The Most Detailed Guide to Food, Accommodation, and Transport in Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang [Practical]

Route plan: Beijing West to Zhangjiajie {K267; Beijing West–Huaihua; 11:50–9:58; duration 22:08; soft seat 307 yuan; hard sleeper middle berth 353 yuan} → head straight up the mountain, stay on the mountain (standard room with private bathroom) for two and a half days, then Wangcun (Furong Town, by bus), stay at Wangcun's finest hotel (negotiated to 80 yuan for a standard double).

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.

Route design:

Beijing West--Zhangjiajie {k267; Beijing West-Huaihua; 11:50-9:58; duration 22:08, soft seat 307; hard sleeper middle 353}

->Go directly up the mountain, stay on the mountain (standard room with private bathroom)

Two and a half days in Wangcun (Furong Town, by bus), staying at the best hotel in Wangcun (haggled down to 80 yuan for a standard double room with air conditioning)

At noon on the second day, take a bus to Jishou, then transfer (immediately) to Fenghuang, stay in a stilted house (40 yuan per day for a standard room) (over two and a half days, visited the Southern Great Wall, Huangsiqiao, and Shujiatang), in the evening take a bus to Jishou (stay at Xiangyun Hotel, 60 yuan per day for a standard room with air conditioning), buy train tickets back to Beijing

Estimated per person: 2000 yuan

Zhangjiajie Guide:

Day One: Arrive in Zhangjiajie city area

I. How to Get Around

1. The Zhangjiajie city area is fairly small, and taxi fares are very cheap. If you're a bit lazy, it's recommended to just take taxis around the city to wherever you want to go. The starting fare is 3 yuan, free within two kilometers, and 50 cents per jump after that. The longest straight-line trip from the east of the city to the west is only 10 yuan.

2. To save money, take the minibuses, the blue ones, at 1 yuan per person. City buses are 1 yuan within the city, and Route 10 is the city loop line.

3. Places worth visiting in the city area

1) Top recommendation: Tujia Folk Customs Park, which Route 10 city loop passes by. Inside are ethnic minority architecture and folk customs, well worth a visit; admission is 60 yuan. It's three-star, and the accommodation is quite good — after discount, a standard room is 160 yuan/day. This place itself is a scenic spot; if you have time, you can leisurely rest here for a day, learn a lot about Tujia customs, and watch sacrificial performances.

2) Another place worth visiting is a spot called Xiuhua Mountain Hall; there's no local driver who doesn't know it. Take a minibus for 1 yuan, and anyone will take you there. Inside is pure Miao and Tujia folk custom, quite an eye-opener. Tickets are 30 yuan each.

3) Another place worth visiting is Baiyang Ancient Temple, also called Puguang Zen Temple; locals generally use the latter name. From the train station, take Route 1 or 7 and get off directly in front of the temple. Admission is 20 yuan.

4) Also there's Dayong Bridge Park, a really nice place to rest, free of charge, where you can see the majestic Tianmen Mountain, the place where planes fly through the cave. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings at 7 pm there are large musical fountain performances, and the scenery is really great!

II. How to Eat

1. Sanxiaguo (Three Down the Pot). It's a hot pot stewed without soup. Near Fengwan Bridge is "Master Hu's Sanxiaguo"; sanxiaguo is 10 yuan per portion, and one portion is enough for one and a half people. For two or three people, the most economical and practical choice is to order 20 yuan worth. Recommended dishes: dry-fried intestines and dry-fried walnut meat; the two can be stewed together in one pot, and the taste is fantastic! When eating, order a portion of pickled radish — crisp and sour, makes your mouth water!

Route 10 bus can get you there.

2. Eating fish. One place for fish head is called Old Wu Fish Head, in the city area at a place called Sanjiaoping; once you get to Sanjiaoping, just ask and you'll find it. The specialty is that when stewing the fish head, they add local cherry tomatoes, small ones, which make the soup very fresh. Route 10 bus can get you there.

3. In the middle section of Ziwu Road there's a place called Qin Jiwen Black Chicken Restaurant; the black chicken hot pot made there is also a Zhangjiajie specialty,

4. There's one called Little Wooden House in the busy downtown area, easy to find. Also Fengyuan — across from Fengyuan is Music Kitchen, whose iron-griddle crucian carp is delicious. Also A Wu Restaurant, all next to each other, and the flavors are all decent; A Wu's dry-fried meat is tasty.

5. If you want to whet your appetite, across from the cinema (now demolished) there's a place selling pickled radish and pickled cucumber, a very famous old brand, set up as a stall in front of a shop. Because it's so delicious, I hear the owner made quite a lot of money.

6. Eat "Straw Hat Noodles." The name comes from the owner who wears a straw hat year-round while selling noodles; the meat sauce is very fragrant. Only a small amount is sold each day, at the entrance of the second alley on the left side heading from the bus station toward the Department Store, 10 meters in, with no signboard — just a flatbed cart with a worn straw hat hanging on it. But by around 1 pm each day it's sold out. 2 yuan for a small bowl, 2.5 yuan for a large bowl.

7. A place a bit farther out where you can eat game, "Shangui Village" — the name is quite distinctive. On Ziwu Road in the city area. Recommended local specialty dishes: yellow meat, also called pressed meat, and Miao sour meat. Heizhugou wild mushrooms — fresh mushrooms of all kinds will dazzle you.

8. Zhangjiajie's specialty dishes include Tujia cured meat, sanxiaguo, pickled vegetables, fermented bean curd, and more. Flavor snacks include pickled radish, roasted chestnuts, ciba (glutinous rice cakes), roasted potatoes, and more.

9. Local specialties include lobster flower tea, kudzu root powder, chestnut cake, and more (best to buy in legitimate shops; don't be greedy for small bargains at roadside stalls, as most of those are fake)

III. How to Stay

For accommodation in the Zhangjiajie city area, if your requirements aren't high, you can stay at the Zhangjiajie Youth Hostel, 10–30 yuan per bed year-round. If you stay in a hotel, the cost is higher (generally 50 yuan per person for a two-star hotel, 80 to 120 yuan per person for a three-star).

For accommodation in the Zhangjiajie scenic area, you can choose to stay in Yuanjiajie or Yangjiajie (conditions can be similar to a hotel: private bathroom, hot water shower, color TV; the price is uniformly 40 yuan per person regardless of peak or off season, except for the three Golden Weeks). If you choose to stay at a three-star hotel on the mountain, the price is around 200 yuan

IV. How to Get to the Scenic Area:

1. Head straight to the large plaza on the left side of the station exit. In the plaza there are buses to the city area — Routes 1, 2, and 7 at 1 yuan per person (2 yuan from 22:00 to 06:00), all going to the city area. After Route 2 enters the city area, it can take you to the bus station to transfer to the BUS for the scenic area; if you're taking Route 1 or 7 and want to go to the bus station to catch a bus to the scenic area, remember to get off at the Department Store.

2. After arriving at the bus station, go directly to the station exit to catch a minibus to the scenic area. There are many minibuses, one every 10 minutes. To Forest Park it's 8 yuan, to Wulingyuan it's 12 yuan.

Day Two: Zhangjiajie Forest Park

The admission ticket to enter the mountain is 248 yuan, valid for two days (student ticket 134 yuan). With the same ticket, you can enter the mountain repeatedly within two days (the ticket has a fingerprint verification system, so it cannot be used by someone else). The Zhangjiajie scenic area includes many routes, and two days isn't enough to see it all; you can choose selectively based on your time. If two days aren't enough, then on the second night you must stay overnight in the scenic area, because the Zhangjiajie ticket is valid for two days, but as long as you don't exit the ticket gate, you can stay in the scenic area as long as you like.

In the morning, walk along Golden Whip Stream. The main scenic spots along the way include: Deep Mother-Child Love - Pig Bajie Carries His Bride - Divine Eagle Guards the Whip (the iconic spot of Golden Whip Stream) - Master and Disciples Seek the Scriptures (the filming location of CCTV's "Journey to the West" episode "Three Strikes on White Bone Demon") - Cleaving the Mountain to Save the Mother - Wenxing Rock - Purple Grass Pool - Two Turtles Explore the Stream - Scholar's Book Collection - Meeting After a Thousand Miles, and more. Golden Whip Stream is 15 li long in total and takes about 2 hours to walk; its endpoint is Water Wraps Four Gates. At Water Wraps Four Gates you can take the eco-bus (free) to the lower station of the White Dragon Elevator, and ride the White Dragon Elevator up to Yuanjiajie. White Dragon Elevator ticket price: 56 yuan/person up, 56 yuan/person down. The White Dragon Elevator claims three Guinness World Records: the world's tallest, the largest load capacity, and the fastest speed.

Lunch can be eaten at a farmhouse restaurant in Yuanjiajie.

In the afternoon, tour Yuanjiajie. The main scenic spots include: Number One Bridge Under Heaven - Soul-Enchanting Terrace - Back Garden. At night you can stay at a farmhouse inn in Yuanjiajie. Generally a double room is 100 yuan/night, with hot water, color TV, air conditioning, etc.

[Reminders]

(1) If you're not too optimistic about your physical strength or your money, you can skip Huangshizhai. The saying "If you don't go up Huangshizhai, your trip to Zhangjiajie is in vain" is just a promotional slogan by the Huangshizhai cable car company to get you to ride the cable car. After you've seen Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain and then go to see Huangshizhai, you'll regret it. (However, the saying circulating online, "If you don't go up Tianmen Mountain, your trip to Zhangjiajie is in vain," seems to make more sense — but going to Tianmen Mountain requires buying another expensive ticket, listed at 258 yuan/person, with discounts in winter)

(2) When going up to Yuanjiajie, you can also skip the White Dragon Elevator and choose to climb up from "Meeting After a Thousand Miles" at Golden Whip Stream; it takes about two hours to reach the top, and it's all small paths. If you feel you have excess energy, you can give it a try.

(3) Water Wraps Four Gates also has restaurants, but the prices are more expensive than in Yuanjiajie.

(4) Ordering dishes in the scenic area is generally quite expensive; you can ask a guide to help you arrange meals. 50 yuan for two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and one soup — very economical

Source & reference