Helpful Information for Traveling to Zhangjiajie

Zhangjiajie is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Hunan province, China. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park are two famous tourist attractions in this city. Here I would like to offer some helpful information for traveling to Zhangjiajie

Zhangjiajie Tips

All scenic places in Zhangjiajie are in mountains area. Mountain roads are slippery in rainy days. Rain and fog can also cause unclear vision. It is not recommended to risk mountaineering in the rain days. If it must, you would better be accompanied with a local guide.

During public holidays of China and the summer tourist peak season, prices of various services, transportation, accommodation would be higher than that of low season.

Tel of tourism complaints in Zhangjiajie: 0744-8380193; Tel of consumer complaints: 12315

If you travel to Zhangjiajie by yourself and do not book airport pick up transfer in advance, do not have too high expectations for the airport bus. It was reported the local airport bus often do not depart on time, or it even stops work for the day before the last flight has not yet arrived. Airport taxis are sometimes too friends and cheating, therefore, you must be careful to select a taxi. Preferably, if you are worrying about language problem, it is recommended to rent a car with driver and tour guide in advance through local travel agent to negotiate a good price.

If you want to visit Zhangjiajie, do not travel from Changsha to Zhangjiajie by train N569. this train pass by Jishou, Huaihua and other places and it takes 10 hours. It is recommended to take N589 as it only about five hours; if you want to take the opportunity to go to Phoenix Ancient Town first, you can take the train N569 to get off at Jishou, then transfer to a local bus to reach Phoenix Town by another 1 hour.

It is best to contact to a reliable guide in advance, as the scenic spots in Zhangjiajie is in mountainous area, the guide would be very helpful to avoid to getting lost.

Best Travel Time 
 
Spring and autumn, especially in April, May, September and October, are the best time to travel to Zhangjiajie. In contrast, summer is hot and rainy, winter is quite cold. They are less comfortable than in Spring and Autumn.

Travel Service Phone Number

Tourism Office of Municipal Bureau: 0744-8380188
Municipal Scenic Bureau: 0744-8380185
Public Security Bureau Office: 0744-8222151
Airport Office: 0744-8238211
Tourism Bureau of Wulingyuan District: 0744-5618109
Flights Schedule Checking Number: 0744-8238417
Trains Schedule Checking Number: 0744-8514442

Post Office

Zhangjiajie City Post Office
Phone: 0744-8226898 / 8229338
Address: 2nd Daqiao Road, Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province

Hospital

Zhangjiajie City People's Hospital
Phone: 0744-8222270
Address: Gu Yong Road 192, Zhangjiajie City

Travel Guide

The scenic routing is quite complicated, if you haven’t done enough research or not familiar with the scenic area, you would better hire a local tour guide, who will introduce the attractions along the way in details and avoid to getting loss, even can help you carry luggage.

But do not blindly rely on tour guide, for whatever reason, the guide will try to deny where they do not want to go, let you miss the beautiful scenery. So you should do some homework in advance.

Entrance Gates

There are 5 Entrance Gates in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, namely Forest Park Ticket Station, Wulingyuan Ticket Station, Tianzishan Ticket Station, Shui Rao Si Men Ticket Station and Yangjiajie Ticket Station. One can enter the scenic area through any ticket entrance.

Most tourists chose to get in through Forest Park Ticket Station or Wulingyuan Ticket Station, because these two ticket stations are the most convenient traveling from Zhangjiajie downtown. If you want to avoid the crowd and want a direct ride to the top of the hill, then you should also enter through Tianzishan ticket station.

Forest Park Ticket Station

After entering this ticket station, you will get Golden Whip area. The Golden Whip has a length of 7.5 kilometers. If you book accommodation on the mountain, it would be quite tired by entering from this entrance with a lot of luggage.

Wulingyuan Ticket Station

From the entrance from Wulingyuan Ticket Station, you can take the green car to reach the Bailong elevator, by which you can arrive in the top of the mountain (more than 1200 meters above sea level) instantly. By walking and transferring, you can reach Yuanjiajie Scenic Area. If travel there during tourist peak season, you will possibly have to wait for one hour hundred.

Tianzishan Ticket Station

Tianzishan Ticket Station is a little far from Zhangjiajie downtown, it takes more than 25 minutes or compared to driviong to the Forest Park nd Wulingyuan Ticket Stations. The buses leaving for other tickets station have a interval of only 15 minutes, but buses leaving for Tianzishan Ticket Station have a interval time of half an hour.

The advantage of this ticket station is that you can take green car to reach the top of Tianzi Mountain directly in 12 minutes, then you can transfer to the green car to go anywhere in the scenic area. Eliminating the need for a cable car or Bailong Elevator ride up the mountain with long queuing time.