Visiting Zhangjiajie - Itinerary for Must See Sights

Many visit Zhangjiajie for the “Avatar Mountains”, but there is so much more to explore in this rural part of Hunan, China. For first-time travelers to Zhangjiajie, Tianmen Mountain’s glass skywalks, world’s longest cableway, and the iconic Tianmen Cave makes this a must-go too!

Zhangjiajie offers an experience that contrasts with bustling cities like Beijing or Shanghai. But to experience Zhangjiajie fully, planning is key. We share in this article our recommended itinerary for first time visitors to Zhangjiajie - how to get there, what to see and where to stay.

When is the Best Time to Visit Zhangjiajie

The best time to visit Zhangjiajie is in Autumn, specifically between October to November, after their National Day Golden Week. Temperatures are at a cool 10–20°C, with colourful golden foliage, and misty valleys perfect for photographs.

The next best time to visit is in Spring, particularly between March to April. With blooming flowers and clear skies for panoramic views. We visited Zhangjiajie in mId-April and the weather was already turning hot and sunny then.

If you are planning to visit during Summer, expect scorching days. Visiting during Winter offers views of snow-dusted peaks but you may find some trails or attractions closed due to snow.

Make sure to avoid China’s peak periods, or you will face massive crowds, long queues and expensive hotel room prices. With many local and overseas tourists daily, it is best to secure your hotel rooms at Zhangjiajie as soon as you can. We share our hotel recommendations below.

Getting to Zhangjiajie

Zhangjiajie is remote but well-connected. We have direct flights from Singapore to Changsha, Hunan’s capital. From Changsha, you can take the high speed train to Zhangjiajie West Station (张家界西), not Zhangjiajie Station. The train trip takes over 2hrs and we recommend buying the first-class ticket for some peace and quiet.

We recommend taking at least 3 full days to explore Zhangjiajie, and that could mean staying there for 3 nights or more depending on the time you reach Zhangjiajie. 1 day will be spent at Tianmen Mountain, and 2 days will be spent at Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.

1 Day at Tianmen Mountain 天门山

Assuming you took the earliest train over to Zhangjiajie West Station, do a quick check in to your hotel and head over to Tianmen Mountain. It is easy to get around the area using Didi (ie. Uber in China). You can order Didi via Alipay and Wechat mini-programs and use them for payments as well.

We stayed in Wyndham Garden Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain and highly recommend it. A good alternative would be Home2 Suites By Hilton Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain. Rooms are affordable at less than USD80 during low season. Make sure to reserved your rooms early!

After check-in, Didi over to Tianmen Cableway Lower Station 天门山索道下站 to take China’s longest cableway, at 7,455m, to Tianmen Mountain peak. There are 3 Lines you can take to explore Tianmen Shan.

• Line A - Starts with taking the cableway to the peak and a walk down to Tianmen Cave, then another cableway down from Tianmen Cave Express Cableway Upper Station. You can take the shuttle service (fee inclusive in the ticket) to get back to Tianmen Cableway Lower Station. We recommend taking this route.

• Line B - Opposite direction from Route A, starting with cableway to Tianmen Cave Express Cableway Upper Station, upwards walk to the peak and cableway down from Tianmen Cableway Upper Station. The starting point is at Tianmen Cave Express Cableway Lower Station 天门洞快线索道下站.

• Line C - This route might be ideal for people who only want to visit Tianmen Cave and not the peak. The ticket allows you to go up and down via Tianmen Cave Express Cableway Upper Station. The starting and ending points are at Tianmen Cave Express Cableway Lower Station 天门洞快线索道下站.

There are also bus options to get to the Tianmen Cave, but we do not recommend this route for its motion sickness inducing 99 bends. This roadway route was closed for maintenance when we were there. It is worthwhile to pay a little more for the cableway for a grand view of the area’s scenic landscape.

Tianmen Mountain Ticket Prices

We highly recommend you buy the tickets online once you have confirmed your itinerary. You can avoid long queues at the physical ticket counters and choose the time slot to visit. All tickets include Main Cableways, Transmountain Escalators and Shuttle bus between Lower Stations, excluding cable car rides to Tianmen Mountain Temple.

Once at the Peak, you can explore Tianmen Mountain via the upwards West line route to Tianmen Mountain Temple 天门山寺 (alternatively take the cable car ride up to minimize walking) or the East line route to Tianmen Cave. Each route has a glass walkway that is fun to do, with many sightseeing spots. Each route would take about 3-4 hours to explore at a leisurely pace.

We didn’t climb the 999 steps and took the Transmountain Escalators instead. Nonetheless, Tianmen Cave and steps are a sight to behold.

Tianmen Fox Fairy Night Show 天门狐仙

A highly-rated night show at Tianmen Mountain, this majestic show of lights and sounds with Tianmen Mountain as its backdrop. However, many of us who went couldn’t really follow the storyline of the romance show despite understanding Chinese. Might be worth a visit if you have extra nights at Zhangjiajie. Else, we recommend visiting this next place at night.

Zhangjiajie 72 Wonder Tower 张家界七十二奇楼

Every tourist in Zhangjiajie comes to this place at least once after the sun sets. There aren’t 72 storeys in this gigantic tower. Rather, the number 72 symbolizes “supreme” in Chinese culture. A better translation would be “Zhangjiajie Supreme Wonder Tower”.

The tower itself is actually empty, and is surrounded by streets filled with shops and eateries. The whole place comes to live at night with roaming cosplay characters, food and games stalls, and various performances.

There are timetables indicating when and where performances will happen but we recommend roaming around (the area isn’t big) for serendipity to happen. The following performances are highly recommended (timings are subject to changes, refer to actual day programme timetable when you are there):

1. City Opening Performance 开城鼓. Held near the entrance at 18:00, 19:00 and 19:30.

2. Wonder Tower Lights Up 奇楼掌灯. Held in Bonfire Square at 19:50.

3. Bonfire Party 篝火晚会. Held in Bonfire Square at 21:35.

4. Ten Miles of Foreign Land 十里洋场. Held in Movie Square at 22:05.

The cheapest ticket at ¥20 is for day-time entry before 4:30PM and you can stay in the park till closing. This ticket is only valid for one-time entry. Night-time tickets below are valid for 3 days.

This place is packed with tourists at night. To avoid queues, it is best you buy the tickets online as soon as you confirm your itinerary.

There is so much to discover in Zhangjiajie. We will be sharing in the next article our recommended itinerary to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and where to stay to get the most out of your time there.

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