Your questions: We read that Yangjiajie sceanic area is home of “Avatar” mountain and ‘unavoidably touristy’, is this not the case? Everything we have read about the Bailong elevator suggests there are hours of queing and that it’s not worth the trouble, is it true?
Answers: Yuanjiajie is the home of "AVATAR" mountain, where is the inspiration for Hallelujah Mountain in AVATAR. Yangjiajie Scenic Area is a relatively recently discovered area of Zhangjiajie, a good place for hiking in the park. You are right that there are hours(sometimes more than 3 hours)of queuing to take Bailong elevator in the morning, so you'd better ride Bailong elevator up mountain in the afternoon.