Trip Overview
It's September 2020, and we're embarking on an epic self-drive journey from Beijing to Zhangjiajie—the first stop on our Hunan-Hubei-Guizhou adventure. As a couple, we loaded up the car and hit the road for 3 days exploring Zhangjiajie's legendary landscapes. The drive from Beijing takes over 20 hours, so we broke it up with an overnight stop at Guling 19 Hotel in Henan Province (10.5 hours, 924 km), finally reaching our destination on September 6th at 3:30 PM.
Duration: 3 days
Travelers: Couple
Transportation: Self-drive
Budget: ~3,000 RMB (~$420 USD) including accommodation, tickets, and meals
Where We Stayed: Huatian Selected Hotel
We chose Zhangjiajie Wuling New World Huatian Selected Hotel (张家界武陵新天地华天精选酒店) based on its proximity to the Wulingyuan scenic area entrance—this turned out to be THE best decision of the trip. The hotel is literally 200 meters from the scenic area gate, with KFC and Starbucks right in the square. The location couldn't be more convenient.
Pro tip: The hotel's back street is lined with restaurants and guesthouses. Locals tend to eat at one particular restaurant right near the hotel's back entrance, while foreigners seem to prefer the one across the street—take your pick based on which crowd appeals to you.
Understanding Zhangjiajie: A Quick Guide
Before you go, here's what confused us: Zhangjiajie actually consists of TWO main areas—Wulingyuan Scenic Area and Tianmen Mountain. They're completely different experiences!
Tianmen Mountain (天门山) is near downtown and only accessible by cable car. There are two cable car stations—one in the city center at the Tourist Center, another near the Tianmen狐仙 (Tianmen Fox Fairy) Theater, which requires a shuttle bus from the Tourist Center.
Wulingyuan (武陵源) is MUCH larger and has four entrances:
1. East Gate - Yuanjiajie (袁家界) - Also called the "Biaozhi Gate" (our entrance)
2. South Gate - Forest Park (森林公园) - Our exit
3. West Gate - Yangjiajie (杨家界)
4. North Gate - Helong Park (贺龙公园)
Most visitors use the Yuanjiajie entrance. Pro tip: Wulingyuan has two dimensions—horizontal (Yuanjiajie, Yangjiajie, Tianzishan, Huangshizhai, Ten-mile Gallery, Golden Whip Stream) AND vertical (mountain-top vs. mountain-bottom areas). Yuanjiajie, Yangjiajie, and Tianzishan are on the mountain-tops, while Ten-mile Gallery, Huangshizhai, and Golden Whip Stream are down below.
Ticket Info
Standard ticket (admission + shuttle bus): 215 RMB, valid for 4 days. Cable cars and elevators are extra.
Day 1: Wulingyuan - Yuanjiajie, Yangjiajie & Tianzishan
We entered the scenic area at 7:30 AM and took the shuttle bus (about 20 minutes) to the bottom of the Bailong Elevator (百龙天梯).
The elevator ascends in just 90 seconds—breathtaking! From there, we took the shuttle to the Mesmerizing Terrace (迷魂台) in Yuanjiajie and began our walk through the park's most iconic attractions: Hallelujah Mountain (哈利路亚山), Qiankun Pillar (乾坤柱), and First Bridge (天下第一桥).
Foreigner tip: These formations are said to have inspired Pandora's floating mountains in James Cameron's Avatar. Whether that's true or not, the views are absolutely surreal—like walking through a traditional Chinese landscape painting come to life.
By 10:30 AM, we finished Yuanjiajie and took the shuttle to Yangjiajie—but disappointment awaited. The entire Yangjiajie area was under renovation for National Day, with 90% of attractions closed. We saw the infamous "Natural Great Wall (天然长城)"—the only thing open—and it was... underwhelming. One photo and we moved on.
Reality check: If you're visiting during Chinese holidays or just before (like we did), expect closures. Check official sources before going.
Next stop: Tianzishan (天子山). Right off the shuttle is Helong Park (贺龙公园), and from there we explored Xihai Stone Forest (西海石林), Fairy Sending Flowers (仙女散花), Imperial Brush Peak (御笔峰), and the Stone Boat (石船).
After Tianzishan, we took the shuttle (3 minutes) to the cable car station, rode the cable car down (13 minutes), then another shuttle to Ten-mile Gallery (十里画廊).
We bought tickets for the tiny train (recommended!) into the gallery—a perfect way to see the scenery while listening to the audio commentary. Coming back, we walked to see everything we might have missed on the train.
Finished around 5 PM, we took the shuttle bus back to the East Gate (Biaozhi Gate) and returned to our hotel. Dinner at Geng Nong Yuan (耕农园)—a local favorite.
Day 1 complete!
Day 2: Golden Whip Stream (金鞭溪)
Day 2 started at the East Gate again, this time heading to Water Surrounding Four Gates (水绕四门)—the entrance to the Golden Whip Stream (金鞭溪).
This area is a masterpiece of mountain, water, stone, and forest—absolutely stunning in any weather. But here's the catch: it's ALL walking. No shuttle buses, no cable cars. Just you and the trail.
Senior alert: This is a 7.5 km walk taking about 4 hours. If you have mobility issues, reconsider or at least plan for a shorter route.
Another highlight: monkeys. Lots of them. The areas near the tourist gathering points are absolutely packed with macaques, and they're not shy about grabbing food from your hands. We saw groups playing in the stream and others strutting casually along the path. Don't feed them!
Most named attractions are closer to the Forest Park exit, so keep walking! The trail ends at Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Gate (张家界森林公园大门). Walk about 200 meters outside and you'll find the shuttle to the East Gate (10 RMB per person, 30 minutes).
Wulingyuan Summary: Worth visiting—Yuanjiajie, Tianzishan, Ten-mile Gallery, and Golden Whip Stream are all must-sees. Skip Yangjiajie and Huangshizhai unless you have extra time (they were mostly closed when we visited, and honestly, the scenery didn't seem notably different from what we'd already seen).
Moving On: Zhangjiajie to Tianmen Mountain Area
We checked out and drove to downtown Zhangjiajie, staying at the Hilton Hotel. The drive should have taken 40 minutes according to Gaode Maps—but reality had other plans. The 34 km road has FOUR different speed limits (20km, 40km, 50km, 60km), with 40km being the most common. Speed cameras everywhere! Locals ignore them; we didn't risk it. What should have been 40 minutes took us a full hour.
Hilton location: Excellent—right across from the Tourist Center, about a 5-minute walk. Beware: There's no pedestrian overpass or crosswalk to get there. Crossing the street is... adventurous. Wait for a break in traffic or ask hotel staff for guidance.
And that's our Zhangjiajie chapter! Next stop on our journey: Tianmen Mountain—stay tuned.