To reduce over-crowding, the Grand Canyon Glass Bridge Office has limited the number of visitors per day to 8,000, and divided the visiting times into morning and afternoon.
Entrance tickets can only be obtained by reservation. Travel agencies have first priority for ticket reservation, and individual reservations are seldom accepted.
We don't offer a Glass Bridge ticket booking service, but we have a best-value, customizable Zhangjiajie day trip including tickets and access to the glass bridge. We suggest you book at least 10 days in advance.
By flight: Zhangjiajie is connected by direct flight with some major cities in China.
Cities with daily flights to Zhangjiajie include: Changsha (1hr), Beijing (3hrs), Shanghai (2½hrs), Xi'an (1hr), Guangzhou (2hrs), Nanjing (2hrs), Qingdao (2½hrs), and Shenyang (5hrs with stopover). From May 15, 2015, daily flights from Guilin (2hrs), Wuhan (1hr) and Hengyang (1hr) will start operating.
Cities with 2-4 flights per week to Zhangjiajie include: Chengdu (1½hrs), Chongqing (1hr), Hangzhou (2hrs), Shenzhen (2hrs), Tianjin (4hrs with stopover), Lanzhou (2hrs), Kunming (1½hrs), Lianyungang (2hrs), and Shijiazhuang (1½hrs). From June 15, 2015, flights from Wenzhou, Hefei, Yantai, Changzhou and Ningbo will start operating.
By train: You can get to Zhangjiajie by train (6 hours) or flight (1 hour) from Changsha City, the capital city of Hunan Province, which can be conveniently used as a transfer place. Direct trains to Zhangjiajie are also available from Yichang (5 hours), Guangzhou (13 hours), Shenzhen (18 hours), and Liuzhou (12 hours).
Go to Zhangjiajie from Hong Kong: There is no direct transportation between Hong Kong and Zhangjiajie, so one transfer is needed. You can first go to Shenzhen and take high-speed rail to Changsha (3 hours), and then transfer train to Zhangjiajie (6 hours). Another way is to go to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and take direct flight to Zhangjiajie (2 hours).
Zhangjiajie National Park is open to public all year round, and the period from April to October is considered the best time to visit. April to June is the rainy season with extensive fog, adding an enchanting atmosphere to the scenery. From September to October the autumn foliage becomes colorful.
Generally speaking, 3-4 days are enough to see the main attractions of Zhangjiajie. You can also extend the tour with a one day trip to Fenghuang ancient town, about 5 hours by car from Zhangjiajie.
Zhangjiajie (张家界 /jung-jyaa-jyeah/ 'Zhang Family Area') is a small city and mountainous prefecture of northern Hunan Province in South China, fashionably popular for scenery tourism. The main attractions are Wulingyuan National Park (with the rock pillars, 40 minutes' drive from the city, in the north of the prefecture) and Tianmen Mountain/ Tianmen Cave (a taller peak with the longest cable car, etc. on the south of the city).They are all often referred to as ‘Zhangjiajie' out of habit and convenience.
Wulingyuan Area contains Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (including Yuanjiajie and Golden Whip Stream), Suoxi Valley, Tianzi Mountain, and Yangjiajie.
A medium level of fitness is required for walking around Zhangjiajie. There are cable cars up and down the main mountains, but to see the scenery you need to walk for maybe 3 hours per day. Walking is not hard at the main attractions, where concrete paths and steps have been built for tourists.
All these four places are listed into China's top 10 most beautiful natural places, but they each have their own features. Zhangjiajie is a World Heritage Site, featuring precipitous and precarious pillars that became the inspiration for Hallelujah Mountain in movie Avatar. Guilin is known for its Chinese-painting-like scenery of hills and water, with numerous outdoor activities suitable for any level. At the Yellow Mountains you will marvel at the sea of clouds, peculiar-shaped rocks and pines, sunrise and sunset, and ancient villages nearby. As for Jiuzhaigou, it is a fairy land of colors formed by snowcapped mountains, lakes and forests.
