Scenic area · Hunan
Zhangjiajie
张家界
Sandstone pillars of Wulingyuan in the Tujia mountains
Zhangjiajie is a prefecture-level city in north-western Hunan, in the Wuling Mountains. It is the base for the Wulingyuan World Heritage site, a landscape of more than three thousand quartz-sandstone pillars, and for Tianmen Mountain with its great natural arch. Most of its people are Tujia.
Key facts
Overview
Zhangjiajie became a travel destination only in the 1980s, when the forest reserve in the Wulingyuan area was declared China's first national forest park in 1982. The pillars, some rising several hundred metres, were carved by water and frost from horizontally bedded quartz sandstone along vertical joints.
The city itself lies on the Li River some thirty kilometres south of Wulingyuan, beneath Tianmen Mountain. The countryside around is Tujia country, with wooden stilt houses and villages on the terraced slopes.
Names and nicknames
大庸
The city's name until 1994, when it was renamed after its best-known scenic area; Dayong survives in local names.
History
The area was part of the Tujia chieftain domains until the Qing replaced them with regular administration in the eighteenth century. It was a base area of the Red Army under He Long in the early 1930s. Modern history is that of tourism: the national forest park of 1982, the World Heritage inscription of Wulingyuan in 1992 and the renaming of Dayong as Zhangjiajie in 1994.
1982
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
The first national forest park in China, created from a state forest farm.
1992
Wulingyuan inscribed as World Heritage
The park and neighbouring Suoxi Valley, Tianzi Mountain and Yangjiajie areas were inscribed together.
1994
Dayong renamed Zhangjiajie
The prefecture-level city took the name of its famous forest park.
2010
“Avatar Hallelujah Mountain”
Local authorities renamed the Southern Sky Column after the film Avatar, whose floating mountains were partly inspired by the landscape.
Landmarks
Nature
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
张家界国家森林公园
The core of Wulingyuan, with the Golden Whip Stream (金鞭溪) walk along the valley floor and viewpoints such as Yuanjiajie.
Nature
Tianzi Mountain
天子山
Plateau at the northern edge of Wulingyuan with views over the forest of pillars.
Nature
Tianmen Mountain
天门山
Mountain beside the city with Tianmen Cave, a natural arch high in the cliff, reached by a long cableway and a road of 99 bends.
Nature
Yellow Dragon Cave
黄龙洞
Large limestone cave with an underground river in the Suoxi Valley.
Neighbourhoods
Wulingyuan district
武陵源
The town at the entrance of the scenic area, where most visitors stay.
Food
Sanxiaguo
三下锅
Tujia dry pot of three meats — usually tripe, pork and beef — cooked with chillies.
Tujia smoked pork
土家腊肉
Pork smoked for weeks above the kitchen hearth.
Culture
The Tujia make up the majority of the city's population. Their hand-waving dance, bridal laments and wooden stilt houses (吊脚楼) are part of village life; the Tujia New Year (赶年) is celebrated a day before the Han calendar New Year, a custom explained by a legend of an early departure to war.
Getting around
- Zhangjiajie West station is on the high-speed lines to Changsha, Chongqing and Yichang.
- Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport lies between the city and Tianmen Mountain.
- Buses connect the city with the Wulingyuan entrances; inside the scenic area shuttle buses, the Bailong lift and cable cars link the valley and the plateaus.
Day trips
Fenghuang
凤凰古城
Riverside old town of stilt houses in Xiangxi, the home town of Shen Congwen.
Furong town
芙蓉镇
Tujia town on a waterfall in Yongshun county, formerly Wangcun.
Laosicheng
老司城
The World Heritage seat of the Tujia chieftains in Yongshun county.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Zhangjiajie Municipal People's Government — Zhangjiajie Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
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