Zhangjiajie-Furongzhen-Fenghuangzhen

6-Day Avatar Peaks & Waterfall Towns of Western Hunan: Zhangjiajie, Furong & Fenghuang

Designed for American Travelers · 5-Star & Scenic Boutique Hotels · Meals Included · Private Transportation · Dedicated English-Speaking Guide

Ride a glass elevator 1,000 feet up a cliff into a forest of floating stone spires, walk a skywalk above the clouds at Heaven's Gate Mountain, sleep in a thousand-year-old town built on top of a waterfall, and end among the lantern-lit stilt houses of the Tuo River — the dreamlike border country of Shen Congwen's novels. This is Western Hunan at its most cinematic: one UNESCO World Heritage peak-forest, two of China's most atmospheric ancient towns, and the landscapes that helped inspire Avatar.

Tour Highlights

• The Wulingyuan Peak Forest — A UNESCO World Heritage Site Enter Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, where more than 3,000 razor-like quartz-sandstone pillars rise from mist and subtropical forest — the extraordinary 1992 UNESCO natural wonder that redefined "mountain" for travelers, and the place China renamed the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain after the floating peaks of the film.
• Ride the Hundred-Dragons Sky Elevator Glide 326 meters (about 1,070 feet) up a sheer cliff in one of the world's tallest outdoor glass-and-steel observation elevators, then ride cableways between the summits for heart-stopping views over an endless sea of stone needles.
• Tianmen Mountain — Heaven's Gate & the Glass Skywalk Glide 28 minutes on one of the world's longest mountain passenger cableways, walk the cliff-hugging glass walkway above the clouds, and climb toward Tianmen Cave, a vast natural arch reached by 999 steps beneath the dizzying 99-bend "Sky Avenue."
• Furong — The Town Hanging on a Waterfall Spend the night in this 2,000-year-old Tujia market town (formerly Wangcun), where a wide waterfall plunges straight through the village past wooden stilt houses, with a walkway that leads behind the curtain of water. By night the falls and stone lanes glow under red lanterns.
• Fenghuang — The Phoenix City on the Tuo River Stay in a riverside stilt-house inn in perfectly preserved Fenghuang Ancient Town, cross century-old stepping stones and the covered Rainbow Bridge, drift by boat under lantern reflections, and walk in the footsteps of author Shen Congwen among Miao and Tujia culture.
• Exceptional Value, All-Inclusive Premium Tour Your package covers all private ground transportation, hand-selected city, mountain-view and riverside hotels, an expert English-speaking guide, every entrance ticket and in-park cableway/elevator listed, plus daily breakfast and selected local meals — no shopping stops, ever.

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1 | Arrival in Zhangjiajie · Welcome to Tujia Country

• Meals: Dinner
• Overnight: Zhangjiajie City, 5-star hotel

Full day: Private pickup at Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport or Zhangjiajie West High-Speed Railway Station and transfer to your city hotel, conveniently near the Tianmen Mountain cableway station.

• Afternoon/Evening: Settle in with a gentle stroll through the recreated Dayong Ancient City or Xibu Street, lined with Tujia stilt houses, craft stalls and snack kitchens. Welcome dinner of hearty Tujia "three-pot" stew (sanxiaguo), cured pork with wild fern, and mugwort rice cakes.

Day 2 | Wulingyuan · Yuanjiajie & the Avatar Peaks

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
• Overnight: Wulingyuan, scenic boutique hotel
• Morning: Drive to the Wulingyuan entrance of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. About 40 minutes. Board the eco-bus and ride the Hundred-Dragons Elevator (Bailong Tianti) 326 meters up the cliff to the plateau. Explore Yuanjiajie: the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain (Qiankun Pillar), the dizzying Mihuntai ("Enchanting Terrace") viewpoints, and the natural arch First Bridge Under Heaven, with pillars floating in the mist all around you.
• Lunch: Farmhouse lunch on the mountain — stewed free-range chicken with rock-ear mushrooms.
• Afternoon: Continue to Yangjiajie, walking the ridge to the Natural Great Wall and Tianbo Mansion viewpoints, where serried blade-like peaks form a stone fortress.Approx. 4–5 hours of walking with some steps; cableways used to spare the hardest climbs.
• Evening: Check in at Wulingyuan near the park gate. Optional evening Charming Xiangxi song-and-dance show of Tujia and Miao folklore.

Day 3 | Wulingyuan · Tianzi Mountain & Golden Whip Stream

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
• Overnight: Wulingyuan
• Morning: Take the eco-bus and cableway up to Tianzi Mountain (Tianzi Shan). Walk the summit loop past Helong Park, the Imperial Brush Peaks (Yubi Feng) and the West Sea Stone Forest, where thousands of pillars fill the valleys below — the classic Zhangjiajie panorama, most magical when cloud seas roll in after rain.
• Lunch: Mountain farmhouse lunch.
• Afternoon: Choose between the gentle Ten-Mile Gallery sightseeing tram through a sculpture garden of named pinnacles, or a level valley hike along the fern-lined Golden Whip Stream (Jinbian Xi), among the park's clearest water and old-growth forest.Keep a respectful distance from the wild macaques — please never feed them.
• Evening: Return to Wulingyuan for dinner and rest.

Day 4 | Tianmen Mountain → Furong Ancient Town

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Overnight: Furong Town, heritage boutique inn
• Morning (early): Ride the Tianmen Mountain cableway from the city — a spectacular 28-minute ascent over ridges and peaks to the summit. Walk the cliffside Glass Skywalk (shoe covers provided) and the ghost-valley plank road, then descend toward the immense Tianmen Cave ("Heaven's Gate"), reached by the famous 999 steps beneath the switchbacking 99-bend mountain road.Approx. 5 hours; time-slot reservation included, carry your passport.
• Lunch: Light lunch near the cableway base.
• Afternoon: Drive south to Furong Ancient Town. Approx. 1.5 hours. Check in to a boutique inn within walking distance of the waterfall.
• Evening: Walk the Five-Li bluestone street, the Tujia Chieftain Bridge and the bronze Xizhou Covenant Pillar, then follow the cliffside walkway to watch (and walk behind) the illuminated Furong Waterfall thundering through the village. Try a bowl of the famous Liu Xiaoqing rice tofu.

Day 5 | Furong Morning Mist → Fenghuang Ancient Town

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Overnight: Fenghuang Ancient Town, riverside heritage inn
• Morning: Rise early to photograph Furong in the mist, when the waterfall, tiled roofs and stone lanes are empty and ethereal — a scene unchanged since the 1986 film Hibiscus Town made the village famous.
• Mid-morning: Drive south through the Xiangxi hills to Fenghuang (Phoenix) Ancient Town. Approx. 1.5 hours; a short high-speed train between the new Furong and Fenghuang stations is an alternative.
• Afternoon: Check in to a Tujia stilt-house (diaojiaolou) inn on the quiet lower reach of the Tuo River, then explore the old town: the East Gate Tower, the covered Rainbow Bridge (Hongqiao), the line of weathered stepping stones (tiaoyan) across the river, Wanming Pagoda, and the former residences of writer Shen Congwen and philanthropist Xiong Xiling.
• Evening: Take a wooden boat cruise on the Tuo River as lanterns light up along the stilt houses, their reflections shimmering on the water; browse Miao silver and indigo tie-dye, and try local blood-duck hot pot and sour-soup fish.

Day 6 | Phoenix Morning Mist & Departure

• Meals: Breakfast
• Early morning: Walk up to the Nanhua Gate viewpoint for the classic sunrise panorama of mist drifting over the Tuo River and its clustered stilt houses — the most photographed moment in the old town.
• Morning: Last stroll for souvenirs (Miao embroidery, silver and ginger candy) and a final riverside tea before your private transfer.
• Depart from Fenghuang Ancient Town High-Speed Railway Station (roughly 1 hour to Zhangjiajie West; about 2.5–3 hours to Changsha South), or Tongren–Fenghuang Airport in neighboring Guizhou (about 50 minutes away) for your onward flight.We recommend a train or flight after 13:00; please share your departure details when booking.

From spires that seem to float in the clouds to lanterns trembling over a southern river, this journey through Western Hunan feels less like a trip and more like stepping inside a Chinese landscape painting.

What's Included

• Private air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced mountain-road driver throughout, including the Zhangjiajie–Furong–Fenghuang route and arrival/departure transfers
• Dedicated English-speaking guide for the full journey
• 5 nights' accommodation: 1 night in a 5-star Zhangjiajie City hotel, 2 nights in a scenic Wulingyuan boutique hotel, 1 night in a heritage inn at Furong, and 1 night in a riverside stilt-house inn in Fenghuang (daily breakfast included)
• All entrance tickets and reservations: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park 4-day pass with in-park eco-buses, the Hundred-Dragons Elevator and the listed cableways, Tianmen Mountain combined ticket (round-trip cableway/bus, glass-walkway shoe covers), Furong Ancient Town with waterfall walkway, and the Fenghuang old-town walk plus a Tuo River boat ride
• Selected meals: 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches and 3 dinners, featuring Tujia three-pot stew, cured meats, farmhouse chicken, rice tofu, blood-duck and sour-soup fish
• Bottled water in the vehicle and 24/7 on-trip assistance
• No shopping stops — a pure, privately escorted nature and heritage experience

What to Know

• Route & pacing: This is a one-way journey — arrive in Zhangjiajie and depart from Fenghuang, with no backtracking. We devote two full days to the vast Wulingyuan park (it cannot be done justice in one), then use the Tianmen Mountain afternoon to move naturally south to Furong. Departures are easiest from Fenghuang's high-speed rail station or Tongren–Fenghuang Airport; we're glad to add a Changsha extension.
• Tickets & reservations: Wulingyuan uses a real-name 4-day pass (fingerprint/face scan for repeat entry) including eco-buses, while Tianmen Mountain assigns timed A/B/C routes and books up on peak days; we reserve both ahead using your passport details, so carry your passport every day.
• UNESCO listing: Only Wulingyuan (Zhangjiajie National Forest Park), inscribed in 1992, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site here. The pillar renamed Avatar Hallelujah Mountain was popularized after the film; James Cameron drew inspiration from several Chinese mountains, so we present it as the local namesake rather than an official film location.
• Best seasons: April–June and September–early November are ideal — mild, green and often misty; cloud seas are most likely after rain. Summer is warm and humid with sudden showers; winter is quiet and occasionally snowy (some walkways may close). Layers and a light rain jacket are useful year-round.
• Walking level: Active. Expect long days with thousands of stone steps, cliffside plank walks and some steep sections, even with elevators and cableways doing the heavy lifting. Comfortable non-slip walking shoes are essential; the glass and cliff walkways are not suitable for a severe fear of heights, and we can arrange gentler routings on request. Altitude is modest (summits around 1,300–1,500 m / 4,250–4,900 ft), so altitude sickness is not a concern.
• Weather & gear: Pack a packable rain poncho rather than an umbrella (you'll want both hands on railings), sunscreen and insect repellent. On glass walkways shoe covers are required (provided). Photography is spectacular, but protect lenses in fog and rain.
• Wildlife: Wild macaques live along the streams — clever and bold. Do not feed, tease or expose food or plastic bags, and keep phones and sunglasses secured.
• Food: Xiangxi cooking leans sour, smoky and spicy, with cured meats, pickles, rice tofu and glutinous dishes; mild versions are easily requested, and vegetarian meals can be arranged with notice.
• Old-town stays: The Furong and Fenghuang inns are characterful historic wooden buildings with stairs, low doorways and occasional evening bar-street noise; we select quieter riverside/lower-town locations, but rooms differ from modern chain hotels. Porters for luggage over the stone lanes can be arranged.