Zhangjiajie

Best time to visit

1. Jan
2. Feb
3. Mar
4. Apr
5. May
6. Jun
7. Jul
8. Aug
9. Sep
10. Oct
11. Nov
12. Dec

From the airport or station to the city

Where you land, the ways into the city centre, how long each takes and what it costs.

Getting around

Zhangjiajie is two places 30–40 km apart: the city (Yongding), with Tianmen Mountain, and Wulingyuan, the town at the main gates of the national forest park. Stay in Wulingyuan for the park. Tourist buses and DiDi link the two and the Grand Canyon. Inside the park, free eco-buses (included in the ticket) run between the gates and scenic areas; cable cars and the Bailong Elevator cost extra. Plan at least 2 days for the park and 1 for Tianmen Mountain, and bring your passport everywhere: every ticket is real-name.

Book these before you fly

These sights need a reservation with your passport. Walk-ups are usually turned away.

• Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Wulingyuan)Real-name, timed entry: every ticket is tied to one passport number, and you must book an entry slot for each day you go in (days 2–4 too). Book on Trip.com or Klook, or on the official 张家界一机游 WeChat mini-program; foreign passports may need to go to a staffed window first. Bring the original passport, not a photo: on first entry staff register your face, and later entries use face recognition.
• YuanjiajieCovered by the park ticket; no separate booking.
• Golden Whip StreamCovered by the park ticket; no separate booking.
• Tianzi MountainCovered by the park ticket. Buy the cable car at the station with your passport.
• Tianmen MountainReal-name, timed tickets: book on Trip.com, Klook or the official Tianmen Mountain WeChat account with your passport, and pick route A, B or C. Show the passport at the gate. Since November 2025 the upper cable-car section (middle station to summit) has been closed for rebuilding; routes use buses and escalators instead. Check the current status when you book.
• Grand Canyon Glass BridgeReal-name, timed tickets on Trip.com, Klook or the official WeChat account, with your passport. Daily numbers are capped, so book a few days ahead in summer.
• YangjiajieCovered by the park ticket; no separate booking. Buy the cable car at the station with your passport, or on the official 张家界一机游 WeChat mini-program.
• Ten-Mile Gallery (Shili Hualang)Covered by the park ticket; no separate booking. Buy the train at the station with your passport, or on the official 张家界一机游 WeChat mini-program.
• Huangshizhai (Yellow Stone Village)Covered by the park ticket; no separate booking. Buy the cable car at the station with your passport, or on the official 张家界一机游 WeChat mini-program.
• Sky Garden (Fields in the Sky)Covered by your real-name Forest Park ticket and daily entry booking (see Zhangjiajie National Forest Park).

Top sights

张家界国家森林公园Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Wulingyuan)The World Heritage park of thousands of sandstone pillars that inspired the floating mountains in “Avatar”. One ticket covers Yuanjiajie, Tianzi Mountain, Golden Whip Stream and more.Booking required2–3 days袁家界YuanjiajieThe clifftop area with the “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain” pillar and the First Bridge Under Heaven, a natural stone bridge.Booking requiredHalf a day百龙天梯Bailong ElevatorA glass outdoor lift built into a 326 m cliff, linking Golden Whip Stream to Yuanjiajie in about two minutes.30 minutes to 1 hour with the queue金鞭溪Golden Whip StreamAn easy, flat 7 km walk along a clear stream at the foot of the pillars, with monkeys along the way.Booking required2–3 hours天子山Tianzi MountainThe highest part of the park, with wide views over a sea of peaks, often above the clouds.Booking requiredHalf a day天门山Tianmen MountainA mountain above the city with a natural arch (Heaven’s Gate), a 99-bend road, cliff and glass walkways, reached by a very long cable car.Booking requiredFull day张家界大峡谷玻璃桥Grand Canyon Glass BridgeA 430 m glass-floored footbridge about 300 m above a gorge, with a canyon walk below.Booking requiredHalf a day宝峰湖Baofeng LakeA green lake among sandstone peaks, seen by boat, with Tujia folk singers on the shore.Booking recommended2 hours黄龙洞Yellow Dragon CaveA huge karst cave with colour-lit stalagmites and an underground river you cross by boat.Booking recommended2 hours杨家界YangjiajieThe quieter western part of the forest park, with rock “walls” of pillars and the Wulong Village and Tianbo Fort trail: narrow stone steps and ladders up to lookouts on the edge of the cliffs.Booking required3–4 hours十里画廊Ten-Mile Gallery (Shili Hualang)A flat valley of about 5 km lined with rock formations that locals have named, such as the “Old Herb Collector”. A small open electric train runs along it.Booking required1.5–2 hours黄石寨Huangshizhai (Yellow Stone Village)A flat-topped mountain in the south of the park with a loop of viewpoints over the pillars, reached by cable car or a long stone staircase from near the Forest Park gate.Booking requiredHalf a day溪布街Xibu StreetA pedestrian street in Tujia style along a stream in Wulingyuan town, with snack stalls, craft shops, bars and inns. Busiest and prettiest after dark.1–2 hours张家界土家风情园Tujia Folk Customs ParkA reconstructed Tujia chieftain’s compound in the city, with wooden halls, a 48 m nine-storey tower, folk-custom displays and song-and-dance performances.2–3 hours七星山Seven Star Mountain (Qixing Shan)A high mountain south of the city reached by cable car, with a glass platform jutting from the cliff, a long glass walkway, a toboggan and a via ferrata, and views across to Tianmen Mountain.Booking recommended3–4 hours空中田园Sky Garden (Fields in the Sky)Terraced fields and a small farming village on a plateau inside the National Forest Park, surrounded by sandstone pillars and facing the Bailong Elevator; much quieter than Yuanjiajie.Booking required1–2 hours张家界千古情Zhangjiajie Eternal Love ShowA big indoor stage show near the Forest Park’s Wulingyuan gate, with big stage effects and scenes from Zhangjiajie’s history and Tujia and Miao folk life, inside a small theme park of old-style streets.Booking recommended2–3 hours with the park七十二奇楼72 Strange Buildings (72 Qilou)A giant cluster of old Tujia stilted wooden houses rebuilt high on a steel frame in the city, lit up at night above a street of food stalls and free folk shows.1–2 hours凤凰古城Fenghuang Ancient Town (Phoenix Town)A riverside old town of stilted houses, stone lanes and city gates along the Tuo River in western Hunan, about an hour by high-speed train from Zhangjiajie; free to wander and busiest at night.Full day, or overnight天门狐仙Tianmen Fox Fairy ShowAn evening open-air musical staged in a gorge below Tianmen Mountain, telling the folk love story of a woodcutter and a fox fairy, with the cliffs lit up as the backdrop.Booking recommendedAbout 2 hours with transfers

Map

Further out, not on this map: Fenghuang Ancient Town (Phoenix Town)

What to eat here

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