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Zhangjiajie National Forest Park 🇨🇳 | Real Avatar Mountains (Ultimate Travel Guide)

Passport Nomads

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Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China 🇨🇳 is home to the real Avatar Mountains — one of the most unreal landscapes on Earth.
This ultimate Zhangjiajie travel guide shows cinematic views, hidden spots, and how to plan your time to avoid crowds.

China's real Avatar Mountains — towering sandstone pillars that inspired the floating mountains in the movie Avatar. In this ultimate Zhangjiajie travel guide, we share cinematic views of the park, practical planning tips, and hidden spots to help you experience Zhangjiajie without the crowds.

This video covers everything you need to know before visiting Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, including how to organise your time, which areas are worth prioritising, the best viewpoints, and how to navigate the park efficiently. We also highlight less-busy trails and scenic areas most tourists miss, making this guide ideal for first-time visitors and independent travellers.

If you’re planning a trip to Zhangjiajie, China, this guide will help you decide how many days to spend, when to go, and how to see the Avatar Mountains at their best. From dramatic sunrise views to peaceful forest paths, Zhangjiajie is one of the most unique landscapes in China — and in the world.
🏔️ IMPORTANT TICKET INFO:
Buy your Zhangjiajie Ticket here: https://trip.tpk.mx/whaPvluy
Scroll to the Ticket + In-Park Transportation section, choose 4-Day Ticket + 3 Cableways and 1 Elevator Transportation Ticket (Adult) this option and then in the next screen choose your admission time, then if you want to go on more than 4 trips on cable cars and the elevator choose multi trip. Otherwise you will only have 4 rides and then have to pay separately (NOTE-the return trip on the Yangjiajie cable car is counted as 2 trips). Then we chose East Gate Line B and did the elevator going up rather than down (Line A)
🏨 where to stay - https://trip.tpk.mx/BauqCCDP. REALLY close to the East Gate entry!
☕ Buy us a coffee so we can make more vlogs! https://buymeacoffee.com/passportnox
📍 Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China
🎥 Cinematic mountain views & travel tips
🧭 Time-saving routes & crowd-avoidance strategies
🌄 Hidden viewpoints & lesser-known areas

If this guide helps your trip planning, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and comment with your Zhangjiajie questions — we reply to every comment.
#zhangjiajie #chinatravel
Detailed Travel blog at https://passportnomads.com/zhangjiaji...

📌 CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Arriving at Bailong Elevator
02:00 - In the Bailong Elevator
02:20 - First Avatar Mountain views!
03:00 - Bus to Avatar Mountains
03:30 - Best Avatar Mountain Viewpoints
04:20 - Are the Avatar Mountains worth it?
05:50 - metal bridge in Avatar Hallelujah Mountain
07:05 - First Bridge Under Heaven Natural Bridge
08:30 - Mike tries a Chinese street snack
09:50 - I get a gluten free snack
10:20 - Zhangjiajie Travel Tips
11:55 - No droning
13:50 - Yangjiajie Scenic Area
13:59 - One Step to Heaven Hike
14:49 - One Step to Heaven Viewpoint
17:18 - Yangjiajie Cable Car return ride
19:20 - Zhangjiajie Ticket Information
20:10 - Minibus to Tianzi Mountains
21:00 - Exploring Tianzi Mountains
23:30 - Untouched Tianzi Mountain area
25:17 - Sunset at Avatar Mountains
25:30 - Mc Donalds on top of Tianzi Mountains
26:20 - Tianzi Mountain Cable Car
27:10 - Where to stay at Zhangjiajie https://trip.tpk.mx/BauqCCDP
27:43 - 6am at Zhangjiajie National Park
29:07 - South Gate Zhangjiajie National Park
29:20 - Huangshizhai Cable Car
30:30 - Huangshizhai village views
34:13 - Going down Huangshizhai Cable Car
35:02 - Minibus to Golden Whip Stream
35:33 - Big Oxygen Park
36:34 - Ten Mile Gallery
47:55 - Where to eat in Zhangjiajie National Park and final thoughts

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DJI Action 4: https://amzn.to/47sq8ej

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ABOUT US
Hey, we're Kelly and Mike from Passport Nomads!
We are an Australian couple that have worked hard to live our dream of travelling the world. We love to travel and head off on adventures big and small. We will show your incredible destinations and give you all the tips and hints to help you make the most out of your next trip.
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15 Comments

@passportnomads Creator 1 month ago Pinned

Our complete (and free!) travel guide is up on our site now with all the extra details we needed to plan our trip, hope it is helpful! https://passportnomads.com/zhangjiajie-guide/

@louiserobinson9776 1 month ago

I am going to Zhangjiajie in 2 weeks’ time with a tour! This video just whet my appetite! I really appreciate the heads up on what to expect. Thanks!!

@sujeetdas2 5 months ago

At around 10mins, when you explained the route which was done fine and I got a lot of help, so thank you, but it was also very cute of how much you tried to get the names right.

@marinacoradi2516 1 month ago

amazing content !!!!

@ritzwanderer 4 months ago

Very comprehensive guide, I'm definitely going to save it for my upcoming trip

@bnsunak 6 months ago

Thank you for such an informative vlog. I’ve found this to be super helpful for our upcoming trip. I hope we will be as lucky as you with the weather.

@clairelewisnz 2 months ago

Thanks for a wonderful video. I really enjoyed your commentary and you've helped so much planning our trip this coming October. If we had 2 full days I would do exactly what you've done but we only have 1.5 so have modified things a little to cover our favourite bits from your trip. You really inspired me to visit Huangshi (for some quiet time) & will do some of the whip stream. Just hoping we have some lovely weather like you did. That really makes such a difference. Thanks again for a very helpful detailed vlog.

@deandeng5422 3 months ago

欢迎欢迎好好好哈哈

@jakesonaplane_ 5 months ago

Prob the best video on the park ive ever seen. But pro tip - one must stop between Yuanjiajie and Tianzi and get off at Laowuchang. Electric carts take you to two of the most amazing viewing platforms with zero crowds. Military Parade and Soldiers Gathering!

@atg8vmjpunum 6 months ago

美しい！神秘の国ですね✨🇨🇳✨😃

@passportnomads Creator 8 months ago

Travel blog is up for Zhangjiajie, with all the extra information I could think of to make visiting easier! Check it out at https://passportnomads.com/zhangjiajie-guide/

@alex--.-- 8 months ago

Exactly what I was looking for, other videos are so confusing and they make the park look like a maze. We'll only have two days for the park itself and one day for Tianmen Mt, and I was looking for something like this to have a rough idea and plan everything so that we see the most we can. Found your video on google, I hope more people do and your video goes viral haha. Thanks for the cool instructions, I feel more confident now.
Can I ask what month did you travel there? There seem to be no crowds at all. We'll be traveling at the end of May, so I expect more movement.

@passportnomads Creator 8 months ago

📍 Zhangjiajie National Forest Park 🇨🇳 — the real Avatar Mountains. This was such a spectacular trip! Would you add it to your China Trip?

@Liz-ye2ld 7 months ago

Thanks so much for the level of detail you shared about the national forest. I’m a bit confused about how the ticket packages work. If I purchase east gate line B package, does that mean I’m only allowed to access line B? The ticket is for 4 days. What if I want to explore the other areas? Does that mean I cannot enter from other gates? I see there are separate packages for each gate. I don’t understand how the entry works.