Often called zhangjiajie, this 391-sq-km scenic preserve is a karst landscape of enormous beauty, with rocky pinnacles rising from a coverlet of dense sub-tropical vegetation. Wulingyuan covers three natural reserves – Zhangjiajie, Tianzi Shan, and Suoxi Yu – and contains well over 500 species of tree, including the dawn redwood, which was believed to be extinct until it was re-identified in 1948. It is also a haven for fauna, including giant salamanders, rhesus monkeys, and a wide variety of birds. The park is often cloaked in fog, adding atmosphere but obscuring most views. Summers are excessively humid.