4 days in Zhangjiajie, China | Itinerary and Travel Guide
Just a 6 hour train ride from Chongqing lies the stunning rock pillars that were the inspiration for the Hallelujah mountains in the popular movie series, Avatar. These mountains lie in the famed UNESCO Wulingyuan Scenic area in Zhangjiajie 张家界, a city in the northwest of the Hunan province.
The stunning ‘Avatar Mountains’ - the rock pillars in Zhangjiajie National Park that inspired the Hallelujah mountains in the Avatar movies.
On top of this, the Zhangjiajie area has so much more stunning scenery to offer - from the 999 Stairway to Heaven at Tianmen Mountain 天门山, to a beautifully scenic and steep 25 min long cablecar ride, to glass bridges and pathways hugging the cliffside - making it worthy of a visit on you next trip to China.
Thinking about whether you should put China on your radar? Read my Top 5 Reasons to Explore China.
This guide includes:
General Info
How to get to Zhangjiajie
Where to stay in Zhangjiajie
4 day itinerary | What to do in Zhangjiajie
FAQs
Sarah’s note: I hope you find this useful! I wish I had this guide when I was planning my time in Zhangjiajie, we spent a lot of time sifting through information on Trip.com and Little Red Book and still struggling to figure out how to buy tickets that weren’t private tours!
General Info
Zhangjiajie National Park lies in the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, located 30km from Zhangjiajie (the city), however the whole area is often referred to as Zhangjiajie. Tianmen Mountain and Zhangjiajie Glasss Bridge & Grand Canyon are located outside of Zhangjiajie National Park in Zhangjiajie itself.
Zhangjiajie National Park passes are valid for 4 consecutive days (there’s no option for less)
Passes cost ¥227 and includes shuttle buses around the park, and if you add on Bailong Elevator + 3 cable car rides you’ll pay ¥443
Opening hours: 07:00-18:00 daily
Your passport details are required to purchase your pass, as facial recognition and your passport is used to enter the park
The ‘hiking paths’ are more like paved walks, and there’s plenty of hot food and coffee/tea options inside the park
There are multiple entrances to Zhangjiejie National Park, but Wulingyuan Entrance and Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Entrance are the commonly used ones
Tianmen Mountain and Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge & Grand Canyon in different locations to Zhangjiajie National Park, and each require their own pass
Check the weather forecast in advance - it’s cooler up on the mountain so bring warm layers, and if there is any chance of rain you’ll see many vendors selling ponchos
Be mindful of avoiding Chinese national holidays (Chinese New Year, Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival) - crowds during these times are intense!
Views from Tianmen Mountain.
How to get to Zhangjiajie
Zhangjiajie is located in the northwest of China’s Hunan province and has its own airport and train station.
You can get a direct domestic flight from several major cities in China (e.g. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou). The airport is located 4km from the main city.
High speed and regional rail services are also well developed in China. The most direct routes to Zhangjiajie from nearby cities are from Changsha (3 hours) or Chongqing (6.5 hours). Zhangjiajie itself isn’t connected to high speed rail but you can get to Changsha or Chongqing by high speed rail, and then switch trains.
For tourists, train tickets can be booked on Trip.com. Note that your ticket will only be confirmed 2 weeks before departure, and if it sells out before Trip.com can secure tickets then you can go onto a waiting list for your chosen ticket which ranges from hard seat (3+2 seats in a row), hard sleeper (6 berths), soft sleeper (4 berths) and premium soft sleeper (double room).
For more recommendations on navigating booking systems in China, read my Travel Tips and Advice for First Time Visitors to China.
How did we get to Zhangjiajie?
We started our two weeks in China in Chongqing (see my 3 day itinerary) so we decided to take the 6.5 hour train to Zhangjiajie West station which was definitely an experience!
The journey was quite long but it was a good chance to catch up on YouTube, listen to some podcasts or read a book. This was a regional train so it was very cheap ($AU30) but the hard seats had no recline and lots of people got on and off between Chongqing and Zhangjiajie West. High speed trains are much newer and have more leg room.
I would recommend bringing some instant noodles as hot water is provided on all trains, and we got very jealous of everyone eating them! There is also a trolley that comes around where you can buy instant noodles and other local snacks.
Where to stay in Zhangjiajie
When visiting Zhangjiajie, if your priority is to visit Zhangjiajie National Park to see the Hallelujah mountains I would recommend staying in Wulingyuan, which is a town area that is walking distance and right next to one of the entrances to the national park.
If you plan to spend most of your time at Tianmenshan (Tianmen Mountain) or visiting Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, I would recommend staying in Zhangjiajie, and taking a bus or DiDi (Chinese Uber) between the two areas.
Both areas have plenty of hotel and guesthouse options. We stayed in Wulingyuan at the Travel of Swan International Hostel as we wanted to be walking distance to Zhangjiajie National Park for the two days so we could go in early to beat the crowds, and the hostel owner spoke some English so they were able to help us with planning our route each day, organising tickets and helping us find the local bus to get to Zhangjiajie.
Hot tip: It’s worth getting into the National Park as early as you can on the day you plan to see the Hallelujah mountains - we woke up late and unfortunately got caught up with all the tour bus crowds, meaning we had to wait 40 mins for a bus transfer between two of the spots in the early afternoon. For your second day you can go at any time as it’s less crowded.
Street art that we spotted in Wulingyuan.
4 Day Itinerary | What to do in Zhangjiajie
This itinerary assumes that you’re staying in Wulingyuan. For those staying in Zhangjiajie, head from Zhangjiajie to Wulingyuan via public bus or DiDi first before following the itinerary below.
Day 0: Arrive in Zhangjiajie
Travel from your previous location to Zhangjiajie / Zhangjiajie West Station or Zhangjiajie Airport, and onwards to Wulingyuan via DiDi. Initially I wasn’t going to include this as part of the itinerary - however it’s likely you’ll spend a day travelling here as trains require a change (Changsha) or arrive in the afternoon (Chongqing), and flights generally arrive in the evening.
Spend the afternoon and evening exploring and eating some local cuisine.
Day 1: Visit Zhangjiejie National Park (Day 1/2)
For your first full day in Zhangjiajie, get up bright and early and head into Zhangjiajie National Park via the Wulingyuan entrance, following the route that connects the Bailong Sky Elevator, Yuanjiajie (Hallelujah mountains), Yangjiajie and Tianzi Mountain (upper section of the park).
Hot tip: It’s important to bring your passport as this will be your verification to enter the park!
Bailong Sky Elevator
Once you’re inside, take the bus to Bailong Elevator 百龙天梯 (last stop). If you get off the wrong stop, that’s ok! Ask the staff to help point you to the bus waiting area and hop on the next bus.
If your pass doesn’t include tickets to the Bailong Elevator, you can buy it once you’re here - however I would recommend buying it advance as it gets busy. It costs ¥65 one way.
Bailong Elevator is an outdoor glass lift that’s built into the side of a cliff, taking under 2 minutes to get to the top of the mountain. The view when you emerge from the rock is super cool. The queues can be long (several hours in summer), which is why I would recommend getting here as early as possible.
Yuanjiajie (‘Avatar’ Mountains)
After riding the Bailong Elevator, take the bus to the next stop to Yuanjiajie 袁家界. From here you’ll be able to walk through the scenic area to see the mountains, including the Hallelujah mountain! This area was the most crowded of the whole park so be prepared.
There's also lots of food vendors in this area so it's a good place for a snack. We got some delicious skewers and Chinese pancakes with sausage.
Yangjiajie & Tianzi Mountain
After you've finished in this area, head to the next stop at Yangjiajie. Here you can stop to go for a walk to see the ‘Avatar Mountains’ from the other side or transfer buses to go to Tianzi Mountain 天子山.
We found that the maps in the Yangjiajie area were really confusing, and that some of the walking paths were closed at the time, so after an hour of walking around we left and went to Tianzi Mountain instead.
From here you can walk around to the different viewing points and enjoy the scenery, before taking the bus to the Upper Station of Cableway to take the Tianzi Mountain Cableway back down the mountain.
At the bottom of the cableway, take the bus back to Wulingyuan Entrance and exit the park.
For dinner, there are lots of Asian restaurants (Chinese, Korean) in the town area.
Day 2: Zhangjiajie National Park (Day 2/2)
For day 2, you can head into the park a little later than the first day as this route (lower section of the park) is less popular. Once again, enter through the Wulingyuan Entrance and take the bus until Water Winding Four Gates 水绕四门 which is one stop before yesterday's.
From here, you can enjoy a leisurely 5.8km walk through the valley following Golden Whip Stream, enjoy the quiet of the forest and observe the local monkey population - whilst very cute, they do steal food so keep your belongings close!
For today, there are snack bars and restaurants along the route as well.
Once you get to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Entrance, take a DiDi back to your accommodation. We were told that there was a paid bus that we could take to get back to Wulingyuan Entrance, but we struggled to find it.
Day 3: Tianmen Mountain 天门山 (Heaven’s Gate Mountain)
For your day at Tianmen Mountain 天门山, head to the Wulingyuan Bus Station to take the public bus to Zhangjiajie which will cost ¥13.
If you can let the driver know that you want to go to Tianmenshan 天门山 they will stop one before the terminal stop to let you off at the bottom of the cableway. You can also take a DiDi to the Tianmenshan Cableway instead - slightly more expensive, but still very cheap. The entrance to Tianmenshan is also next to Zhangjiajie train station.
At Tianmenshan there’s two areas to explore - the stunning Heaven’s Gate which includes a 999 step Stairway to Heaven, and the top of the mountain which has cliffside walkways, glass bridges and the Tianmen Mountain Temple. There’s also multiple ways to get to the top - two cablecars connect the bottom and the top, and there is also an option to take a bus.
As we got the Line B package for Tianmenshan (¥278) which follows the Tianmen Cave Express Line on the way up and Tianmen Mountain Cable Way on the way down, we followed the signs to the courtesy bus that takes you to the start of the Tianmen Cave Express Line (larger cars, faster trip) for your trip up.
For Line A, you can hop on the Tianmen Mountain Cable Way (smaller cars, longer trip) straight away, and for Line C you also take a courtesy bus.
We chose Line B on the advice of our hostel Travel of Swan International as it’s less busy, and you get to experience walking up the 999 steps on the Stairway to Heaven (rather than walking down, which looked scary given how steep some sections of this staircase was).
After you make it up the stairs towards the impressive Tianmen Cave natural arch (and have a Taiwanese sausage or two), you’ll then go up 7 flights of escalators which take you to the top! This in itself was some pretty impressive engineering - I was surprised at how much was built into the side of the mountain and how accessible it made exploring the mountain for people of all ages.
From here there’s various routes you can take as you explore the top - we did a full loop going anti-clockwise, and paid extra for one of the glass bridges which was cool (if you’re not afraid of heights) but I’d say it’s not worth paying for every single one. We crossed suspension bridges, daring paths that hugged the cliffside and stunning views that made the journey to the top well worth it.
Once you’re finished for the day, join the long line (we waited 45 mins) for the Tianmen Mountain Cableway for the 25 min journey down.
Hot tip: When queuing in China, be wary of people who push through the line / push into your personal space - this was the thing I disliked about China the most. To hold strong against them, stand your ground and use your arms to block their path if they try to push through.
Day 4: Additional activity or rest day
For your last day, you can use it to visit another sight in the area or use it as a rest day. Options include:
Walk across the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge & explore Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon
Watch a show at the Zhangjiajie Romance Park
Explore the scenic Baofeng Lake and see the Baofeng Waterfall
Visit the Yellow Dragon Cave and take a river cruise
Visit and explore the historic Fenghuang Ancient City area as a day trip.
We decided to take a rest day in between Zhangjiaije National Park and Tianmen Mountain National Park - we explored the Wulingyuan town area and got our ears cleaned (an experience I would recommend).
Left: The windy road that goes up the side of Tianmen Mountain. Right: The daring paths that hug the edges of the cliff at the top of Tianmen Mountain.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I need in Zhangjiajie to make it worth visiting?
This depends on how many parks you wish to visit, and whether you want to take your time or hit all the parks.
We easily spent 2 days in Zhangjiajie National Park which contains the Hallelujah Mountains, along with lots of cable cars and walking tracks, and 1 day at Tianmen Mountain. You can add on another day and visit another park or sight, or use it as a rest day and spend some time shopping, exploring and getting a massage!
I would recommend at least 2 days in this area to make the journey worthwhile, and you could spend up to 5 days here going at a slower pace.
How much does entrance to each park cost?
For Zhangjiajie National Park, I would recommend getting the entrance pass (allows access for 4 days) + 4 elevator/cablecar rides costing ¥443. This allows for the most optimal route as the alternative hike is quite steep. I found it quite difficult to figure out which option to book through Trip.com so we booked through our hostel Travel of Swan International.
For Tianmen Mountain, we got Line B Package which costs ¥278. This includes the Tianmen Cave Express Line on the way up and Tianmen Mountain Cable Way on the way down.
View of Tianmen Mountain National Park at the entrance to the Tianmen Cave Express Line.
Do I need to bring food into the parks?
Unless you have dietary needs, you don't! China’s Parks and Scenic Areas have lots of local food vendors as well as chains like McDonald's and Burger King - plenty of options so you can focus on exploring!
I’m visiting China for the first time, what do I need to know?
If you’ve never visited China before, make sure you check visa requirements, set up a VPN or sim and other esseential apps before you arrive.
For more info, I cover these in my Travel Tips and Advice on Travelling to China guide.
While not many people speak English, I could still use my phone to translate to Mandarin and navigate. Chinese Reminbi or Yuan (¥) is their currency and WeChat, AliPay & Trip.com are commonly used communication and payment/booking apps.
Does Google Maps work in China? Apple Maps?
Google Maps has limited information in China. If you have access to Apple Maps, I would recommend using this instead to navigate as it’s very detailed once you’re inside China (outside China it looks very barebones, but don’t let that scare you!).
An alternative is to download Gaode Maps (高德地圖) - this one is in Chinese but if you do a translate and copy & paste you can still use it to navigate as the UI is similar to other maps apps.
Planning your China trip? Check out:
Travel Tips and Advice on Travelling to China for first time travellers to China
Why you should also visit Chongqing.
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