China is home to many beautiful vistas, Tianmen Mountain is a must-see for first-time visitors! This article is to detail all you need to know to visit, how to get to Tianmen Mountain, as well as cost and overall experience of what to expect. Hopefully, by the end of this post, this immensely popular tourist attraction will be high on your list of things to see and do in China!
Read on for the most comprehensive guide to creating the perfect Tianmen Mountain itinerary!
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Background and history of Tianmen Mountain
Tianmen Mountain lies just outside the city of Zhangjiajie, in China’s Hunan Province. At its highest elevation, this giant reaches 1518m (4980 feet). During the Tang Dynasty, a monastery was built at the summit. After crossing a long suspension bridge, Tianmen Mountain Temple appeared.
Tianmen Mountain has been revered to as “the soul of Zhangjiajie”, and from spending just a few hours around this unbelievably beautiful natural wonder, it’s easy to see why it’s gained so much fame.
The journey up to Tianmen Mountain is also a fascinating one in itself. Not only are the natural sights spectacular, but the mountain is also home to a man-made feat of engineering.
At 7455 meters long, a 30min cable car ride with a difference in height of 1279m from start to finish brings you overtop of the city of Zhangjiajie. Over the lush green valley and small villages, and finally, all the way up to the top of the mountainside, giving you stunning views in every direction.
If you have some time to spend around Zhangjiajie, the National Forest Park is also a must-see!
How do I get to Tianmen Mountain?
As I mentioned above, Tianmen Mountain sits just outside the Chinese city of Zhangjiajie. Zhangjiajie itself is a well-connected city, by train, both overnight and throughout the daytime, and also a vast bus network exists to surrounding areas. You will need to make your way to Zhangjiajie before Tianmen Mountain is accessible.
To reach the summit of this mountain, you can one of two routes. From the city of Zhangjiajie, you can take the longest “high mountain cable car” in the world to the peak of Tianmen Mountain. The views ascending into the clouds are unbelievable. You can also get a great view of Tianmen Cave above all the other tourists – you want to sit on the left-hand side for the best view of Tianmen Cave on the way up.
The alternative is a windy road – which you also get a great view of from the cable car. The road is aptly named the “Heaven-linking Avenue”, or “99 bend road” and is a unique view that snakes it’s way up the mountainside. As the name suggests, there are 99 sharp curves in the 10km stretch of road heading to Heaven’s Door.
There are two buses that link up to take passengers to the beginning of the 999 step path, “Stairway to Heaven”. These steep marble stairs lead up to the 131-meter hole in the cliffside, known as Tianmen Cave, or “Heavens Door”.
Both these modes of transit to the summit are included in the cost of entrance to Tianmen Mountain. You can go up via cable car, and come back down by the buses (the way I visited Tianmen mountain). Or, you can do it vice versa, or you can take either the buses or cable car up and down. It’s totally up to you and doesn’t increase the ticket cost in any way.
To walk from the cable car station and meet up with the buses, you will have to catch 6 escalators built into a covered walkway (also included in the ticket price) and then walk down the 999 steps. So if mobility is an issue, taking the cable car or buses both ways is the best way to access this unforgettable display of natural beauty.
How much does Tianmen Mountain cost to visit?
Visiting Tianmen Mountain isn’t a cheap day if you’re a budget traveler like myself, but it is very much worth it. The full day price is 258 Yuan ($36 USD). If you’re a student, bringing your student card should get you a massive 50% discount!
You pay at the bottom of the cable car station in the city of Zhangjiajie. Everything is included in this price, the cable cars, buses and escalators – the only thing not included in this cost is the glass walkway paths.
It’s worth noting – these glass bottom paths can be quite dirty apparently. Just beware of the conditions before you opt to pay the extra amount for questionable visibility.
What are the best features of Tianmen Mountain?
Tianmen Mountain is full of amazing sights. With kilometers of paths at the top of the mountain, this includes cliffside and even glass walkways that literally overhang the edge of these cliffs. You must pay extra for each of the glass pathways. One of the most popular glass cliff walkways is “Coiling Dragon cliff” and was opened in August 2016.
There are stunning views from all around the pathways. If you cross the large suspension bridge you can make your way to a viewpoint to see “Guigu Cave”, a large square cut out of the mountainside that you would assume to be manmade. It is, in fact, natural, pretty neat.
My personal favorite was facing away from the city of Zhangjiajie. Meaning less smog covering the horizon, “Love between Trees and Rocks” trail was stunning. With less smog, much more definition of the landscape was visible and made for a much better view.
It’s also incredible to witness nature and it’s toughness, it’s amazing how trees can just push through rock and grow into large structures just hanging at an angle from the side of a cliff.
If you’re searching for a place to sneak away from the crowds, “Yu Hu Peak” was much less busy than many other viewpoints and sections of trails I walked, especially as the morning progressed. This is compared to insanely busy spots like “Fairy Springs” and “Turbulent Waters”. (I’m sure their unusual names have some sort of underlying meaning). Don’t get me wrong, these viewpoints were great too, but it does get tiresome competing for the limited viewing spaces around the cliff edge.
“Fairy Peak” is the highest viewpoint in all of Tianmen Mountain and honestly, it was slightly disappointing. I was expecting grandeur and amazement. There was too much smog for any awe-inspiring views here – on a clear day it may be different!
There is a small cafeteria in the building here if you didn’t bring any snacks along with you.
Heading from Tianmen Mountain to “heavens door”, or Tianmen Cave involves the “Trans Mountain Escalators”. There are 6 separate escalators, each at around 100 meters long.
Once at Tianmen Cave, you can take in the immense size of this opening in the otherwise sheer cliff face. At 131.5m tall and 30m wide, it is pretty incredible and a unique natural sight to behold.
On September 25th, 2011, Jeb Corliss glided through this opening in a wingsuit. Two years later, on October 2013, Viktor Kovats lost his life when his parachute failed to open. These wing suit daredevils put into perspective just how large Tianmen Cave is.
Lots of other adrenaline sports have occurred here as well, flying anything from planes to wingsuits through this karst cave.
Leading down from Tianmen Cave is the ominous 999 step staircase, known as the Stairway to Heaven. This is not wheelchair accessible at all. It’s exhausting. Another thing to note is these stairs are steep and shallow. Make sure you’re watching your footing on each step as this is not a place you want to trip over.
What should I expect from visiting Tianmen Mountain?
Some of the best views in China I had were around Tianmen Mountain. Here are a few other things I noticed while walking around this must-see destination in China.
It gets busy. Incredibly busy. If you can, get there for opening at 7 am. Pay and be first in line. This should allow you to have some unhindered views of the peaks of Tianmen Mountain. Plus, it will give you more time to walk around the cliff paths in relative seclusion or quiet.
There is a lot of smog, at least when I visited there was. I was a bit surprised by this is all honesty, we were so high up! But I’ve learned in China that even when you don’t expect it, this pollution likes to sometimes stick around – it was a pretty big part of culture shock in China for me.
Some days I received text messages on my phone saying the air quality due to smog was at dangerous levels.
If you notice red ribbons around trees, These are weighing ribbons, mostly found in the “Forest of Wishes sections”. People buy these red satin banners, write their wishes on them with black permanent markers and tie them in tree branches. I didn’t buy one, but it was a unique contrast walking through a forest of red ribbons.
The longest “high mountain cable car” ride in the world, and takes around half an hour one way. There’s not much else to do but sit back and soak in the unforgettable peaks surrounding you.
You can always book a guided experience in Tianmen Mountain in China to learn more about the unknown history.
Quick video exploring the ancient Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie
Here are some of the unforgettable sights around Tianmen Mountain, in China’s Hunan Province. If you enjoyed this video, make sure you subscribe to the Youtube channel for plenty more travel videos.
Where to stay in Zhangjiajie City
- For accommodation in the city of Zhangjiajie itself, I stayed at Hostel Geographer – you can book a bed here. Easy walking distance from the train station, cheap, comfortable and very clean. I definitely recommend staying here.
Highlights of Tianmen Mountain
- The views around Tianmen Mountain are unreal
- Taking the cable car was a really fun experience
- Tianmen Cave, or Heaven’s Door, is incredible!
Further China Travel Reading
- There is a strange airport policy in Nanjing
- China has many amazing places to visit
- Travel by train is a great way to get around China
Have you visited Tianmen Mountain? I’d love to hear your experience- both the good and bad – drop me a comment below.
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2 Comments
Hi,
We will have about half a day in Zhangjiajie City after spending 3.5 days in Wulingyuan, enjoying the park. I am interested in taking the cable car trip you wrote about. Would dedicating four hours be enough time to ride the cable car and fully enjoy the park or does it really require a full day? Thanks!
Hey Lisa, thanks for the comment.
I think 4 hours should be enough, but you might have to give up on some of the sights at the top of Tianmen Mountain unless you rush a little.
The cable car takes around 30 minutes each way, so that gives you 3 hours to spend at the top. I spent roughly 6 hours all up visiting Tianmen Mountain and I covered most of the sights.
You could definitely spend a day up there if you want to visit everything up there.
So yeah, 4 hours is doable in my opinion, just might have to skip over some places if you’re running low on time.
Enjoy your time there! It’s a beautiful part of China!