Your complete guide to exploring the “Avatar Mountains” of Zhangjiajie.

GuidebookZhangjiajie

Sights of Zhangjiajie

Tianmen Mountain

Located in Zhangjiajie city.

Visit Tianmen Cave, take a ride on the 99 Bends Road and enjoy the sights from the longest cable way in the world.

Wulingyuan Scenic Area Located 40km outside of the city.

Take in the otherworldly views of the “Avatar Mountains”.

Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon & Glass Bridge Located 30 minutes by bus from Wulingyuan.

Walk on the longest glass bridge in the world spanning Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon.

Yellow Dragon Cave Located 10 minutes by bus from Wulingyuan.

Explore this large karst cave lit with colored lights.

Baofeng Lake Located 5 minutes by bus from Wulingyuan.

Take a boat ride on a serene mountain lake.

Getting to Zhangjiajie Fly into Zhangjiajie Airport from any of the major cities in China. The airport is just 4km from the Zhangjiajie city.

When to Go

Peak season: (May –October) – ticket prices are higher during this time, good weather. Off season: (November – April) – ticket prices are lower during this time, weather is cold, wet, and cloudy.

Best Time

Early Summer (late May-June) or Fall (September-October)

Early summer affords you views of the clouds and fog rolling below the mountain tops with warmer temperatures and low crowds.

Fall means colorful foliage, pleasant temperatures, and low crowds.

When Not to Go

Summer (July-August), Winter (January-February) or during the Chinese holidays

Summer is peak tourist season and the parks will be jam packed with throngs of Chinese tourists, so unless you want to join the herds of cattle shuffling along narrow pathways try to avoid these months.

Winter is low season, but it’s really cold and wet, and snow and ice often accumulates on the mountains forcing the parks to close.

December is OK but they close down the buses and escalators to Tianmen Cave so be aware that you will not be able to see this attraction will be forced to take the cable car both up and down Tianmen mountain.

Where to Stay?

To visit Tianmen Mountain

Stay at one of the many hotels and hostels in Zhangjiajie City. To visit Wulingyuan Scenic Area, glass bridge, cave, and lake

Stay in Wulingyuan Village, the town just outside of the park entrance.

How to Get to Wulingyuan Scenic Area?

1) Mini bus Buses are located at the bus station in Zhangjiajie City and cost 10rmb. The ride will take 1 hour with buses departing every few minutes from approximately 8am – 6pm. 2) Taxi Take a taxi from Zhangjiajie City for 100rmb. Price will need to be negotiated as they will most likely want to charge you around 200rmb.

Tianmen Mountain

Why go? At over 1500m of elevation Tianmen Mountain is the tallest mountain in the range affording you spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and city on a clear day. Beware though that clouds love to hang out on the mountain top so it’s a bit of a toss-up as to whether or not there’ll be a view. If you can see the top of the mountain from the city though, you’ll be good as gold for a day of exploring. Tianmen Mountain also boasts the longest cable car ride in the world, offering spectacular aerial views of the surrounding mountains.

How to Get There?

Fly into Zhangjiajie City. Tianmen Mountain is 5km outside of the city. Once in Zhangjiajie there are two methods of reaching the mountain top. You will need your passport to purchase tickets to the park. Tickets are purchased either at the entrance to the 99 Bends Road or the Cable Car Station. 1) 99 Bends Road + Escalators Take a taxi, bus, or walk the 5km from town up the road to the entrance to Tianmen Mountain Park. Purchase your tickets at the entrance before taking a bus along the famous 99 bends road (word of warning for those who get easily car sick, be prepared for lots of twisting and turning). The road literally has 99 bends in it, so hold on.

The bus will drop you off at the escalators, which you can either hop on, or opt out in favor of the 999 steps instead. These will take you to “Heaven’s Gate” a natural bridge formed from water erosion in the mountain. Heaven’s Gate is also referred to as Tianmen Cave, although it’s really just a hole in the mountain. From there you will take another set of escalators to the top of the mountain. 2) Cable Car Walk around 2km to the cable car station in the city. Purchase your entrance tickets to the park at the cable car station before taking the cable car up the mountain. The Tianmen Mountain cable car is the longest cable car in the world stretching for over 7km and taking around 30 minutes to complete. The views are spectacular as you slice through the clouds and take in the 360 degree panorama of mountains. During peak season (March 1 – November 30) you can only take the cable cars one way. They operate longer than the escalators so if you’re heading up the mountain later in the day you’ll be better off taking the escalators up and the cable car down. In the off season (December 1 – February 29) the buses and escalators are closed so you must take the cable car up and down the mountain. This means you will not get to see Tianmen Cave (Heaven’s Gate).

Ticket Price 258rmb (peak season) 209rmb (off season)

Opening Hours

Enter: 8am – 4pm and Exit 8am – 6pm

Wulingyuan Scenic Area

Why Go? Wulingyuan Scenic Area is the only place where you can see the famous “Avatar Mountains”. These finger like projections resembling nature’s version of a skyscraper will transport you into another world, an experience so unique it simply can’t be missed!

How to Get There? Mini buses wait at the bus station in Zhangjiajie City to take passengers the 40km to Wulingyuan Scenic Area. Buses run from approximately 8:00am – 6:00pm and cost 10rmb. If you can’t make it during those times or don’t want to take the bus you can take a taxi for 100rmb. You will have to negotiate for this price, but you shouldn’t pay more than that for the trip. Mini buses can be found to the left of the waiting area at the bus station. If need be you can ask the lady at the ticket window and she will point you in the right direction. You will NOT be buying a ticket at the window, simply pay the driver once you are on the bus (someone will come around asking for money).

Navigating Inside the Park Wulingyuan is divided into 4 areas: Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve, and Yangjiajie Scenic Area, each it’s own national park. Free buses are available inside the park to transport you to the entrance of each of the 4 sections. A line of buses will be waiting just inside the ticket entrance. While the buses are free, all cable cars as well as the Bailong Elevator charge an additional fee. Prices are for one way use, so if you plan to take a cable car up and down a mountain it will be double the price. To exit the park, simply make your way to one of the bus stops where buses will be waiting to take tourists back to the entrance gate. Make sure you exit at a bus stop on the same side of the park as you entered. Wulingyuan Scenic Area has 5 entrance/exit gates on various sides of the park. If you are staying

in Wulingyuan Village then you’ll want to enter and exit through the Wujiayu Ticket Station 吴家

峪门票站. A map of the park is extremely helpful to learn the names of the bus stops, as they do not correspond with the names of the mountains or areas of the park. Your accommodation should be able to provide you with one.

Bus Stops in the Park

Yuanjiajie & Huangshizhai (Zhangjiajie Park) – get off at the 水绕四门 (shui rao si men) bus stop.

Yangjiajie – get off at the 杨家界索道下站 (yangjiajie suo dao xia zhan) Lower Cableway bus stop.

Tianzi Mountain – get off at the 十里画廊 (shi li hua lang) bus stop.

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

The most popular hike in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is Huangshizhai, which translates to “Yellow Stone Village”, a small village perched on one of the many mountaintops in the area.

Hiking to the top of Huangshizhai is approximately a 12km long hike (one way) and takes 1-2 hours depending on your walking speed and how many times you stop to take pictures (which, if you're like us is a lot). You can also opt to take the cable car for an extra fee of 72rmb if you don't want to hike both ways, or at all.

To start the hike, enter the park and take one of the free buses to the 水绕四门 (shui rao si men) bus stop, near the Bai Long Elevator and Golden Whip Stream.

From there you will take the main path winding along Golden Whip Stream for about 7km where you will get to a parking lot area with some restaurants.

Here the path diverges, and you'll want to take the stairs up the mountain (if you're confused just ask for Huangshizhai and someone will point you in the right direction).

Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve

At 1262 meters tall, Tianzi Mountain is the tallest mountain in this section of Wulingyuan Scenic Area, offering spectacular views of the surrounding peaks, when they're not trapped in the clouds that is.

The hike to the top is approximately a 7km walk. The walk will take 1-2 hours, and on a clear day yields spectacular views from the summit.

To start your hike take the free shuttle bus from the park entrance to the 十里画廊 (shi li hua lang) bus stop.

From here you can either walk the 7km of path and steps (there is only one path so no confusion there) or take the cable car to the top of the mountain for an extra fee of 67rmb (price depends on the season but will be around this amount).

Yuanjiajie

This is the most crowded and popular section of the park, likely due to the fact that in addition to stunning mountain scenery, it boasts another attraction, the Bailong Elevator, a 335 meter tall glass elevator build into the side of the mountain.

We didn’t have time to see this area, but if you want to explore and don’t want to stand in line for

the elevator you can get off at the 水绕四门 bus stop and walk along the Golden Whip Stream

Trail until you reach the 乱窜坡户外休闲线 trail on the right. Turn down this trail which will take you to the mountain top where the Bailong Elevator is.

You can then follow the trail along the perimeter of the mountain top until it ends at the bus stop which can take you either over to the Yangjiajie Upper Cableway Station or to the Bailong Elevator.

Yangjiajie

Yangjiajie is by far the most remote section of the park, which also means it’s the most annoying to get to. To hike up to the top of Yangjiajie you’ll have to take a bus from Wulingyuan around to the

Luoguta Ticket Station 锣鼓塔门票站. Enter the park through this gate and then take a free park

bus to the 龙风庵下站 Longfengan bus stop, walk along the path to the 龙风庵 bus stop and then

take another park bus to the Yangjiajie Lower Cable Way Bus Stop 杨家界索道下站. This is where you will start your hike, or catch the cable car, to the top of the mountain. To get down you can either go back the way you came, or take the bus from the upper cableway station to the Bailong Elevator and then back to Wulingyuan. Of course you can do this in reverse to get to Yangjiajie if you don’t feel the need to hike up from the bottom.

If you don’t want to hike up, then get off at the Bailong Elevator Bus Stop 百龙电梯 in Yuanjiajie,

take the elevator to the top of the mountain, then catch the bus over to Yangjiajie getting off at

the Upper Station of the Yangjiajie Cableway 杨家界索道上站.

Ticket Price 245rmb (peak season) 139rmb (off season)

Opening Hours

7am – 6pm (peak season) and 7:30am – 6pm (off season)

Additional Park Fees

Huangshizhai Cable Car - 65rmb

Tianzi Mountain Cable Car – 67rmb

Yangjiajie Cable Car – 76rmb

Bailong Elevator – 72rmb

Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge

The Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge opened in August of 2016 officially taking the title of longest and highest glass bridge in the world. It spans the width of the canyon running 430 meters long and dangling 300 meters in the air above the river gorge. The bridge, designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan, consists of many large square glass tiles bound together on all sides with strips of metal, that run consecutively down the middle of the bridge. From railing to railing the bridge measures 6 meters wide and can hold up to 800 people at a time. Currently, the bridge is restricted to a maximum of 8000 people a day, so make sure to come early during peak season to get a glimpse of this architectural marvel. Along with its tourist drawl, the bridge will also be home to the world’s highest bungee jump and serve as a runway for fashion shows. When walking on the bridge you must wear special booties provided for you free of charge after purchasing your ticket. This is to both protect the glass and keep you from slipping. There is also a wooden plank walkway that runs along the side of the cliff to the bottom of the canyon. To access the walkway you must buy a separate ticket at the ticket window for 100rmb.

How to Get There? Take a mini bus from the Wulingyuan Bus Station. You will pay the driver 12rmb once you get on the bus and the ride will take approximately 30 minutes.

Ticket Price

258rmb (bridge + walkway down the mountain in peak season) 113rmb (bridge) and 99rmb (walkway) during the off season.

Opening Hours

7:30am – 5:00pm

Baofeng Lake

Baofeng Lake is a 1km long lake surrounded by mountains just 2km south of Wulingyuan Village. It’s main attractions include a boat ride around the lake as well as a trail up the mountain to view the lake from above. To get to the lake you can take public bus #2, a taxi, or simply walk the 2km.

Ticket Price 96rmb (includes boat ride on the lake)

Opening Hours

6:30am – 6:00pm (peak season)

Yellow Dragon Cave

The Yellow Dragon Cave is an immense limestone cave filled with large caverns and underground streams. The cave covers an area of almost 30 acres and its ceiling is 140 meters high at its tallest point. To walk through the entire cave takes about 2-3 hours. Along with the cave there is also a Yellow Dragon Scenic Area above ground with charming with charming water mills and streams to walk around.

How to Get There?

Yellow Dragon Cave is located 5km east of Wulingyuan village. To get there you can either catch a mini bus from the Wulingyuan Bus Station or take a taxi.

Ticket Price 100rmb

Opening Hours

7:30am – 8:00pm

Ticket Prices

Tianmen Mountain

258rmb (peak season) 209rmb (off season)

Wulingyuan Scenic Area

245rmb (peak season) 139rmb (off season)

Tickets are good for 4 days and include access to FREE buses inside of the park that will take you

to the entrances of all the different park areas.

Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon and Glass Bridge

258rmb (bridge + walkway down the mountain in peak season) 113rmb (bridge) and 99rmb (walkway) during the off season.

Yellow Dragon Cave

100rmb

Baofeng Lake

96rmb (includes boat ride on the lake)

Opening Hours

Tianmen Mountain

Enter: 8am – 4pm and Exit 8am – 6pm

Wulingyuan Scenic Area

7am – 6pm (peak season) and 7:30am – 6pm (off season)

Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon and Glass Bridge

7:30am – 5:00pm

Yellow Dragon Cave

7:30am – 8:00pm

Baofeng Lake

6:30am – 6:00pm (peak season)