Guzhen to the train station, one train to the metro, to another SLEEPER train over night. But since I bought my tickets so last minute I didn't get a bed, so I had to sit in a straight up chair for 15 hours, away from my friends, and people were smoking and slurping on their noodles and talking SO loud but it's okay because I survived and I never have to do that again hahahah. We made it to ZHANGJIAJIE (pronounced zong jah jeeah) the next morning and then checked into our hostel that I scored for only 10 bucks a night! 

The first day we went to tianemen mountain, and if you are ever planning on coming to china, this is a MUST. seriously like changing. So we took a cable car-the longest one in the world actually-through the city and up into the mountains. It was a really foggy day so it felt like we were literally in the clouds. After 30 minutes we made it to the top and there was seriously so much to see. We walked around and got lost a few times but through that, we ended up seeing some of the coolest things! 

So we walked on the edge of a cliff essentially, and you couldn't even see the surrounding mountains because it was so foggy and eerie, it felt like we were in a movie, or like heaven it was so surreal. We walked across a glass bridge so we could see all the way down and it was soooo far down to the bottom. 

Then my favorite part....I have always wanted to dress up in traditional clothes and there was a beautiful red dress and crown and I knew that I had to try it on. So I did and it was SO fun!! I was dancing around on the top of this mountain and literally felt like a queen. The cutest group of old ladies came up and they were taking pictures and videos and it was priceless. Seriously one of the highlights of my entire time here!! 

Then we walked a little further down and stumbled upon the forest of wishes. There were tons and tons of ribbons decorating the trees, so we decided to put our wishes on there too. We walked up to the very top and I found a branch that didn't have one because I felt bad for it...so I wanted it to feel some love. And there lies my wish! It was so peaceful and there was a sacred feeling about that place. People from all over the world put their wishes, desires and prayers up there and you could really feel that. It was so peaceful, and I just closed my eyes and tried to soak in the moment. 

After that we kept hiking/dancing along the trails, and found a huge bridge! It was so foggy, you couldn't see where it led to. Then we ran into a little maze, so that was fun to go through. We also saw a giant temple where people would put heart locks on, with their loved ones. There were locks everywhere and it was so beautiful!! 

A little ways down we found 5 temples, and a lot of different statues, there were people praying and lighting incense, and it started to rain so it was a sight to see! After that we headed to a giant natural hole in the mountain, it's called the stairway to heaven! Since we were at the top we had to take 10 escalators down to get to the giant hole, it was breathtaking! 

Once we got to the top we had to walk down 1,000 stairs...which is better than walking up it but here's a secret about me. I have a fear of walking down stairs because one time I was walking down holding a toddler and I slipped and broke my foot (don't worry the little girl was okay) and that was yearssss ago but I still freak out going down stairs!!! So 1,000 was quite a struggle and my feet didn't fit on them because they were tiny and SO steep. So I held on to the rails and took my sweet sweet time getting down hahah so many people tried to help me but I just did my own thing. And I MADE IT DOWN. 

Then we had to take a bus down the mountain down the curly roads, there are literally 99 turns, and they are so sharp!! So I closed my eyes since we would get so close to the other buses and we made it down. I felt so peaceful up on that mountain though, it was so refreshing!! What a day!