Things to do in Zhangjiajie, sorted the way you plan a trip

Must-see — three days is these

• Zhangjiajie National Forest Park — the pillars themselves: Yuanjiajie, the Bailong Elevator and Tianzi Mountain. ¥165 for four days plus ¥72 for the shuttle bus. A full day for the core, two to do it justice.
• Tianmen Mountain — the mountain at the edge of the city, with Heaven’s Gate and the 999 steps and the glass walkways on top. ¥285; four to six hours; Route C only since October 2026.
• Grand Canyon glass bridge — 430 m of glass and the canyon below it. ¥178 for bridge and canyon; half a day.

Worth adding — days four and five

• Huangshizhai — the classic first climb inside the forest park, a plateau loop of viewpoints; cable car ¥65; half a day.
• Golden Whip Stream — a flat two-to-three-hour walk along the stream between the pillars; good in rain.
• Yangjiajie — the wilder ridges with far fewer people; cable car ¥76.
• Qixing Mountain and the Sky Ladder — the 168 m ladder from the videos (¥780 to climb) and a summit with a glass platform for everyone else (¥199 package); half a day to a day.
• Furong Town — the town on a waterfall, 23 minutes by train; ¥108; stay the night for the lights.
• Fenghuang — the river town an hour away by train; free to enter; stay a night.

Rainy day

• Huanglong Cave — an underground river system with 3,200 m open to visitors; about two hours, ¥121; 20 minutes from Wulingyuan town.
• Baofeng Lake — a mountain lake with a half-hour boat ride and Tujia folk singers on the water.
• Ten-Mile Gallery train — a small train through the valley below the peaks; ¥38 one way.

After dark

• Charming Xiangxi — the big theatre show in Wulingyuan town, usually from 19:30; ¥168–308 by seat.
• Tianmen Fox Fairy — an outdoor spectacle at the foot of Tianmen Mountain, nightly at 20:20 from mid-March to December (closed January and February); from ¥178.
• The drone show — two thousand drones over the Suoxi River on major holidays and selected dates, about fifteen minutes after dark.
• Times, seat prices, subtitles and rain rules for all of them are on the shows page.
• 72 Qilou — the Tujia-style tower and snack street in the city, open by day and at its liveliest after dark, with the lights and square shows included in the ticket; Wulingyuan also has the Zhangjiajie Qiangu Qing theme-park show, with sessions that change by season.

Fitting it in

• Three days: the forest park, Tianmen Mountain, the glass bridge.
• Five days: two days in the forest park, Tianmen, the bridge, and Furong Town or Fenghuang.
• Rain: the hours after rain are the best on the mountain; in a downpour swap that day for the cave or the lake.

Every price here is the scenic area’s own listed adult fare; all of them are on one page at Zhangjiajie tickets. Prices and timetables last checked October 2026; they change — treat them as a guide, not a quote.