7 Days Hunan Zhangjiajie and Guizhou Fanjingshan Nature Tour

Recent years, Hunan and Guizhou are now drawing more and more attentions from the globe! Why are there so many people flocking to these two less known provinces in southwestern China? Because they hare something incredible – the Avatar World Zhangjiajie National Park, wonderland Tianmen Mountain, the longest glasses bridge in the world. And right in 2018, Fanjingshan in Guizhou Province was announced as World Heritage Site. What surprisingly good news is that Zhangjiajie and Fanjingshan are not very far away from each other! So take our Zhangjiajie Fanjingshan 7 Days’ tour to explore their unbelievable nature now!

Highlights:

• Spend three days to explore three BESTS of Zhangjiajie – Zhangjiajie National Park, Zhangjiajie Glasses Bridge and Tianmen National Park.
• Enjoy a leisure stay at Fenghuang Ancient Town, one of the most beautiful ancient towns in China.
• Visit Fanjingshan, the World Heritage epic site which was considered to have “outstanding universal value” by UNESCO.

Detailed Itinerary

Welcome to Zhangjiajie! Upon arrival, be greeted by our tour guide in the airport or train station who is holding a sign on which says your name. A comfortable vehicle (non-smoking) with experienced driver will transfer you directly to your hotel in the Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan. Your guide will help you check in. The rest of today is on your own to explore this beautiful city.

Arrival ideas:

Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport is 6 km from downtown area. It has flights from Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Qingdao and more destinations in China. while Zhangjiajie Railway Station is about 2 km from downtown area. Trains are connected Zhangjiajie with Changsha (6 hrs), Yichang (5 hrs), Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Guangzhou, etc.

Day 2 Zhangjiajie

Sightseeing and Activities: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park , Bailong Elevator,  Tianzi Mountain
Accommodation: Zhangjiajie
Meals: breakfast, lunch

After breakfast, start your full-day Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Adventure. Located 32 kilometers from Zhangjiajie city, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is the first state-level forest park in China. It is known for its exquisite forests, odd-shaped peaks and rocks, the beautiful canyons, the limestone caves, and the breath-taking panoramic views. The words, such as majestic, eccentric, tranquil, delicate and wild, are not enough to describe it’s beauty.

Firstly, go to take the 326-meter-high Bailong Elevator (the tallest and the fastest in the world) up to Yuanjiajie, which is situated in the north of Zhangjiajie National Park. This scenic area is world famous as the mountains here inspired the floating mountains in the Hollywood movie Avatar. The peaks in Yuanjiajie are nearly at the same height, which makes it a mountain platform great for enjoying sweeping vistas.

Next, take a sightseeing bus to Tianzi Mountain, where you can have a stunning view of the peaks rising one after another. Atop of the mountain offers a full extent of the whole scenic area, which is magnificent and spectacular. There are four wonders in Tianzi Mountain: the Sea of Clouds, the Radiance of the Moonlight, Rays of Sunshine and the Snow in winter.

After the exciting tour, your guide and driver will escort you to your hotel.

Day 3 Zhangjiajie

Sightseeing and Activities: Yellow Dragon Cave, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge, Rainbow Square, Yilian Youmeng, Momo Cave, the Holy Spring Lake
Accommodation: Zhangjiajie
Meals: breakfast, lunch

In this morning, you’ll drive about 8 km to see the natural wonder in the Yellow Dragon Cave, also known as Huanglong Cave. It is an underground-lost palace which is praised as the most beautiful cave in the world by UNESCO Experts, with an area of 100,000 square meters, a length of 7.6 kilometers, a height of 140 meters. There are two underground rivers, four waterfalls, 13 caverns and 10,000 stalagmites and stalactites is this huge limestone cave. The Magic Needle and Chair of Dragon King are two most famous sights in the cave.

After the relaxing tour, be ready for today’s exciting adventure. You’ll drive about 20 km to visit Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon. You will start from the Tourist Center to Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge to walk on the highest and longest glass bridge in the world. After that, appreciate the charming sightseeing of running waters, flying waterfalls, lush vegetation, etc. at the Rainbow Square, Yilian Youmeng, Momo Cave, the Holy Spring Lake and other beautiful attractions in Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon. (Please note: In Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, you can choose to only experience the thrilling glass bridge or fully explore the Grand Canyon by hiking together with the Glass Bridge. Feel free to tell your likes to your travel consultants.)

After the tour, you’ll be transferred to your hotel in Zhangjiajie downtown area.

Day 4 Zhangjiajie-Fenghuang

Sightseeing and Activities: Tianmen Mountain, Cliff-Hanging Walkway, Tianmen Cave, Fenghuang Ancient Town
Accommodation: Fenghuang
Meals: breakfast, lunch

After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel. On this day, you’ll first take a trip to Tianmen Mountain. Referred to as the “Soul of culture and spirit of Zhangjiajie”, Tianmen Mountain, standing 1,500 meters above sea level, boasts miraculous and unique geographic landform, unparalleled natural landscape, profound cultural connotations.

Experience the longest cableway in Asia with a length of 7200 meters, take photos of Avenue toward Heaven with 99 turns from cable car. On the top of Tianmen Mountain, enjoy the Cliff-Hanging Walkway and avoid the crowds to take some photos; hold your breath and experience the thrilling Glass Sky Walk. Then, visit the natural mountain-penetrating Karst cave – Tianmen Cave. The foot of the cave is wonderful photo opportunity with the hole in the mountain as the background. It is worth waiting for the sunlight to shine through the hole with mist or smoke illuminating the way.

After the tour, your guide and driver will escort you to Fenghuang Ancient Town with 4-hours’ drive. Appreciate the fabulous night view of this ancient town.

Day 5 Fenghuang-Jiangkou

Sightseeing and Activities: Fenghuang Ancient Town, Phoenix River relaxing boat experience, The Former Residence of Shen Congwen, and the East Gate Tower
Accommodation: Jiangkou
Meals: breakfast, lunch

Today, you’ll have a nice tour in Fenghuang Ancient Town. It is located on the western edge of Hunan Province and next to Guizhou. Praised as the most beautiful tiny city in China, it sets an example of what villages were like before the start of modernization. In the town dozens of lanes are paved with stones that run between the wooden houses built on stilts. Generations of local people have stepped on the lanes and worn them down bit by bit. Highlights of your today’s tour will be Phoenix River relaxing boat experience, The Former Residence of Shen Congwen, and the East Gate Tower, etc.

In the afternoon, drive to Jiangkou County, which is conveniently located at the foot area of Fanjingshan.

Day 6 Jiangkou-Fanjingshan-Tongren

Sightseeing and Activities: Fanjingshan Mountain, Red Cloud Golden Summit, Mushroom Stone, Old Golden Summit, Cheng En Temple
Accommodation: Tongren
Meals: breakfast, lunch

Today is a full day exploration of the incredible Fanjingshan. You will take the South Route to assend the mountain. First take park bus from the tourist center to Yu’ao Station where you will take a cable car up to the mountain top area, which will save you a lot of time for you to spend on the highlighting area.

What to see at Fanjingshan

Located in Tongren, Guizhou province (southwest China), Fanjingshan is the highest peak of Wuling Mountains, 2,570m (8,430ft) above sea level. Besides standing out as a sacred Maitreya mountain for Buddhists, Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve was also established and designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and later announced as a World Heritage Site in 2018.

Red Cloud Golden Summit, a thumb-like peak, is described by UNESCO as an “island of metamorphic rock in a sea of karst”, believed to have been formed somewhere between 2 million and 65 million years ago. For everyone else, one of the main appeals of visiting Fanjingshan is the stunning views from the summit.

Mushroom Stone is the landmark of Fanjingshan. Big on the top and small at the bottom, it is vividly formed like a mushroom. For more than one billion years , it has been standing there still and hit by the rainstorms, summer heat and winter snow year after year, which is the essence of what Buddhism says about “Remain unbiased” in every circumstance.

Old Golden Summit, with an elevation of 2,494 metres, is the highest scenic site of Fanjingshan. On the top of Old Golden Summit is a temple dedicated to Buddha Dipamkara which is as well as the best place to take some panoramic photos of Fanjingshan.

Cheng En Temple, located between the two summits with scarlet walls and black tiles, is the main building of Fanjingshan Temple Group and one of the four Royal temples in Fanjingshan which was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368AD-1644AD).

After the fantastic sightseeing, drive to Tongren City for accommodation.

Day 7  Tongren Departure

Sightseeing and Activities: Tongren Departure
Accommodation: none
Meals: breakfast

Today is free for you to transfer to next destination.

Departure Idea: Fanjingshan is about 78km to Tongren city. There is an airport and 2 Train stations in Tongren and these transportation junctions connect Tongren to a number of major cities in China. You can take flights to Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Changsha, Guiyang, Kunming, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, etc. or take bullet train to Guiyang, Changsha, Shaoshan, Yueyang, Wuhan, Xianning, Nanchang, Xinyang, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Jinhua, Yiwu, etc.

Service Included:

• All land transfer and transportation as listed in the itinerary;
• Excellent English speaking tour guide and skilled driver;
• Entrance tickets mentioned in the itinerary;
• Two bottles of water each day each person;
• Accommodation with breakfast;
• Meals as mentioned.

Service Excluded:

• Any arrival and departure international airfares or train tickets;
• Chinese visa fees;
• Meals not mentioned;
• Tips to guides and drivers;
• Personal expenses and gratuities to service staff;
• Personal travel accident insurance;
• All optional programs.

Travel Tips:

• Visitors are advised to always carry changes of clothing due to the large variations in temperature between day and night.
• Protecting oneself from strong UV radiation at high altitude.
• Protecting oneself from altitude sickness. Lessen the effects of altitude sickness, avoid strenuous exercise and have plenty of rest.
• Respect local customs , habits, and religious beliefs.
• When take photos, please pay attention to your safety, do not shoot in dangerous areas.