How to spend one day in Zhangjiajie National Park
Zhangjiajie was recognized as China’s first National Forest Park in 1982 and covers an area of about 4,810 hectares. The park forms part of the much larger Wulingyuan Scenic Area, which spans roughly 397 km².
In 1992, Wulingyuan Scenic Area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its extraordinary natural beauty. Later, in 2001, it was approved by China’s Ministry of Land and Resources as the Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest National Geopark, and in 2004 it was listed as a UNESCO Global Geopark.
What makes Zhangjiajie so remarkable are the thousands of towering pillar-like rock formations that rise dramatically from the forest floor. Although they resemble limestone karst landscapes, these pillars are actually made of quartz sandstone.
Unlike karst formations, which are created through chemical dissolution of limestone, Zhangjiajie’s pillars were shaped mainly by physical erosion over millions of years. Frost expansion during winter, dense vegetation growth, and constant moisture gradually weathered the rock, while streams carried away the eroded material.
The result is a surreal landscape of towering stone columns covered in lush greenery. These formations have long inspired traditional Chinese landscape paintings.
The Avatar Connection
One of the park’s most famous pillars is the Southern Sky Column, which rises about 1,080 meters.
In January 2010, it was officially renamed “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain” after the success of the movie Avatar. The film’s production designers reportedly drew inspiration from dramatic mountain landscapes around the world, including those found in Hunan Province.
Standing in front of these towering pillars, it’s easy to understand why the landscape feels almost otherworldly.
Why Zhangjiajie?
When I told my Chinese colleague that I was planning to visit Zhangjiajie, he was very surprised.
He said it was still considered somewhat off the beaten path, even for domestic travelers, and he himself had never been there. Most international tourists visiting China tend to focus on destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, or Guilin.
But this was already my third trip to Beijing for work, and I had never ventured beyond the capital before. So I thought this was the perfect opportunity to explore somewhere completely different.
Arrival in Zhangjiajie
Our flight from Beijing landed at around 9:15 pm. Luckily our luggage arrived quickly and we headed out of the airport.
At the arrival gate, our driver was already waiting for us holding a banner with our names on it.
He didn’t speak any English, so we communicated using Baidu Translate. He typed Chinese sentences into his phone and showed them to us, and we replied the same way.
Technology really can remove the language barrier!
Our Hotel
We stayed at the Pullman Zhangjiajie Hotel, which is located near the east entrance of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Wulingyuan.
The hotel is about one hour’s drive from Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport, but we chose it because it is within walking distance of the national park entrance, which made things extremely convenient.
By the time we checked in it was already around 11 pm, so we went straight to bed. The next day was going to be a full hiking day.
Entering Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
After breakfast at the hotel, we picked up our park entrance tickets from the hotel reception, which Kelly (our local guide) had arranged for us beforehand.
From the hotel, we simply walked to the park entrance.
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is huge and there are several main scenic areas, including:
- Yellow Stone Village (Huangshi Village)
- Golden Whip Stream
- Yuanjiajie
- Tianzi Mountain
Ideally, you should spend 2–3 days exploring the park.
Since we only had one day, we decided to focus on Yuanjiajie, where the famous Avatar Hallelujah Mountain is located.
Yuanjiajie Scenic Area
Yuanjiajie is a high plateau surrounded by towering rock pillars and deep valleys.
Some of the highlights here include:
- First Bridge Under Heaven
- Avatar Hallelujah Mountain
- Lost Souls Platform
To get there, we first took the park shuttle bus, followed by a cable car ride up toward Tianzi Mountain.
The cable car ride took about 30 minutes and was absolutely spectacular. We floated above the forest while passing dramatic sandstone towers — plenty of opportunities for amazing photos.
The Famous Avatar Mountains
Seeing the famous Avatar-inspired rock formations up close was truly surreal.
It almost felt like stepping into another world.
Hiking Down
After spending quite some time taking photos, it was time to head back down.
There are several options to descend: walking trails, elevators, or cable cars.
We decided to take the Three Sisters Trail, thinking it would be a short and easy hike followed by a tram ride down.
Well… it turned out not to be that short 😅
We ended up hiking for hours, and not all of it was downhill either!
Hiking Adventures
Wienny — my friend who is also a yoga teacher — handled the hike quite well.
But there were definitely moments when we had to stop and rest while admiring the scenery.
And of course…
Whenever we got tired, we looked for another beautiful photo spot to justify another break.
😂
Finally… Food!
After several hours of hiking, we finally reached a rest area where we could buy food and drinks.
The waitress told us that the tram station was only another 2 km away.
“Yay!” we thought.
But just as we started descending again… it began to rain.
Luckily, we had umbrellas with us.
End of the Hiking Day
We finally reached the tram station and got down to the base around 5 pm.
By that point we were completely exhausted from a full day of hiking.
So we walked back to our hotel and called it a day.
Dinner: Halal Chinese Food
For dinner we found a Halal restaurant through a Muslim travel apThe place was called Restoran Islam, located just a few minutes by taxi from our hotel.
We were the only customers that night, and the owner personally served us.
He also didn’t speak English, so once again we communicated using Baidu Translate.
Technology saved the day again!
And the food?
Absolutely delicious.
We were so happy to be able to enjoy proper halal Chinese food while visiting Zhangjiajie.
