Detailed Guide to Independent Travel in Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang [In-Depth]

For those of us without money or connections, we have to search online for guides and figure out our own independent trip. A friend who had just visited Zhangjiajie gave me a fresh guide and lots of beautiful photos. Let me study it carefully and provide a detailed annual leave travel guide for everyone! Detailed Zhangjiajie backpacking guide: Zhangjiajie.

This article is compiled from the original travel notes on the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com); it is a record of trips from earlier years. Time-sensitive information such as ticket prices, schedules, and accommodation prices is subject to the latest announcements from scenic areas and transportation authorities; the itinerary ideas and attraction introductions still have reference value.

For those of us with no money and no connections, we just have to go online ourselves to look up guides and figure out how to do an independent trip.

It just so happened that a friend online had just been to Zhangjiajie.

They gave me a piping-hot guide and tons of beautiful photos. Haha. Time to study it carefully. I'll provide everyone with a detailed guide for an annual leave trip!

Detailed Zhangjiajie backpacking guide:

Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang are fairly close, about a 4-hour drive apart, and a 5 to 6-day itinerary can basically cover the highlights. I suggest going to Zhangjiajie first for 3 days, then to Fenghuang for 2 days. This arrangement is mainly because Zhangjiajie is quite tiring, physically demanding, and the food may not be particularly good; after 3 days of trekking, the last two days in Fenghuang are essentially a rest.

1) Transportation

Zhangjiajie has its own airport, Hehua Airport, with direct flights from fairly large cities. In peak season, airfare is relatively expensive; if you fly, the ticket cost accounts for about half to two-thirds of total expenses.

A more economical way is to take the train, but sleeper tickets are very hard to get in peak season. There are many buses from Zhangjiajie Railway Station to the city center, and you can choose according to your needs.

If you can't get a train ticket to Zhangjiajie, consider transferring in Changsha. There are many trains from Nanjing to Changsha, so sleeper tickets are not a problem. At Changsha Railway Station, take bus 312 or 168 to Changsha West Bus Station, where there are direct express buses to Zhangjiajie. Buses run from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., one every hour, with a 4-hour ride and a fare of 114 yuan (including insurance). If you arrive in Zhangjiajie city in the afternoon or evening, I suggest staying one night in the city and going to the scenic area the next morning.

2) Sightseeing

The entire Zhangjiajie scenic area actually includes many scenic areas; Zhangjiajie Forest Park is only one of them. The major scenic areas include Zhangjiajie Forest Park, Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, Yangjiajie Scenic Area, Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area, and Baofeng Lake Scenic Area, and each scenic area has different travel routes. You can spend anywhere from 2 to 4 days in Zhangjiajie; generally 3 days is about right. With 2 days you'll miss some attractions, and with 4 days you can see it fairly completely.

If you join a tour group, you don't have to worry about food and lodging, but you'll miss many classic attractions, and the places you do visit are packed with people. So it's best to travel on your own, but the scenic area is so large and complex, and somewhat dangerous, that it's easy to get lost or run into danger on your own. A better approach is to find a local guide to lead the way.

As for the specific sightseeing routes, everyone has their own view. We did the Golden Whip Stream route in Zhangjiajie Forest Park, Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, Yangjiajie Scenic Area, and Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area. In addition, on the second day of the trip, we had the guide add a Laowuchang route for us. This route is relatively pristine and very beautiful. The six of us chartered a minivan for 120 yuan, with a guide taking us by car from Daguantai in Yuanjiajie. The round trip takes about 1 hour, and 30 minutes to 1 hour is enough for sightseeing.

The greater Zhangjiajie scenic area has four entrances: Zhangjiajie Forest Park, Yangjiajie, Tianzi Mountain, and Wulingyuan ticket stations. I recommend entering from the Tianzi Mountain entrance because it is up on the mountain, relatively close to the guesthouses in Yuanjiajie. This route is easier: once you arrive, you can leave your luggage at the guesthouse and then start sightseeing. On the third day, leave from Zhangjiajie Forest Park. From the guesthouse to the Forest Park entrance, you have to go down more than 3,000 steps; even going down is tiring. If you enter from the Forest Park entrance, those 3,000-plus steps have to be climbed upward, and while carrying luggage.

The specific route arrangement is as follows:

On the first day, go directly from the city to the hotel in Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, drop off your luggage, then visit Wulong Village, Tianbo Mansion, Three Ghost Gate Passes, Yang Family Heroines, Echo Wall, Lovers Peak, Five Finger Mountain, Fifth Son Worshipping Buddha, One Step to Heaven, and Sky Corridor in Yangjiajie Scenic Area. Stay overnight at a Tujia mountain village. Wulong Village, Tianbo Mansion, One Step to Heaven, and Sky Corridor in Yangjiajie are attractions very much worth seeing.

On the second day, visit Daguantai, Immortal Bridge, Tianzi Seat, One Step Hard to Walk, Divine Chicken Feeding, Shentang Bay, Point General Terrace, Tianzi Mountain, He Long Park, Fairy Scattering Flowers, Jade Brush Peak, Yunqing Rock, Painting Immortal Enraptured Picture, Tianzi Viewing Platform, Laowuchang, Divine Soldiers Gathering, and Sky Garden. Stay overnight at a Tujia mountain village. Daguantai faces east, and if the weather is good, it is an excellent place to watch the sunrise. The attractions in Yuanjiajie are all very beautiful. Laowuchang, Divine Soldiers Gathering, and Sky Garden are attractions on the Laowuchang route and require an extra request to the guide. There is enough time, and as for the scenery, if you go, you absolutely will not regret it.

On the third day: Yuanjiajie, Number One Bridge Under Heaven, Soul-Enchanting Terrace, Back Garden, Meeting After a Thousand Miles, Purple Grass Pool, Wenxing Rock, Divine Eagle Guarding the Whip, Master and Disciple Seeking Scriptures, Pig Bajie Carrying His Bride, Mother and Child Peak, Golden Whip Stream, Great Oxygen Bar Square, then return from Forest Park to Zhangjiajie city.

When sightseeing, the order of attractions may differ somewhat from this, but you'll basically visit them all. The major scenic areas are connected by environmentally friendly minibuses, which are free to ride within the scenic area and can save a lot of time.

Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, Yangjiajie Scenic Area, and Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area are for viewing peaks, while Baofeng Lake Scenic Area is for viewing water. We didn't go to Baofeng Lake Scenic Area this time; it's said to be very nice, taking about half a day. If you want to go, you can have the guide arrange it.

3) Accommodation

There are many hotels in the city. We stayed at Jinjiang Inn, at No. 51 Ziwu Road (Ziwu Road), relatively close to the scenic area. Some of the guesthouses on the mountain are concentrated at the Zhangjiajie Forest Park entrance, and another group is concentrated in Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, which is the area where the Tujia guesthouses are located. The scenic area ticket is valid for two days, meaning if you stay outside the scenic area, you can only enter for two days, and on the third day you need to buy a new ticket. If you stay inside Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, you don't have to worry about the ticket time limit, and another advantage, as mentioned earlier, is that staying in Yuanjiajie means you travel from the mountain down, making the itinerary easier and avoiding climbing those 3,000-plus steps.

On the mountain in this season it is very humid, so guesthouse rooms are rather damp, and clothes hung out basically won't dry. Mornings and evenings are relatively cool, and guesthouses generally don't have air conditioning because you don't need it at night. They have private bathrooms and 24-hour hot water, and you need to bring your own toiletries. There are many guesthouses in Yuanjiajie Scenic Area. Yang Yong, guide of Zhangjiajie Yang Family Home, will arrange the best guesthouse, and they have a reception department in Zhangjiajie city. If you have extra luggage, they can store it for free, and they will also book return tickets for guests.

4) Food

If you book a guide for independent travel, you don't have to worry about meals. We were fairly satisfied with the food; the dishes tend to be spicy. If you eat in the scenic area on your own, even vegetables cost 20 yuan, which is rather expensive. When we had lunch near Daguantai, the conditions were quite basic, and the rice even had bugs in it, quite a few of them. We picked out what we could, and whatever we couldn't pick out we just treated as extra protein.

A distinctive snack in the scenic area is potato skewers, generally 2 to 3 yuan per skewer, with different numbers depending on the place, ranging from 4 to 8. Kiwi fruit is a local specialty here, but it doesn't ripen until September or October.

5) Souvenirs

There are quite a few Tujia souvenirs in the Zhangjiajie scenic area, mostly shawls, ethnic camisoles, skirts, and Tujia silver. If you also plan to go to Fenghuang, don't buy shawls and ethnic clothing here, because Fenghuang has many more varieties and they are prettier, at similar prices: shawls 20, camisoles 20, skirts 30. As for Tujia silver, some attractions sell it expensively and some cheaply. The cheapest we bought was 10 yuan for 4 bracelets or earrings; if you want to buy, you can boldly bargain down to this. As for how much silver content there is, I'm a layman.

6) Expenses

If you book an independent travel guide, you can just contact Yang Yong, head of the Zhangjiajie Yang Family Home Independent Travel Club. The cost for 3 days in the scenic area is 470 yuan, 220 for students, including food and lodging. If you go to Laowuchang Scenic Area, the chartered car is 120 yuan and can seat 7 people, averaging 20 yuan per person; the guide does not pay the fare. The bigger expense is getting from home to Zhangjiajie, plus some money for souvenirs and snacks.

This guide is quite detailed, right? And it's not a tour-group guide. It has a bit of an independent travel nature. You get to see many places, there's no shopping segment, and it's very enjoyable. Everyone can consider it when traveling on their own.

Source & reference