Travel archive — originally published February 2015. This is how we travelled from Changsha to Zhangjiajie on our earlier Hunan adventures. Independent travel in China felt far more complicated to us then: figuring out stations, collecting paper tickets, navigating with little English and making do without the translation and transport apps that now make these trips so much easier.
What a contrast with our return to China in 2025. With mobile translation, Alipay, WeChat and DiDi, the logistics feel rather less adventurous. Direct faster trains now run between Changsha and Zhangjiajie West, often taking around two to three hours, while Zhangjiajie has expanded tourist-bus links to Wulingyuan, the forest park and other sights. See the Hunan transport department’s account of the newer tourist routes for an example of what’s changed.
And this was before one of Zhangjiajie’s biggest modern attractions even existed. The Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge did not open until August 2016, after this article was originally published. The Tianmen Mountain tunnel escalators also began operating in April 2015. So while the famous sandstone pillars, cable cars and older attractions were already drawing visitors, the tourist experience was still evolving dramatically. Looking back, our clumsy connections and bus journeys belong to a very different chapter of travelling around Hunan.
The rail stations, prices, timetables, ticket advice and accommodation below are therefore a record of our trip, not current booking instructions. For a more recent long-distance journey, see our Bangkok-to-China rail adventure. The awkward connections and little surprises in the story are part of why we remember it.
Looking for practical information for a trip today? Our Singapore-to-China overland route covers newer cross-border transport and the travel tools we used, while our recent Yunnan travels show how much easier independent sightseeing and payments have become.
Our Journey to Zhangjiajie Begins
We chose the train for our journey from Changsha to Zhangjiajie, although flying was another option. Back then, finding our way meant working out which station to use and how to get there. The old Changsha railway station was near the Civil Aviation Hotel airport-bus stop, and the metro stop was helpfully called “Railway Station”. We found budget hotels around Wuyi Avenue (hotels listed here), handy for our early departure, while the airport bus took around 40 minutes. The metro did not start until 6:20am, so we had to plan around that. It was all part of learning how to get around China the hard way — something we wrote more about in Check here for our beginners guide to long distance travel in China.
Our Early-Morning Train from Changsha
Booking the train was an adventure in itself. At the time, we couldn’t simply board with a mobile e-ticket: we reserved seats in advance, printed the details and collected paper tickets at the station with our passports. We used TravelChinaGuide.com to make the reservation, then found the ticket office away from the main station building, across the car park. We chose hard sleepers at 100 yuan each, despite leaving at the ridiculous hour of 5:40am. After about seven hours on board, and with little help in English from the conductors, we just had to make sure we got off at Zhangjiajie. It was a proper old-school Chinese rail journey.
Flying Back to Changsha
We flew back from Zhangjiajie to Changsha, which turned out to be a lovely contrast. I usually prefer trains, but the airport had incredible views towards Tianmen Mountain and we ended up aboard a cute little propeller plane — a first for us. We paid 272 yuan each after booking just two days before departure, flying with OK Airlines. They weren’t great, but they were okay. Haha. Back then we took taxis to the small airport close to town, paying around 20 yuan, then used the Changsha airport bus at the other end. We booked through ctrip.com; elong.net was another website we considered at the time. These were our arrangements, not today’s prices or booking recommendations.
Where We Stayed in Zhangjiajie
We based ourselves opposite Zhangjiajie’s train and bus stations, which saved us a lot of hassle when travelling around Hunan. There were several familiar Chinese budget chains nearby, and we settled on Hanting for 139 yuan a night in low season. It was excellent value, so we didn’t bother looking any further. The station area kept us fed too, with noodle shops, street-food stalls, coffee shops, a McDonald’s and even a supermarket and food court by the buses. Our original accommodation link is still here for reference (Here for list of hotels), although the hotel scene has changed since our visit.
Wandering Around Zhangjiajie City
We didn’t come to Zhangjiajie for the city itself: we came for the extraordinary landscapes around it. The Tianmen Mountain cable car was the obvious attraction (Here for Full Guide to Tianmen Mountain). Still, I enjoyed spending a day wandering the backstreets, watching local life and exploring the riverside that divides the city. There was plenty to eat along the way, which always helps. We later pulled together more of those discoveries in Our Chinese Street Food Guide Here.
Our Trips to the Nearby Mountains and Fenghuang
Zhangjiajie was our jumping-off point for the mountain adventures. We travelled by bus towards the sandstone pillars of Wulingyuan, the scenery famous for its association with Avatar, and squeezed our visit into one day. In hindsight I’d have liked longer (Full Guide to Zhangjiajie National Park Here). We also made the roughly four-hour bus journey to Phoenix Ancient City (Fenghuang), staying a couple of nights in its riverside old town. Looking back, those slow connections, uncertain bus stops and improvised plans are every bit as memorable as the sights themselves.
this helpful, thanks!