Zhangjiajie

Zhangjiajie (张家界 Zhāngjiājiè) is a small provincial city in northwestern Hunan Province, China. It is significant for its proximity to Tianmen Mountain and Wulingyuan.

Understand

The city's name was Dayong until 1994, when it was renamed to link it to the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (itself named after a tiny village now known as Zhangjiajie village or Zhangjiajie Cun). because of its territory of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and changed the name. Located in the Lishui upper reaches, is a Wuling mountains hinterland. It is one of the most important tourist cities in mainland China. Zhangjiajie City has jurisdiction over Yongding District, Wulingyuan District, Cili County, Sangzhi County. Among them, Yongding District and Wulingyuan District are the two main urban areas. Tourists usually arrive in Yongding District before going to other places to visit.

Get in

Zhangjiajie is about 250 km (155 mi) northwest of Changsha.

By plane

• 1 Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport (DYG  ^IATA formerly named Dayong Airport). It has direct flights to many domestic locations, as well as Taiwan and South Korea. Flights are relatively scarce - about 25 per day total.  

Be careful with the taxi drivers in the airport parking lot. They are likely unwilling to use the meter. They may claim that your destination is very far and attempt to charge you a "parking lot fee". Call your hotel or hostel to find out how much the trip should cost and ask them to speak with a taxi driver for you. It should cost only ¥20-40 total for a trip from the airport to Zhangjiajie city. Alternatively, you may take a local public bus (service number 4) to the city.

By train

• 2 Zhangjiajie Station. You can take a train from Changsha, about 4 hours, or Huaihua, about 4 hours. Train from Shenzhen West (K0964) to Zhangjiajie, 17 hours, overnight, about ¥480. 
• 3 Zhangjiajie West Station. A new high-speed rail link opened in December 2019, cutting travel time from Changsha to about 3 hours. However, this new line stops at Zhangjiajie West Station, which is slightly outside Zhangjiajie City. 

By bus

Intercity buses from Changsha take 5 hours, and are boarded at the Changsha West bus terminal (a fancy new building which resembles a shopping mall, next to the Wangchengpo subway stop). These buses run approximately hourly with the last bus departing around 19:00. Fare is about ¥120.

Get around

Zhangjiajie Central Bus Station operates mini busses that will take you next to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park's entrance. You do not need to buy a ticket at the Central Bus Station ticket window, simply go through security, keep to the left and make your way outside through Exit 1. The bus fare to the park is ¥12, and you pay the driver directly. Keep in mind that these are older mini busses which are used primarily by local commuters to their job sites. Many stops will be made picking up and dropping off people along the route. The terminus appears to be a partially constructed hotel or apartment complex about five minutes on foot the park entrance. The trip is about 1hr 20min, and the roads are substandard as of Jan 2018. Once you are done in the park, return to the location you were dropped off at. Busses will be waiting to return you to the Central Bus Station. The mini busses depart in both directions about every 20-30 minutes. The first bus leaves the Central Bus Station at 06:30 the last one returns from the park around 18:00.

See

The natural scenery of Wulingyuan Tourist Area is magical with mountain peaks. Among them, there are more than 3,000 strange peaks, with vivid images and magnificent momentum. The main scenic spots in Wulingyuan are Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Suoxi Valley Nature Reserve, Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve and the Yangjiajie Scenic Area. See the Wulingyuan article for further details.

Do

Zhangjiajie is the entry point for trips to two stunning nearby sites: Tianmen Mountain and Wulingyuan Scenic Area. There are also a number of less prominent natural attractions in the area.

The general admission ticket for Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan Scenic Area is valid for three days. If you want to play more fully, you can refer to the following route.

On the first day, take a bus in the morning from the central bus station in downtown Zhangjiajie Yongding to the Forest Park ticket station. During the peak season, the entrance is usually crowded by 8 or 9 am as most tourists choose this entrance. Buy your ticket to enter and walk a flat stretch of road for about 6 minutes to the Big Oxygen Bar Square, which is where many tour groups and tourists concentrate and is the first windy spot after entering the park. At this point you can choose to take the environmental bus from the station on the west side of the square (to the left) for about 4 minutes to visit Huangshi Zhai, or you can go directly to Golden Whip Stream or Harrier Zhai. To get up to Huangshi Zhai you generally take the ropeway (next to where you get off, you can get a map of Huangshi Zhai at the ropeway station) to the top of the fortress (which is relatively flat) and arrive at the top after seven minutes. The tour route to the top of the fort is circular, and you can go to the left or right out of the station.It takes about 100 minutes to go around the entire top of the fortress, which is basically flat with occasional ups and downs. Across the valley to the east of the Yellowstone Walled City is Yuanjiajie, the valley below is the Golden Whip Stream, and in the distance to the north is the southern edge of Yangjiajie. There are quite a few visitors to Huangshi Zhai, with the most visitors to Liuqi Ge. If you choose to walk down the mountain, there are two lines, the front mountain and the back mountain. The back mountain takes about 1 hour to descend to the lower station of the ropeway; the front mountain is the line chosen by most people and takes about 1 hour to descend, going all the way down the steps straight to the Big Oxygen Bar Square. There are a few kiosks near the square, but no restaurants. After that, you can continue to visit either the Golden Whip Stream or the Harrier Cottage. Most people choose the former as the latter is a long and steep climb for hikers. The Golden Whip Stream is more than 4km long, and the entire route is very pleasant, with clear water next to the stream, so you can experience it at the water's edge. It is usually 4pm on the first day, and there is a fork called Sand Knife Gully half way up the mountain to the road west of Yuanjiajie, which takes over 1 hour.There is a resting place at Zi Cao Tan and another fork in the road across the river, the "Scurrying Slope". The slope is also a straightforward one, with more than 2,000 steps to the "back garden" site at the end of the Yuanjiajie tourist route. Travellers can choose to take the Scurrying Slope to Yuanjiajie or take a sightseeing bus, or continue on the Golden Whip Stream to the Four Gates. The scenery is excellent, with Zhang Liang's tomb and the Geological Museum located here, as well as shops and bus stops. Once you reach the Four Gates, you have two options: take the bus from the Four Gates or take the bus to the Hundred Dragon Stairs. If you are staying on the mountain and don't choose to take the bus from Yuanjiajie, you can take the Hundred Dragon Stairs to the top of the mountain and then take the bus to your accommodation.There are many queues at the peak of the Hundred Dragons Staircase, but at 4 or 5pm there are very few people going up the staircase, so there is hardly any queuing. There is a viewing platform at the top of the staircase and the view is similar to that seen from the staircase. Walk west for 6 minutes to reach the Hundred Dragons Staircase station, which can only be reached by bus to the Vertigo Terrace station near Yuanjiajie. Walk along the road for 10 minutes to reach the Tianqiao Station, where you can continue by bus. The hotels on the mountain are located along the road and can be reached by bus, which will stop as soon as space is available.

The next day is best for Yuanjiajie and Yangjiajie, with many people going straight back down after visiting Tianzi Mountain. It's best to leave around 8am and it's easy to get a bus from Dingxiang Banyan Village. From Sanjiajie Station, it takes about 10 minutes to reach Yangjiajie Wulongzhai Station. There is a road lined with vendors and you can continue walking to the Yangjiajie ropeway station. You can take the ropeway down the mountain to the Yangjiajie ticket station.A road to the rear of the ropeway station leads to the "Natural Great Wall", which is a must-see. The Natural Great Wall offers the same view as the Tianbo Mansion, the highlight of Wulongzhai (from a slightly different angle), and is spectacular, and not as crowded as the Tianbo Mansion. The viewing platform of the Natural Great Wall is large and there are plenty of spots to take photos. Back at the Yangjiajie ropeway station, there are signs pointing the way down to Wulongzhai, which is very crowded in high season. Pass the Golden Rooster (diagonally above the trees by the roadside, so you may not notice it) and head down to the Wulongzhai rest stop, where there are restaurants and shops. Next to it is a ding-dong junction, following the signs, one way to Wulongzhai and the other to One Step to Heaven.You can start by going to the main attraction, Wulongzhai, and walk for 10 minutes to reach the Wulongzhai gate, after which a long section of the path is carved out of the cliff face and is narrow and thrilling. A short section of the path is located between two large boulders and is so narrow that fat people have to squeeze their way through and risk getting stuck. During the high season this section is extremely congested. After 15-20 minutes, the two roads merge and take 2-3 minutes up to the top of Wulongzhai, a small courtyard with character and a place to rest. Behind the courtyard is a road leading to the Tianbo Mansion, and 2 minutes walk away is a small viewing platform looking across to the Tianbo Mansion.The House of Heavenly Waves is a natural stone pillar next to a cliff, and in front of it is an extremely wide and magnificent valley and group of rocky peaks - the Great Natural Wall. From the small viewing platform, you can go down a semi-overhanging steel ladder to reach the top of the house, and halfway up there is a small, unnoticeable fork in the road that leads to the cliff viewing platform slightly below the top of the house. The path up to Tianbofu is very steep, about 80°, and the place at the top of Tianbofu is so small that there are snapshot points and it is often so crowded that there is not even room to take photos (so some people choose to look across Tianbofu and leave). On the way back from the top of Wulongzhai there are several viewpoints, all on the edge of the cliff, with magnificent views. Eventually it is back to the previous rest stop at Wulongzhai. Most people choose to return the same way out of Yangjiajie.Travellers may also choose to continue on to One Step to Heaven, which is a longer route, so plan your time. The road to One Step to Heaven: 4 minutes on the flat road, then about 15-20 minutes up the hill there is a fork in the road, turn in and you will see "Wulang worshipping Buddha". From the fork, walk up and down the main road for 35 minutes to reach the bottom of the hill. To get up to One Step to Heaven you have to climb a very steep hanging staircase with magnificent views and wide valleys all around. After the One Step to Heaven, continue on for 7 minutes down and follow the signposts for 10 minutes up the cliff face to the Sky Corridor viewing platform, with the vast backcountry of Yangjiajie ahead. Return the way you came, or if you continue down the switchbacks to the Ling Shi Biting Tree, eventually reaching the lower Yangjiajie ropeway station and the Yangjiajie ticket station (an extremely long walk).Most people return the same way, passing by the third merchant kiosk, the small fork on the left leads straight to the road by the Wulongzhai station, a short cut (about 10 minutes walk), and this is the recommended route when returning. There are several local restaurants along the road and the food is not cheap. At the Wulongzhai junction you can take a bus to Yuanjiajie. There are many small shops by the Yuanjiajie Tianqiao station, including a McDonald's dessert station! Yuanjiajie is not too long to visit and there is only roughly one tour route, so you can avoid backtracking. The trail is often crowded during peak season.The Yuanjiajie trail is located on the edge of a cliff and has many viewpoints along the way, with attractions such as the First Bridge, the Pillar of Heaven and Earth (the prototype for the Avatar movie Hovering Mountain) and the Mystic Terrace.Yuanjiajie is less than an hour's tour, and at the western end of the trail is the Scurrying Gully, which also reaches the Back Garden; there is also a switchback trail down the mountain between Wulongzhai Station and Tianqiao Station, the Sand Knife Gully, which is much longer than the Scurrying Gully.

Buy

Zhangjiajie's specialties are Sanbao (pueraria root powder, fern root powder, rock ear) and Yiju (Eucommia ulmoides tea). In addition, wild kiwi fruit is also delicious; Mulberry plant salt dried bean curd is the Qing Dynasty tribute, may wish to have a taste; You can also buy some Tujia flavor "spicy sister spicy wax" series of food to take home.

There are two commercial pedestrian streets in Zhangjiajie: People’s Square Commercial Pedestrian Street and Tianzi Street Ethnic Tourism Mall (referred to as Tianzi Street), which are located in People’s Square in Zhangjiajie and Wulingyuan District in Zhangjiajie respectively.

Eat

There are limited food options in the park, and what is available is offered at highly inflated prices. It is advised that you bring food and water with you to the park.

Drink

Maoyan strawberry tea, a specialty of Yongding District, Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, is a geographical indication of Chinese agricultural products.

Sleep

Accommodation in Zhangjiajie is typically around ¥170. There are many options within walking distance surrounding the train/bus station.

Connect

Zhangjiajie Price Inspection Institute +86 0744--8233754

Zhangjiajie Railway Station Master Office +86 0744--8512112

Zhangjiajie Airport Office +86 0744--8238211

Zhangjiajie Aviation Inquiry +86 0744--8238294

Cope

Though Tianmen Mountain and Wulingyuan are major tourist attractions, perhaps 99% of their visitors are native Chinese. So you will find it surprisingly difficult to change foreign currency. There appear to be no currency exchange stores. Perhaps the only place to change money is a bank, such as the Bank of China (follow the main road north of the bus/train station area, it is at the first major intersection north of the river, about a 15-minute walk from the bus/train stations).

Wulingyuan, however, is rumored to have currency exchange stores.

Go next

• Changsha
• Fenghuang