Monday, May 26th – Saturday, May 31st, 2025
World Tour Days 205 – 210
Monday was a big travel day leaving Hangzhou by train. Luckily Nick was feeling much better after having some rest days. The train station was so big it felt more like an airport. There was even blueberry flavored soft serve ice cream, which I loved. We did not notice it until we had already eaten, but the station also had a Tim Hortons.
The train was 8.5 hours, arriving to Zhangjiajie at 10pm. Nick and I enjoyed the views of flooded fields, and an intense red sunset. I have to be honest and say at this point in our trip the loud eating was starting to get to me. It’s culturally normal to eat with mouth wide open and to slurp while eating in China, I was not used to that. Headphones became a necessity to have in my purse at all times. Upon arrival we spent the night fairly close to the train station and got ready for our big exploring days ahead.
Day 1: Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon
Our first agenda item was getting a taxi from Zhangjiajie to Wulingyuan, which is the village we would spend the rest of our nights at. It is much closer to the park we spent the most time at. The hotel was a small and cozy inn run by a kind local family. It was a 35 minute walk from the east gate of the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park where we’d be spending 3 days exploring that week.
After dropping off our bags we got a taxi to Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon. It was difficult to find information online that was up to date on how to best explore there. As we made our way around it became clear it was easiest to do as a one way point to point to see everything. Unfortunately for Nick this meant he couldn’t go back and see a few things he was interested in spending more time at as we thought we had to go back the way we came at first.
To start, we walked across the famous glass bridge. It was raining so the glass wasn’t very clear which was too bad. The bridge was long and had okay views of the canyon on either side. The bridge itself was cooler than the views, though, in my opinion. On the other side was a chicken sandwich shop which was perfect for lunch. We got the ‘romantic meal deal’ which was two sandwiches, two sausages, chicken nuggets, two drinks, and a fries. The romantic meal deal was an offer in many establishments in the area.
We were unsure how to make our way down to hike the bottom. Following the few people that were there we found the zipline platform. We both sat in the chair style zipline and zipped across in the rain. They controlled the speed so it was the most calm zipline experience I have had. It was Nick’s first one, but we are not sure if it counts or not.
After the zipline we were now back on the original side of the canyon. Here we took an elevator down further. Slowly but surely making our way to where we would be able to do some hiking. After the elevator we could choose a mountain slide or stairs to get to the very bottom. We opted for the slides.
To slide down them they gave us ‘aprons’ to wrap around our legs and butts. Gloves were provided to help slow ourselves down on the hand rails on either side. I loved the slides but they were very curvy so we lost speed alot in order to make the corners. I definitely had bruised hips at the end. There were times where we got up and had to walk to the next slide. Tragically our last slide had two older people in front of us which meant we could not gain much speed as they were taking the slide painfully slow. Nick and I sat in our parallel rows and tried to have them get space between us but it was only mildly successful as then more people started to come down behind us, too.
After the slides we were finally at the bottom of the canyon. It was gorgeous looking up at the glass bridge from below. There was a trail following along the river all the way to a boat that would take us to the park exit. Nick and I walked along this, enjoying the misty turquoise river, waterfall, and mossy canyon. At this point it became clear it was a one way journey and Nick would not be able to easily return to the glass bridge for more time. In total we spent about 2.5 hours here, which was a good amount, so it could definitely be combined with other areas if someone had less time for visiting.
In the evening back in Wulingyuan we walked along the small restaurant street near our inn. There were only a few barbeque spots open , presumably because it was still rainy season and less busy. I tried some shrimp and pork skewers while Nick opted to try their spicy snails. Some of the snails had hard and woody eggs inside. We did not know until after that they were considered a delicacy. He was happy to have tried them, but felt they were too much work for little food.
Day 2: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Our first morning in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park we took a Didi (Uber) to the South Gate. The weather forecast seemed questionable so we decided to do the day with the views we were least attached to seeing just in case. After purchasing our tickets from the self service machines we walked to the Grand Oxygen Bar Square. Many people tried to get us to buy tickets from them but we decided to do it on our own in case those were scams.
From the square we took the shuttle to the Huangshizhai YellowStone Village cable car station. The shuttle ride was hilarious as a guide was with his hiking group that was going to a different stop. He was using broken English to try and get us to join his group. We kept declining as we were confident on our own and were going to do their itinerary on another day anyways. The shuttle drivers only call out the station names in Chinese (something that became a problem for us later in this trip). We of course do not know what the commotion was but think the guide was trying to tell the driver that we were with him and he should continue driving to the next stop. It seemed like the other passengers were the ones to tell the driver to stop.
After taking the cable car through clouds up to the Huangshi village, we completed the outer loop of viewpoints counter clockwise in about 1.5 hours. There were supposedly many highlight viewpoints, such as Five-Finger Peak, but it was completely white with clouds. It was still a nice and easy walk, though, with very few other people around. The only negative (besides not seeing a single mountain) was a cat that followed us meowing so loud for most of the hike. Right when I thought we lost him another cat appeared to replace him. I’m sure if I was not allergic I would find that cute rather than tiresome.
After getting the cablecar back down the way we came, we did the short hike from the Grand Oxygen Bar Square that goes from the Star-Picking Platform to the Water Winding Four Gates. Its a short trail that follows along the Golden Whip Stream. It was paved all of the way and had many monkeys. People did not follow the ‘no feeding monkeys’ rule and there were plastic bags ripped apart along sections of the trail where the monkeys got more aggressive. We saw many adorable babies.
As we hiked along the river the sky opened up and was clear. We couldn’t believe it. The end of our hike would have been a perfect place to stop as it would’ve been possible to get to the gate closest to our inn from there. We decided to do our itinerary in reverse for a chance to see the viewpoints. We hiked back the way we came, took the cable car up, and sped walked through the loop. It was a great decision as we actually got our first look at the famous and unique mountain formations of the region. It was a long day, though.
Day 3: Zhangjiajie National FOrest Park
Our second day in the park was the day for the top highlights as it would be the best weather day. We walked from our inn making it in line at the east gate before opening at 7am. From there we took the purple shuttle to the Bailong elevator. The elevator was glass with views over the canyon including many pinnacles. The height was a bit too much for me so I mostly looked at the ceiling. We were in a hurry to make it to the viewpoints we knew of before the crowds, but in doing so we missed the viewpoint at the top of the Bailong elevator. We did not even realize it existed until later in the day when we could see it from across the canyon.
After a short walk from the elevator we hopped on yet another purple shuttle. At this point we realized the park was more shuttles and cablecars then it was actual hiking, but that’s okay. The shuttle took us to the Yuanjiejie section of the park. The first stop was where the Halleluja Avatar Mountain viewpoint was. The names never match the maps or any signage so we didn’t realize we saw it straight away.
We walked along the path to the left first until it was a dead end. The views along it were nice. To the right of the Avatar mountain took us to the First Natural Bridge viewpoint, which was great. The trail there was covered in red ribbons. Nick and I enjoyed some snacks at the shack up there before continuing on. The plum juice and crispy bread filled with pork and vegetables were delicious.
On the way there was also a pond filled with so many baby turtles. They sat on stone sculptures of turtles in the water. It was so cute (for me who absolutely loves turtles) until we noticed how many were actually dead. Nick regretted pointing out the turtles as I spent a solid amount of time taking photos of the little cuties.
After this stop we got back on a purple shuttle to Wulong Village. Here after many back and forths trying to figure out where to go we found what we wanted. Going left instead of right at the shuttle stop we found the sign for the One Step to Heaven hike. This was about 3km of paved trail leading gradually up to a final ladder. The hike was completely empty of other people and the viewpoint was incredible. It was one of our favorites from the entire park. Eventually one other Chinese hiker joined us at the top and we used translation apps to communicate. He was very eager to have us introduce him to a Canadian girlfriend. We took his picture and he took ours at the top. Most people we interacted with were so friendly and excited we were in China. I’m sure if there was less of a language barrier we would’ve chatted with more people.
Back the way we had come from was the upper Wulong cableway station. We had been recommended to instead continue along the trail to the lower station to see different views. Here is where we learned that the distance marked on trail signs could not under any circumstance be trusted. The distances kept changing, making it much longer than we originally signed up for. At first it was 3km down to the station. Then it became 5km, and eventually the truth came out, it was 8km straight down slippery mountain steps. It was called Balipo path. I felt very guilty taking Nick’s old creaky knees down that many stairs.
Although we would not have signed up for that many stairs downhill it was nice to see the viewpoints along the way. There was the Corridor in the Cliffs viewpoint and then Tiger Confronting Dragon viewpoint before finally making it to the lower cable way station. We took this back up to the Wulong upper station to get some lunch. After lunch we walked the short distance to the Natural Great Wall viewpoint. Along the way we got offered many times to ride on a chair carried by two men.
Back at the village shuttle bus station we jumped on a beige shuttle bus rather than a purple one. We thought that this would take us to the next area we wanted to check out, Laowuchang. As it turns out it does go there, but since we did not understand when the driver was asking if he should stop he took us all the way to the end station of Tianzi Mountain, about 45 minutes from where our stop was, which was the very first one after the village. After looking at our phones, the signs, and translating we guessed we needed to get the shuttle back to the Fork Road.
After 1.5 hours of extra shuttles, we finally made it the stop we wanted. To be sure the driver would stop I showed him the name in Chinese, and typed out “Please stop here and let us know it is our stop.” There were not many non-Chinese tourists so it made sense that there was not a good system in place for those who don’t speak the language. At this stop there was another smaller shuttle (surprise surprise) that cost extra to get to the view points past the nearest village.
Previously this could be hiked, and there is a waterfall along the way, but it seemed like this was no longer marked and it did not seem allowed to go without the shuttle on the narrow road. Once we arrived, we followed the path enjoying several viewpoints along the way. The first overlooked flooded fields placed on top of a cliff pinnacle. Following that were viewpoints showing distinct cliffs and on the opposite side of the canyon was the elevator we had taken earlier in the morning. This was when we figured out we had missed a viewpoint from that side.
This entire area ended up being some of our favorite views. It had less people and the cliffs were stunning. We agreed the Avatar mountain one was not the best even though it was the most famous. I was sad we were not able to go and see the waterfall, but happy we found the viewpoints. Sky Field Garden, and Heavenly Warrior’s Gathering were amazing.
After shuttling back to the Fork Road shuttle stop we got back on the beige shuttle to Tianzi Mountain. We were feeling shuttled out at this point. There was a large food area where we enjoyed a McDonalds dinner and some blueberries before taking the next shuttle to the cable car station, and cabling down the mountain. At the bottom was another shuttle to the gate. From there we walked back to our inn and hoped tomorrow would have significantly less inefficient shuttling.
Day 4: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Our last day exploring Zhangjiajie National Forest Park was shorter than the previous two. We started with our classic purple shuttle, this time getting off at the 10 mile gallery stop. There we bought tickets for the scenic train and rode this to the end. The views were super nice but our train car had a stowaway. A grill vendor got on and was watching his TV show on full volume. It took away from the serenity of the activity, but was hard to be too mad as it was just his work commute.
At the end of the 10 Mile Gallery we did the Tianzi Mountain footpath. This was labeled as 2.5km at the bottom. As we continued our hike this became longer and longer (classic). The viewpoints all the way up were spectacular, but it was hot and humid. The mosquitos were also no joke up there.
One equally hilarious and adorable observation we made was people putting small sticks under rocks with small overhangs to make it look like they were supporting the rock. We joked that was the Chinese erosion prevention technique. Nick also pointed out that all of the signs were written in the form of poems instead of straight to the point. We wondered if that was a result of direct translation. Whether it was telling us to not litter or smoke, the signs were always long and poetic. “The beautiful forest will not abide by the scent of smoke.”
At the end we were unsure how long the trail was, maybe 9km? The top was the Tianzi Mountain area. There we saw the pagoda, ate the best chocolate soft serve ice cream ever, and walked to the few view points in the area. The viewpoints Imperial Writing Brush Peaks and Fairy Dispersing Flowers were gorgeous and popular photo spots.
Nick and I rode the beige shuttlebus (our arch enemy) to the first stop. From here we walked the 300m to the viewpoint. From there we walked to the next bus stop to do another 300m to that viewpoint. We were unsure if there would be another viewpoint further down the road so we opted to get the shuttlebus back to Tianzi Mountain stop. Back on the purple shuttle bus, down the cable car, and shuttle bus back to the gate ended our third day. Below photos show what the walk between our inn and the east gate look like.
Day 5: Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park
In the morning we took a Didi to the Tianshenmen cableway. It is the longest alpine cableway in the world and took around 28 minutes from start to finish. It took us up to the Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park. The cable car was a memorable experience. First getting in line we had a little boy behind us who was so excited to see us and kept waving and jumping when he could see us. Unfortunately for him he was not on our cable car. Our cable car had two guys trying to find anything they would have in common with us by using the one woman who spoke decent English to translate. Although we only saw clouds on the way up we enjoyed the interactions with everyone. At one point they asked what music we listened to so I blasted Man I Feel Like A Woman by Shania Twain.
At the top we started by going to the highest view point called Yunmeng Fairy Peak. A classic issue we faced many times on this trip was having no visibility when in an area that would otherwise have beautiful viewpoints. Today was no exception. We laughed looking out at the thick clouds and made our way east on the red trail line to start the loop.
The east trail had a glass walkway we opted to not do as it cost extra and would have only offered additional views of mist. Instead we hiked along the edge of the cliff, seeing some trees and occasionally the wind would create openings to showcase cliffs in front of us. There was a suspension bridge that swayed a lot with so many people walking at the same time.
The red line (east trail) ended at the gorgeous Tianmen Mountain Temple. The rain and mist added to the calm beauty. There were several structures we walked through, many trees, and statues. There was a man playing a flute near the entrance, which also added to the ambiance. After this we found our lunch spot and enjoyed another delicious blue algae salt cheese ice cream. Nick even spotted a stick bug on a post after leaving lunch.
After the east trail ended we continued on to the west trail, indicated on the map with a yellow line. Here we followed a cliff side path which, when not cloudy, probably has stunning views. It’s too bad they don’t offer discounted prices for when there is no visibility. We then had to take the Tianmen Mountain Escalators. We lost track how many there were but it was a long process to get through the mountain. At the end we were supposed to be able to see the famous Tianmen Cave, but the clouds were too thick.
Following a few pictures with local tourists we started the long walk down the Stairway to Heaven. Nick made some friends on the way down. We ended by going down the east cable car which had amazing views over the Tonglian Avenue, the windy hairpin turn road that makes its way up the mountain. It was beautiful and I was so thankful we could actually see it as it was a highlight I was looking forward to.
At the bottom of the station was an outdoor theatre. The theatre was in a beautiful setting with the Tianmen Mountains all around. The clouds were mostly above us at this point and we could see how beautiful the mountains were. Even getting a small glimpse made the whole day worth it.
Overall we loved our time in Zhangjiajie and it went mostly to plan. A good heads up, though, for any friends and family traveling there is in regards to a common Didi scam we encountered. Almost every Didi we took added fees to our rides that were fraudulent. The most common was parking and highway tolls when there weren’t any. Luckily it was very easy to resolve with the customer service, but I assume most tourists wouldn’t know to check the fare breakdown to see if anything suspicious has been added. We didn’t encounter anything similar anywhere else in China. Otherwise everyone was honest and seemed genuinely happy that we were there.