September 13, 2026

Tianmen Mountain, also known as Heaven's Gate, is where the dramatic natural arch is at the top of a staircase 999 steps! This is in a whole different section of the Zhangjaijie National Forest then we did yesterday. Getting up to the plaza at Upper Station, to start the ascent to Heaven's Gate, is quite extensive in itself. First we took a 30 minute cable car ride from the town of Zhangjaijie; then a bus ride you have to strap in for up a series of hairpin turns, for another 30 minutes. Then you climb a couple of staircases to make it to Upper Station. To get to the Peak of the Mountain, you either climb the 999 steps or take a series of 12 escalators inside the mountain. The upper station cableway is currently closed for renovations, so the options above were limited and very crowded.

The view from the peak of Tianmen Mountain to the City of Zhangjiajie, far far below!

Once you are at the peak, the joke is what prize awaits you ? Believe it or not Burger King! Yep! There are a handful of other snack shops and a Chinese noodle place but Burger King with a limited combo menu only of a Whopper, Chicken or Fish Sandwich, Fries and Coke are your only options for a meager 8 USD and by far the most popular choice up there.


From the peak you can take a variety of trails and paths to explore various parts of the mountain views.

I did my part to keep things standing tall and Sarah did her part in keeping MaryAnn calm walking over all the zoaring heights! Sherrie and I retreated back down to the town via the escalators, cable car and bus faster than the others and enjoyed a nice dinner and an even better 90 minute massage session! We sooo needed it! I even did laundry at the hotel rooftop.

FURONG ANCIENT TOWN, CHINA

By Pat Patrick • September 13, 2026
We had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the Zhangjaijie National Forest at 2:30pm, so we could have a much needed break for the 2 hour drive to Furong Ancient Town. That way, we could explore Furong at night, which is the best time to see it, have a bit of a rest and still be in a good position, to see more of the Forest, the next day.

ZHANGJIAJIE - NORTH GATE

By Pat Patrick • September 13, 2026
When we arrived at the Zhangjiajie train station, we had a driver meet us to take us all the way to the little village just outside the North Gate of the Zhangjiajie National Forest, which was about a 2 hour ride.This put us in a great position to get right into the Park early the next morning before the large crowds and access to the top section of the park, in lieu of the more crowded routes, coming in from the base of the mountains from downtown. We stayed at an older resort called Stilt Paradise and the place had a rustic charm as did the whole one street village. It was close to 7:30 pm when we arrived. We went in search of dinner, which commenced a session of pointing at photo's on their billboard and piecing together an order with google translate, to get the basic dumplings and noodles. 

HIGH SPEED TRAIN TRAVEL IN CHINA

By Pat Patrick • September 12, 2026
We did all our travel for this trip in China via high speed railway. We started in Hong Kong and traveled to Guilin in just over 3 hours. Then our longest leg, of 7 hours for Guilin to Zhangjiajie . Next was Zhangjiajie to Chongqing at 3.5 hours and finally Chongqing to Xi'An was around 5.5 hours. Some of the train stations were massive like Chongqing below and Xi'An. Signage was pretty good, with some English, so we could navigate well.