Wulingyuan / Yuanjiajie

武陵源风景名胜区袁家界

The core of the World Natural Heritage site, home to the “Avatar floating mountains” (Qiankun Pillar) and the Tianxia First Bridge; take the Bailong Elevator straight to the summit to see the quartzite sandstone peaks.

Yuanjiajie lies in the central part of the Wulingyuan core scenic area. It is a mountaintop plateau about 1,000 meters above sea level, with deep valleys on three sides. From the observation platform, you face hundreds of quartzite sandstone pillars rising from the earth, the most classic view of the forest of peaks in all of Zhangjiajie. Main highlights include Qiankun Pillar (“Hallelujah Mountain,” the prototype of the floating mountains in Avatar, about 150 meters tall); the Tianxia First Bridge (a natural stone bridge formed between two peaks, about 2 meters wide and over 300 meters above the valley floor); Mihun Terrace; and Back Garden. The observation trail is about 2.5 km in total, flat and easy to walk, and takes about 1.5–2 hours. Getting up: enter from the forest park ticket gate, walk along Golden Whip Stream to Shuirao Simen, then take the Bailong Elevator (the world's tallest outdoor sightseeing elevator, with a vertical height of 326 meters, about 72 yuan one way, 2-minute ride) straight to Yuanjiajie; or take the eco-shuttle from the Wulingyuan ticket gate to the lower station of the Tianzi Mountain cable car, ride up, then take the eco-shuttle to Yuanjiajie. Tickets: the Wulingyuan core area combined ticket costs about 228 yuan, is valid for 4 days, includes the eco-shuttle, and must be booked with real-name registration through the official “Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan” WeChat account or mini program. Classic one-day route: Golden Whip Stream → Bailong Elevator → Yuanjiajie → (eco-shuttle) Yangjiajie or Tianzi Mountain → Tianzi Mountain cable car down. Notes: On holidays, the Bailong Elevator queue can exceed one hour, so enter the scenic area before 8 a.m. if possible. When the summit is shrouded in fog, visibility is extremely low, so you can wait on the summit for the clouds to clear. There are many macaques, so do not feed them. When taking photos at the plateau edge, do not climb over the railings.

Wulingyuan / Yuanjiajie

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