Zhangjiajie National Park in the Hunan province of China is one of a kind. Not many people know this place even exists – I didn’t before I moved to China. I definitely recommend this surreal experience to anyone who has a love for nature, hiking and mountains. In this post, I share my key tips to help you in planning your own trip to Zhangjiajie National Park.
WHEN TO GO TO ZHANGJIAJIE NATIONAL PARK
Planning when to go is an important factor that should be considered when travelling to any part of China. China is known for its overcrowding which can have a negative impact on your experience and even cause you to miss some parts of tourist attractions.
Unfortunately, although I was warned, I went during the first week of October (which is known as the Chinese Holiday). Here pretty much all of China is on holiday and most people from the country go to the city and vice versa. Sadly, a huge tourist attraction like Zhangjiajie National Park is going to be overcrowded at this time. The best times to go would include September and October, just avoid the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Chinese Holidays.
LOGISTICS
From Shanghai, you can get there by overnight sleeper train to Zhangjiajie which is an experience in itself. If that’s not for you there are other ways to get there. Depending on where you stay, the National Park might be a good drive away. Plan your accommodation to suit what you want to do in Zhangjiajie National Forest, it’s a big place!
The Cost: A 4-day ticket costs – 245 ¥ which is about 34 Euros. For what you see and for four days, that’s a pretty good deal! Prepare for extra costs like Cable Cars. It might also be useful to note that, in another part of Zhangjiajie (this is NOT in the national park) is the world’s longest glass bridge. Although it’s expensive due to how popular it is, it might be useful to keep in mind when you are planning your trip.
THE GOLDEN WHIP
Take a beautiful scenic route up the river and walk with monkeys through the Golden Whip Stream. Depending on where you want to go, you might be walking for a while, but the stunning scenes and monkeys will make time fly.
A highlight for me walking the Golden Whip was the wild monkeys. They have no fear of humans, so they can get up close and personal, which is amazing but some monkeys are quite aggressive so be careful!
TIANZI MOUNTAIN
Make sure you visit Tianzi Mountain. The director of the movie Avatar got inspiration for the floating mountains here. Since then, the park has been more commonly known as the Avatar Hallelujah Mountains. This part felt more “Avatar” to me than other parts of the park. It was really breathtaking.
CABLE CARS
Take advantage of cable car rides. They are a great way to get to and from different parts of the park while enjoying the amazing view. After a full day of walking it’s nice to just enjoy the view. Upper Station of Tianzi Mountain Cable to Lower station of Tianzi Mountain is the most scenic one. This part had an incredible Jurassic Park feel to it.
The cost of the cable cars is not included in the price of your park entry ticket. It was around 20 Euro per journey to use the cable cars to help you get around the park.
Finally, bring lots of water, prepare for a lot of walking. Make sure you take into account places to stop for food and the toilet! And get yourself a map to help navigate your way around Zhangjiajie National Park.
Have you been to Zhangjiajie National Park or another destination in China? Please share your experience in the comments below!
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- Tips For Visiting Zhangjiajie National Park, China
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Andreia Leite says
A FEW MORE TIPS: I would recommend to spend at least ONE NIGHT in the park. We stayed at the Yuanjiajie Zhongtian Int’l Youth Hostel (not the nicest place but close enough we could walk from the famous Avatar mountain). That way we didn’t have to rely on the last vans to descend the mountain, so we were practically alone after this time.
Also, make sure you get up early, before the vans start running and you can walk to Tianbo Mansion view point (again we were the only ones there), but when walking back down, lots of tourist started coming!
I spent 3 weeks in China and this was one of my favourite places!
We Are Travel Girls says
Thanks for reading and commenting Andreia! We really appreciate you sharing your own tips for this trip! I would love to go myself one day, although I may not like the cable cars! Xo, Becky
Andreia Leite says
Becky, you dont need to take the cable cars, we never did… It s 2000 steps to get up the mountain and they are easily (slowly) done. ?
We Are Travel Girls says
Thats good to hear! So I will have to do some working out and then go! Thanks for the advice ;) Becky
gigi says
thanks for the recommendation. may I ask where you booked the hostel? I can’t find any website that allows booking in advance. is this hostel in the little village where all the hostels are inside the park (near tianzi mountain)? thank you!
Elsa says
Wow love the pictures. I didn’t know this place existed too ? It’s beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Kisses, Elsa
We Are Travel Girls says
Thanks for reading and commenting Elsa! Glad you liked this post and found out about a new place in the world! XO, Becky
Amber says
Wow it looks like such a cool place to visit! It’s crazy when you can compare Earth’s landscapes to the film versions, and they still look so other-worldly!
We Are Travel Girls says
Thanks for reading and commenting Amber! Glad you enjoyed this post and seeing this crazy landscape! Hope you get to go for yourself one day, its on my bucketlist now for sure! XO, Becky
Jenny says
Are there any other tips on where to stay when visiting the park? I’ve wanted to go here for years and I have a window of “free”/unaccounted time while visiting Thailand so I’m thinking of “hopping” over and adding this to the itinerary!
Abby says
i keep seeing posts everywhere about having tour guides to get around the park but they’re incredibly expensive. Would you recommend going with a guide if I’m a solo traveller or can you easily get around by yourself?
We Are Travel Girls says
Hi Abby, thanks for reading! This article was written by We Are Travel Girls Contributor Roisin Traynor of CareerLifeTravel.com, perhaps you could reach out to her to ask your question and hopefully she can help. Thanks, Becky – Founder, We Are Travel Girls
Annie says
Thanks WE ARE TRAVEL GIRLS for sharing your TRAVEL experiences particularly this region in China, I am very interested in exploring it all alone. Unfortunately my time is very limited, and I have arranged a round trip tickets to Guilin back to Shanghai. Since my Chinese Visa is good for ten years, I will definitely go back next year to stay in ZHANGJIAJIE to explore and enjoy the awesome scenic tha place has to offer. From reading your blog, learned some important things to remember while there. Again, thank you all GIRLS for wonderful blog WE are still travelers can learn from.
Ana Miguel says
Thank you so much for this nice piece of info! It’s really important to help women traveling alone!
That is why I have the following question: I’m traveling alone to Zhangjiajie next month and I’m wondering whether I should get a guide, I keep reading it is not easy to find out way alone specially if you don’t speak Chinese which is my case! What do you think? ;) thanks!
Bernadette says
Hi Ana, Did you eventually go to Zhangjiajie? If so, how was your experience?