A small mountain city beside a forest of sandstone pillars, best for active visitors who don't mind steps, lifts and queues.
A small mountain city beside a forest of sandstone pillars, best for active visitors who don't mind steps, lifts and queues.
The ridge of tall, pine-topped sandstone pillars inside Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, walked on cliff-edge paths. Most visitors reach it by the Bailong Elevator.
A 326 m glass lift up the side of a cliff, about a minute and a half from the valley floor to Yuanjiajie. It costs ¥65 one way, sold separately from the park ticket, and queues can run 1–3 hours at peak times.
The higher plateau of the forest park, with wide viewpoints over the pillar forest, linked to Yuanjiajie by park bus. The cable car down is about 2 km and 7 minutes, ¥72 one way.
A separate mountain beside the city, known for Tianmen Cave, a huge natural arch, and cliff walkways at the summit, some with glass floors. From 13 October 2026 the long cableway from the city is closed for an upgrade; visitors ride a shuttle to the mountain gate, an express cableway to the cave and escalators to the summit.
A 430 m glass-floored footbridge about 300 m above a gorge in the Grand Canyon scenic area, about 25 km from Wulingyuan. Entry starts at 8am and ticket checks stop at 4pm.
A Tujia dry pot of cured pork, offal and vegetables cooked together in a spicy sauce.
Tujia home-smoked pork steamed with chewy dried green beans.
Free-range chicken stewed with yan'er, a lichen gathered from cliffs.
A mildly spicy breakfast noodle soup sold in Wulingyuan and the city.
Zhangjiajie, in the mountains of northwest Hunan, is a small city that lives on its scenery: thousands of narrow sandstone pillars, many capped with pine trees, rising out of forested valleys. Most of them are in the Wulingyuan scenic area, about an hour from the city, which holds Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. Tianmen Mountain stands right next to the city itself.
It suits visitors who are happy with long flights of steps, queues for lifts and cable cars, and mountain weather that changes by the hour. It is far from the coast, so it fits best as a three- or four-day side trip from Chengdu, about four hours away by high-speed train, or by a short flight from Xi’an. From Beijing or Shanghai, fly.
Stay in Wulingyuan and give the forest park two full days on one ticket. On the first, go up the Bailong Elevator early to Yuanjiajie and walk the cliff paths. On the second, take the park bus to Tianzi Mountain and ride the cable car down in the late afternoon, when queues are shortest.
Spend the third day at the Glass Bridge, about 25 km from Wulingyuan, or at Tianmen Mountain on the edge of the city; with a fourth day, do both. Book the train in advance with our high-speed trains guide, set up phone payment before you arrive with paying in China, and check the entry rules for your passport in visa-free entry.
Checked on 29 October 2026. Opening times and ticket rules change; confirm on the official site before you go.
Tell us your dates and which cities you have in mind. A host replies within 24 hours with a day-by-day plan that fits Zhangjiajie in, and a price.
Plan your trip