Zhangjiajie National Forest Park: Skip the Lines and Slopes on This Day Trip!

This was my first time visiting Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. I did some research beforehand, but for the rest, I relied on trial and error to find my way around. I entered the park at 7:30 am and finished visiting all the attractions by 5 pm, and it was on a Sunday, when there were many visitors. But I managed to take a day trip with zero lines and zero slopes! I've put the itinerary in picture one, and here's a detailed explanation: 1⃣ Enter through the Wulingyuan East Gate. At this time, the large tour groups will all be taking the eco-bus to the Bailong Elevator. I chose to take the eco-bus to the Tianzi Mountain cable car. 2⃣ No lines going up the Tianzi Mountain cable car, and it only takes ten minutes to get to Tianzi Mountain 3⃣ The eco-bus on the mountain will take you to Helong Park in Tianzi Mountain 4⃣ After visiting Helong Park and Tianzi Pavilion, take the eco-bus to Yangjiajie. The whole journey takes about 30 minutes. The winding mountain roads made me, someone who doesn't usually get carsick, feel a little nauseous. 5⃣ After getting off at Yangjiajie, avoid the crowds going to Yuanjiajie and take the Yangjiajie cable car down the mountain 6⃣ The mountain views on both sides of the Yangjiajie cable car are worth seeing. After getting off, an eco-bus will take you to Longfeng Temple 7⃣ After getting off, walk about 300m along the forest trail to the Huangshizhai cable car 8⃣ Huangshizhai is at the top of the cable car. The scenery here is beautiful, and I especially recommend taking the outer loop line counterclockwise. After 1 to 2 hours of sightseeing, take the cable car back down the mountain 9⃣ After coming down from Huangshizhai, take the eco-bus to the South Gate 🔟 If you're tired at this point, you can exit the park from the South Gate. If you still have energy, you can continue hiking the 5.5 km of the Golden Whip Stream. The scenery along the way is unique, and the whole journey, including breaks, will take about 2 to 2.5 hours, eventually reaching Water-Surrounded Gate 1⃣1⃣ Take the eco-bus from Water-Surrounded Gate to the Bailong Elevator 1⃣2⃣ When I got to the Bailong Elevator, it was 3:30 pm. At this time, there was no one waiting to go up the mountain. On the opposite side, there was a bustling crowd coming down the elevator. So, I had the entire glass window of the elevator to myself for the whole 60-second ride. To be honest, both the scenery and the ride experience were very average. If I had to wait in line for more than an hour, I would have felt like a total sucker. 1⃣3⃣ After taking the elevator up the mountain, you can take an almost empty eco-bus to Yuanjiajie. You'll find that everyone on the other side is taking pictures of the eco-bus going in the opposite direction and the people going down the Bailong Elevator. At this point, a sense of superiority arises spontaneously. 1⃣4⃣ The return journey from Yangjiajie is the same route as in the morning, just going back. Finally, I arrived at the Tianzi Mountain cable car at 5 pm to go down the mountain. At this time, there was almost no one on the cable car going down the mountain, so I did something very boring: I rode this cable car back and forth three times. I was the only one in the cable car, so I could take pictures and videos as I pleased. The jagged peaks on both sides of this cable car are still worth seeing. I left the park at 6 pm, bought a cup of Heytea at the entrance, and sat down to drink it slowly. Overall, the trip was very relaxing, because I was traveling during off-peak hours, so I didn't need to rush and could rest on the spot whenever I was tired. By the way, I bought a three-lock 1t multi-use ticket, so I could ride the cable cars and elevators as much as I wanted, without having to worry about the single-ride cost. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park