Zhangjiajie is a small town in China with some amazing scenery, made world-famous by the movie, Avatar. It is a sight that should not be, but often is, missed. Its picturesque landscape and gravity-defying mountains need to be on everyone’s bucket list.
It is often not included on the typical 2-week grand tours of China. It’s not one of the cities people typically go to when they first visit China (everyone wants to see Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Hong Kong) because they’ve heard of them and seen the pictures. Zhangjiajie should be added to the itinerary.
You only need 2 or 3 days there to see everything and it’s easy to get a flight or a train from some nearby cities, like Shanghai or Hong Kong (well, technically, Shenzhen but that’s just inside the border from Hong Kong).
Here’s what you should see if you have 3 days (which I really recommend):
Day 1
Hopefully, you got an overnight train or flew in the day before so you can get an early start vising the park. Depending on where you start, you can either walk or take a quick cab ride to the entrance. If you do take a cab, either have a map with a location pin or a picture of the entrance, if you can’t speak Chinese, like me.
But first, you want to go to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. For day 1, we’re going to visit the Tianzi Mountain area.
From the entrance, just follow the signs for Tianzi Mountain. It’s a bus then a gondola ride to the top of the mountain. And at the top, there is another bus you can take to visit all the sights.
But, don’t go too far. There are lots of places to see and two days to see the important ones. Of which, only a couple are on this side of the mountain.
When you’re ready, you can either take the gondola back down or walk. I can’t recommend walking down enough. It’s going to be a long, steep walk down the mountain (it’s very tall!), but some of the best sights anywhere on the mountains can be found on the way down.
If you decide to walk down (good choice!), you need to get to the first bus stop after you got off the gondola. It’s also where the McDonald’s is.
Follow the signs for the Wulong Ridge or Ten-Mile Gallery. There are maps everywhere, but it does get a bit confusing at the top where there are paths and trails everywhere.
Check where you are and where you’re going often at the top, but once you start going down there really isn’t any way to get lost, as long as you don’t fall off the path (yes, it’s possible. There isn’t always a railing so be careful!).
Once down, you can either take a short, mostly flat hike along Ten-Mile Gallery to the bus (recommended) or jump of a small sightseeing train. If you take the train, try to get in first so you can be on the right side going down. You’ll get a better view.
Then, all you have to do is hop on another bus and go back to the entrance. Enjoy your much-needed rest.
Day 2
For the second day, go back to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park but follow signs for the Bailong Elevator in the Yuanjiajie area. It’s one of the largest outdoor elevators. It is also hailed as a major tourist attraction. It’s not all that exciting and there are 2 elevators with the glass one only being glass for part of the way up.
Once up the mountain, watch out for monkeys! They are hairy little thieves and will do anything for food. Keep any food you bring or buy well hidden and, whatever else you do, don’t eat near the monkeys. They will come after your food.
There’s also a bus to take around on this side of the mountain top. You can take the bus to the viewing areas where you can see the now-famous and renamed Hallelujah Mountain.
Once you’ve seen the sights, fought off both tourists and monkeys, and are ready to walk down, head down towards the Gold Whip Stream. If you don’t want to walk down, you can go back down the elevator.
Shortly after you start the path down, there are some of my favorite sights of the whole trip. Even if you don’t want to walk down, you should really go down the path a bit anyways just for the sights. It’s mostly flat, so you do t have to worry about climbing back up.
Once you make it down to the river, you get a spectacular, scenic, and mostly flat walk back to the buses.
Tonight would also be a great time to see the Fox Show near the exit of Tianmen Mountain. I’ve heard amazing things about it. I’m also pretty sure that there are no real foxes in the show, but there are hundreds of actors on a massive stage with Tianmen Mountain and its giant hole as a background.
You should also consider switching hotels tonight to be closer to tomorrow’s attraction. And, if you do see the Fox Show, you’re new hotel should be right around the corner, relatively speaking. You will probably need a cab to get there.
Day 3
Today, you get to see a whole different part of the city. But you still want to get there early, the lines can be several hours long. You’ve probably seen pictures of Tianmen Mountain before. It’s the famous mountain with a big hole in it.
Most tourists take the cable car up and a bus or different cable car down. It’s the best way to see and experience everything.
Do note: if you get car sick, pay the extra few yuan for the cable car down. You down want to take the bus. There are 99 turns on the road and with the way the bus drivers are around there, I’m surprised that they don’t lose a few every year over the side of the road.
Hiking around this mountain is mostly flat. You have the option of the East Side or the West Side paths. The western route is a bit longer and scarier. It has more cliffside walks than the east side, but it also has better views.
Once you make it halfway around the mountain, you can spend some time eating at the only restaurant and real food option on the mountain and/or visiting a lovely, of a bit rundown, Buddhist temple.
To get down, you have to go back to the beginning. You have several options walk back the same way, walk back on the other side, or take a ski lift and see some other temple at the peak.
I’d recommend walking the west side first then either taking the ski lift or walking the other side back.
But, if you took the long gondola ride up, it’s time for the long escalator ride down to the cave, or as I like to call it, the hole, then climb down some nearly vertical stairs.
There’s only a bus or another gondola ride and you’re back down. But, you’re not back to where you started the day. You’re by the Fox Show theater. You need to take a shuttle bus back to the entrance or call a cab.
Here’s what you should see if you only have 2 days :
Day 1
For today, we’re combining Days 1 and 2 from the 3-day itinerary together. There’s less walking here and some different sights.
You’ll want to start today off like in the 3-day itinerary, so you can scroll up and read that but stop when it gets to the part about walking down the mountain. Or, just continue reading: You’ll start very, very early, like 7 or 8am. Follow signs for Tianzi Mountain to take the gondola up, take the bus around the top, stopping at any sights you want to see to walk around.
Once you’ve made it all the way around, it’ll probably be fairly late in the afternoon. You’ll need to take the Bailong Elevator down. Be aware it could be very crowded and there could be a long wait. Also, the elevator isn’t really as impressive as they’ve tried to make it out to be. Take your pictures early and feel free to shove people a little bit, but nicely. They’ll be doing it to you.
Day 2
Today is the same as Day 3 in the 3-day – Tianmen Mountain. This is just the condensed version.
You need to go to Tianmen Mountain early, buy a ticket, and get on your transportation up the mountain.
You can choose to walk around the mountain from the east or west side paths. Once you’re on the far side, you have the option to eat and/or see a Buddhist temple.
Once you’re done, you have 3 options to get back to the beginning – go back the way you came, keep walking around to finish the circle, or go over the middle with the help of a ski lift.
Once your back, it’s time to get off the mountain and continue on your trip in China.
Other Notes
You can do the days in any order you want, but Days 1 and 2 should be done together as you are going to the same place and Day 3 is an hour cab ride away.
Your ticket for Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is good for several days (3 or 4, I’m not sure), so if you want to spend an extra day going around the park, you can, but you’ve already seen most of the major, and a lot of the minor, sights.
Do take water, a snack, and a phone charger (especially if your phone is your camera!) with you as water is expensive in the park and there’s nowhere to charge your phone or rent a battery.
There is some food available at the top of the mountains, in some of the more popular areas, so you can get lunch. For the picky eaters, or if you don’t like the Chinese foods on offer, there were some fried potatoes and some other veggies for sale (I saw cucumber and watermelon) that were all pretty good.
You can also read all about my trip to Zhangjiajie. I spent 4 days there and don’t recommend seeing anything I did on Day 3. Here’s Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4.
Enjoy your trip! Let me know what you think of the mountains.
My TEFL Adventure 
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