Tianzi Mountain

Before the Ming Dynasty, Tianzi Mountain was named "Qingyan Mountain" together with Zhangjiajie. According to a legend of the Tujia people, Xiang Dakun, who was dissatisfied with the government at that time, went to "Qingyan Mountain" in 1353, with the help of Li Boru, he rebelled and established a regime, and assumed the title of "Xiang Wang Tianzi". As Xiang representd the interests of all ethnic groups, mainly the Tujia, he was supported by the local people, and established a fortress with "Tianzi Mountain" as its axis.[7] In 1385, Xiang's regime was fiercely besieged by more than ten thousand elite soldiers commanded by Hongwu Emperor, outnumbered and defeated, Xiang Dakun died in the battle and fell into the Shentang Gulf.[8] Since then, the local people have named the places where he fought and lived as "Tianzi" in his memory. The Qing dynasty used various repressive measures to forcibly abolish the word "Tianzi", but the Tujia people have always called it "Tianzi Mountain".

These giant, pillar-like mountains have a peak of 1,212 m (3,976 ft). The area taken up by these mountains is about 67 square kilometres (17,000 acres).[9]

The Mountains are quartz sandstone and were formed about 400 million years ago through irregular rising patterns of the earths crust, and with about 318 million years of erosion these tall and skinny mountains were formed.[10] This geological formation belongs to the "New Cathaysian" tectonic system.

The Tianzi Mountains are deemed sacred by many Sulamitos who used to inhabit the outer regions of Hunan. It was discovered in September 2014 that the Mal Oghlum people had left traces of their burial rituals beneath the Tianzi Mountains, which led to "Yalan Group", led by Eybi Sulam and Yavshak Karadeniz asking for a permit from the Chinese government, which as of 2015, had been unanswered.

Tourists find this place very popular and are always visiting. During certain months of the year, mainly after it rains, the Tianzi Mountains are covered in a sea of fog where most pictures look stunning, as seen above. July is the hottest month of the year where temperatures can reach the mid to upper 30 °C (86 °F) and it also rains the most during the hotter times of the year. Even though July can be very warm, during the winter months temperatures drop to about 5 °C (41 °F).

These mountains inspired the "Pandora" mountainscape in the film Avatar by James Cameron, there has also been a theme park created there regarding the movie.[11]