In Zhangjiajie, I walked over 20,000 steps, and there weren’t many people around. Here’s a record of my route with three
cable cars and one elevator:
I started from the West Gate, where it’s less crowded. I stayed at Xianxi Mountain Lodge, located near the Yangjiajie Cableway station. I set out at 8 a.m., took the Yangjiajie Cableway up the mountain, saw the Natural Great Wall, and then took the eco-bus to Dianjiang Terrace and Tianzi Mountain. After that, I took the Tianzi Mountain Cableway down around 11 a.m. There was no queue going down, while a lot of people were waiting to go up, saving me at least two hours. Then I took the eco-bus to Ten-Mile Gallery and Shui Rao Si Men (Water Winding Four Gates). I originally planned to take the Bailong Elevator up, but the line was too long, so I skipped it and decided to do it the next day.
In the afternoon, I walked the entire Golden Whip Stream trail → from the entrance of Golden Whip Stream → to the Great Oxygen Bar Plaza → took the eco-bus to Huangshi Village → took the cableway up to the top of Huangshi Village → explored Huangshi Village → took the cableway down → took the eco-bus to Longfeng Temple → hiked up to the Longfeng Temple upper station → took the eco-bus to the Yangjiajie Cableway lower station → and then returned to my hotel.
There was no waiting in line the whole time, which is rare for October 2nd. I did walk a large loop, so it was a bit tiring, but I managed to see all the main sights.
The next day, I started from Yangjiajie, made up for missing Yuanjiajie, and took the Bailong Elevator down—again with no lines—then exited through the East Gate.
To avoid crowds when traveling:
1️⃣ Wake up early. I usually got up at 6 a.m. because I needed time to do my makeup. If you don’t need makeup, waking up around 7 or 8 a.m. is fine.
2️⃣ Visit during off-peak hours. Around mealtimes, most people go to eat, so there are fewer people around. You can adjust your eating schedule to either earlier or later than the usual times.
3️⃣ Go against the flow. Most tourists follow the standard routes suggested online. You can reverse the route, and it will likely be less crowded.
The most important tip: travel during the off-season. There are significantly fewer people after National Day in October or in November.