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Hiking Zhangjiajie

Written by Mercedes Chen (The George Washington University), Student Correspondent CET Beijing, Fall 2019

I went to Zhangjiajie with a group of classmates to spend a few days of our fall break hiking the mountains where Avatar was filmed! We organized the trip by ourselves, booked our accommodations online, and used maps we found inside the park to navigate the trails.

Our fall break began with a 24-hour train ride from Beijing to Zhangjiajie. We used this time to catch up on sleep, watch movies, read books, and practice our Chinese with our neighbors on the train.
We were all super excited and energetic on the first day of hiking. Parts of the trails were crowded with tourists, but we were able to find quiet areas by hiking farther away from the major tourist stops.
There were so many great sights in Zhangjiajie.
The views in the national park were breathtaking and worth the long days spent on the train and trail.
When the sun began to set, we realized we were some of the only tourists left on top of the mountain, but we were able to get the cable car back down.
We found delicious street food to satiate our post-hike hunger.
We met many wild monkeys while hiking through the park.
Some motivation to finish a ~2.5 hour completely uphill hike may or may not have been a McDonald’s at the top of the mountain.
Undeterred by the rain and clouds, we began the third day of hiking with a cable car ride to the top of the mountain.
On the way to find the trail head, we passed a large tea plantation.
Destroyed house in a small mountain village
This trail had several cool caves to explore.
This trail was the most beautiful, but also the hardest we hiked in Zhangjiajie. The scale of the map we used was misleading, so we ended up being on the trail much longer than expected. However, we luckily found a generous family on top of a mountain in the middle of the park that helped us get back to town.

CET Jordan: Academic Consultation Board

Over the years, we’ve built a strong network of locally-based faculty that we’re proud to call our peers. These faculty make up our Academic Consultation Board—a select group of local voices and thought leaders that help advise and shape components of the CET Jordan program. 

Board members support the program in many ways, including but not limited to:

  • Leveraging topical expertise to help develop courses, including field-based components.
  • Teaching courses or guest lectures for CET Jordan and custom programs
  • Recommending and providing academic resources for research

Academic Consultation Board Members

  • Dr. Bader Al Madi | American University of Madaba, PhD, Sociology, Political Science
  • Dr. Amani El Serhan | University of Jordan, PhD, Women's Studies
  • Dr. Amani Qashmar | University of Jordan, PhD, Education
  • Dr. Areej Alawzi | University of Jordan, PhD, English Literature/Translation
  • Dr. Ahmad Al Khrisha | World Islamic Sciences & Education University, PhD, Arabic Language & Literature

Learn more about studying abroad with CET

Learn more about studying abroad with CET