How many days do you need in Zhangjiajie?

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is the first national forest park in our country. It was established in 1982. Just like the first batch of national treasures in our country that are permanently prohibited from leaving the country, it belongs to the must-see series in one’s lifetime. It is a geological park mainly featuring quartz sandstone peak forest landform landscapes, integrating karst landform landscapes, water body landscapes, original subtropical ecological landscapes, and a strong Tujia ethnic style.
The ticket is valid for four days, that is, you can freely enter and exit within four days, including the cost of environmental protection vehicles between scenic spots. Compared to Changsha, I think the ticket price here is not so good. In fact, single-day tickets can be made with a lower price to attract more people. But then again, this place is very, very large. It includes four scenic areas: Zhangjiajie, Suoxiyu, Tianzishan, and Yangjiajie, collectively known as “Wulingyuan Scenic Area”. For tourists, it takes at least two days to completely visit all the places.
Because we were with kids and didn’t want to be too tired, we gave up Yangjiajie and Ten Mile Gallery. On the first day, we went to Tianzishan and Yuanjiajie. At night, we stayed at a homestay near Golden Whip Stream. On the second day, we went to Golden Whip Stream and Huangshizhai. We took the cable car to Tianzishan first. I have to say that it was so beautiful and fairy-like when passing through the fog layer. But everyone must definitely check the weather forecast. On cloudy and rainy days, it’s like a room without lights. The visibility on the mountain is only a dozen meters. Although there are scenic spots such as Fairy Scattering Flowers, Imperial Brush Peak of Tianzishan, and Tianzi Pavilion on the mountain, most of the time we can’t see anything as it is all white.
After coming out of Tianzishan, take the free scenic area shuttle bus to Yuanjiajie with the ticket. I have to say that the monkeys here are so fierce. Don’t put things in plastic bags. They will pounce and snatch food in minutes… Sometimes it’s not just one monkey, but a dozen monkeys surrounding. I didn’t even put it in a bag. I just put a bottle of water on the side of my backpack, and a huge monkey came and grabbed my bag. It was so scary. We also encountered such monkeys in Golden Whip Stream. So sometimes when there are monkeys in the middle of the road, I don’t dare to move forward anymore. After coming here, I no longer think monkeys are cute…
We waited in line for nearly two hours to take the Bailong Elevator down. It was so difficult… The speed is the same as the elevator in Shanghai Tower. Sometimes there is tinnitus.
On the second day, we entered through the gate of the forest park. After entering the scenic area and walking straight, taking the right fork is Golden Whip Stream. There are many beautiful insects and butterflies here. You can often catch them with your bare hands. Golden Whip Stream is a mountain stream at the foot of the mountain. The water is very clear.
The mountain peaks on both sides of the stream are very spectacular. You can often see some strange peaks and rocks. “Journey to the West” was filmed here when Sun Wukong fought the White Bone Demon three times.
Huangshizhai is the most famous scenic area within Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. There is a saying that “if you haven’t been to Huangshizhai, you haven’t really been to Zhangjiajie.” It is located in the middle of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. It is a huge square mountain platform and can be regarded as the most beautiful observation deck in Wulingyuan. Looking around, countless stone peaks and pillars are jagged and straight, competing to show their heads. They are densely distributed, forming a vast sea of peaks, making people’s hearts suddenly open up. If there is a continuous sea of clouds and the peaks are covered with white gauze, the lofty peaks appear and disappear from time to time, ethereal and ever-changing.

In “Journey to the West”, the Calming Sea Needle is also in Huangshizhai. Looking from the east side of the circular tour road in Huangshizhai, you will see a standing mountain peak. It is several hundred meters high, very straight and tall, standing among the green and swaying pine trees, indestructible. If we look from the southwest, we will find that this mountain peak is very much like Sun Wukong’s Calming Sea Needle. It appears and disappears in the clouds. Just like Sun Wukong’s golden cudgel, this is the origin of the name Calming Sea Needle.
There are extremely many landscapes in Huangshizhai. These are all things we can’t see elsewhere. And all of these are the masterpieces of nature and traces of history. You can feel the charm of nature here and experience the tranquility and beauty that you can’t find in big cities.

4. Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park
   The ticket for Tianmen Mountain is not cheap. 278 yuan includes the ticket, cable car ticket, and scenic area shuttle bus. It is divided into Line A, Line B, and Line C. During popular holidays, the time and route you want may be sold out. A family of three coming to Zhangjiajie for tourism can easily spend thousands of yuan on tickets… But considering that there is the world’s longest high-altitude cableway here, which is 7,500 meters long and takes about half an hour. The cableway passes over the city and directly reaches the top of the mountain. It seems acceptable. Although the routes are not very different, generally the most people choose Line A, and correspondingly, the queuing time for going down the mountain is also longer.
   Tianmen Cave, Panshan Highway, and suspended glass plank road are the most famous attractions in Tianmen Mountain. But there is fog in Zhangjiajie for more than two hundred days throughout the year. So whether you can see the cave when coming to Tianmen Mountain depends entirely on luck. The cable car can directly take you to the top of the mountain. There are scenic area shuttle buses between scenic spots. Compared to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, it doesn’t require too much physical effort.
   The highest peak of Tianmen Mountain is 1,518.6 meters above sea level, which is the highest mountain in Zhangjiajie. Tianmen Cave is located in the middle and upper part of the Tianmen Mountain. It is 1,300 meters above sea level. The cave is 131.5 meters high, 57 meters wide, and 60 meters deep. It is the natural karst cave through a mountain with the highest altitude in the world. The flight of steps in front of Tianmen Cave is claimed to be 999 steps, with a total height of about 200 meters. You can buy an elevator ticket. Those with good physical strength can walk up in about 20 minutes.
   The Tongtian Avenue, with a total length of 10.77 kilometers, winds through ninety-nine bends, just like a giant dragon coiling around the mountainside. Driving on this road, you can appreciate the precipitousness and magnificence of Tianmen Mountain. It is a paradise for photography enthusiasts.
   The glass plank roads in Tianmen Mountain are divided into two routes, east and west, with lengths of 60 meters and 536 meters respectively. Standing on the glass plank road, you can overlook the abyss below your feet and experience an exciting walk in the air.
   In short, the Tianmen Mountain scenic area is not large. Excluding queuing time, five hours is enough. If you walk the whole way, it will be about 20,000 steps. Strange rocks and beautiful trees, the opening of Tianmen Cave, and the apparition in Guigu Valley make you feel the power of nature. While the flying cableway, the mountain-piercing escalator, the sky-suspended plank road, and the Tongtian Avenue make you feel the power of human beings.
5. About accommodation and catering
   Accommodation
   When visiting Tianmen Mountain, it is recommended to stay in the urban area of Tianmen Mountain. The bus station and railway station are not too far away. There are also many choices nearby, such as Atour and others.
   When visiting Zhangjiajie Forest Park, you can choose to stay near the Wulingyuan ticket station (that is, the Sign Gate ticket station), near the Zhangjiajie Forest Park ticket station (at the foot of the mountain), or near the Tianzishan ticket station (the so-called on the mountain). Generally, more people choose these three places. We chose the Zhangjiajie Forest Park at that time. But it seems that there is still a big gap between these three places and urban hotels. More are some homestays in villages. Although they look very ordinary, they still cost more than 600 yuan per night…
   Catering
   It is recommended to bring some dry food to satisfy hunger when going inside the scenic area, but don’t make it too heavy otherwise climbing will be very tiring.
   At the foot of the mountain, I generally search on a certain review platform first and try to choose those that have been open for a long time. Generally, I feel that the food here is relatively scarce. It is mainly Sanxiaoguo and Tujia special dishes. Blood cake duck, fern root cake, farmhouse stir-fried bacon, Wa fish banquet, rock ear stewed native chicken, etc. Because the prices in the scenic area are relatively expensive compared to local prices, but considering the taste, it is acceptable.
   However, there is an Impression Giant Salamander Banquet near Qilou 72 in the urban area of Zhangjiajie. The environment looks good, but in fact, it is really disappointing. The child didn’t eat anything because it was too spicy. Two adults spent more than 400 yuan. If it were delicious, it would be fine. In fact, the giant salamander has a musty smell. It is extremely unpalatable… So, some stores may have fake reviews.
6. The formation of Zhangjiajie landform
   Quartz sandstone is the parent rock that forms the Zhangjiajie landform. Due to the orogenic movement, Zhangjiajie changed from sea to land. The sandstone was weathered for a long time to form a red iron weathering crust. Later, the crust subsided and Zhangjiajie became the sea again. The deposited limestone formed the original rock of the Zhangjiajie landform. Later, the Indosinian movement made this place land again, and the limestone was exposed on the surface. During the Yanshan movement, through faulting and deformation, many joints and cracks were formed inside. After gravity collapse, weathering and denudation, and water erosion, finally landform landscapes such as square mountains, platforms, peaks, and remnant forests were formed.
   Stone pillars: Platforms, square mountains, stone walls, etc. are further cut and collapsed by water along the vertical joints, forming various stone pillars such as cylindrical, square cylindrical, and rhomboidal cylindrical.
   Platforms and square platforms. Platform: Water erodes downward from the top of the mountain and forms an erosion platform at the foot of the mountain. The size of the platform is related to the spacing and density of the vertical joints of the sandstone. Square mountain: Also known as table mountain. Locally, it is commonly called “stockade”. Generally, it is a hard rock stratum with a small horizontal or inclined angle and is formed by strong cutting.
   Stone walls and stone pillars. Stone wall: Stone walls are formed when water erodes along the vertical joints of platforms or square mountains, forming wall-like bodies extending in one direction. It is common to see several stone walls spreading parallel.
   Natural bridges and remnant forests. Natural bridge: It is formed by water tracing and eroding through stone walls. There are also some stone walls where because the rock is broken in some local areas, caves are formed by collapsing along bedding and joints in the broken zone. When traveling to Zhangjiajie, you must pay attention to the weather. It is very easy to be foggy and you can’t see anything. No one can take pictures of natural bridges like this…
   Remnant forest: After peak forests are formed, water continues to cut downward until the base is eroded and cut through. The pillars collapse one after another. Only a few isolated peak pillars are left, thus forming the remnant forest landform.
   My travel time was during the National Day holiday. The weather was good and bad. There were not too many people. But I still queued for more than an hour for taking the cable car and Bailong Elevator. It is recommended that everyone try to avoid the crowds during holidays and find a good weather. This whole travel guide was typed word by word on my mobile phone on the way. At night, I used the computer to format it. I hope it can be helpful to everyone.（How to avoid crowds in Zhangjiajie?）