Unique Wonder & Rare Landforms

We visited Zhangjiajie in September, and it wasn't very crowded with travelers. The mountain scenery is stunning, with many viewpoints. With our guide, we saw numerous peaks of varying shapes, some resembling upright pens, old men, lions ... as well as the floating Hallelujah Mountain from the movie Avatar, truly breathtaking. Below is our three-day itinerary, hope it's helpful.

Day 1 - Tianmen Mountain and Tianmen Cave

The Tianmen Mountain Scenic Area is actually located outside Zhangjiajie National Park, a separate attraction with a separate admission. Tianmen cableway, the world's longest one, offers a unique ascent. After taking the 30-minutes adrenalin-pumping cable car up to the summit, we walked at the Glass Skywalk on the cliff at a cost of RMB 5, overlooking the valley below, quite thrilling but breathtaking. Then, headed for Tianmen Cave. I initially drawn to the sunset photos there. We walked down 999 steps, quite strenuous, and took the escalator to the starting point. This mountain-crossing escalator is incredibly long, stretching nearly 900 meters. It's hard to imagine how it was built.

Day 2 - Bailong Elevator and Hallelujah Mountain

We departed from the east gate and chose the recommended Line B. We took the Bailong Elevator to Yuanjiajie, which was truly breathtaking. The peak and massive rocks suddenly appeared seconds later, leaving everyone stunned and bringing wows. We then reached Yuanjiajie and saw the famous floating Hallelujah Mountain, the filming location of Avatar, beautiful but lost to the Sky Garden and peak forest at Tianzi Mountain I think. After, we went to Yangjiajie by bus and took the cable car up and down, hiking is not recommended, very exhausting. From the top, we took another bus to Tianzi Mountain, where we saw the enchanting mountains shaped like “a girl with flowers in her hand” and the Sky Garden where you can see the Bailong Elevator.

Day 3 – Huangshi Village & Golden Whip Stream Hike

This day we entered from the south gate and were conveyed by the cable car to Huangshi Village, and then hiked along the classic Golden Whip Stream for 2-3 hours, 4 miles long. The hiking route is surrounded by dense trees and steep rocks, totally forest bathing. After, we took the bus back to the east gate.

Feel sorry that we skipped the glass bridge in the Grand Canyon due to time constraints. Zhangjiajie houses numerous attractions, you can't cover them all in several days. Overall, we had a blast. The mountains and landforms here are truly a rare and unique wonder. We all felt inspired and humbled by its nature geology. Just don't miss the stunning natural ecological environment.

Useful tips:

1. The ticket and shuttle bus are sold together and are valid for four days, but each entry requires a time slot reservation, so be sure to reserve early.

2. The three cableways and Bailong Elevator are not included in the admission. Combo ticket of the four is recommended.

3. Find yourself a guide. It's a big park with various internal park transportation which makes you confused. It's not easy to navigate around as a foreigner.

4. Stay away from the monkeys! They rob you and hurt you.