Guide to Visiting Wulingyuan Scenic Area

The names Zhangjiajie and Wulingyuan confused me. Was Zhangjiajie in Wulingyuan or was it the other way around? The two names seemed to be used interchangeably. After having been there, things have become less confusing. If you are as confused as I was, the following should help.

Zhangjiajie (City)
This refers to the city where you use as the base to visit Tianmen Shan or Heaven's Gate. At Zhangjiajie Bus Station, you can take the local brown mini-buses to Wulingyuan town.

Wulingyuan Town/ Village
Some bloggers called it Zhangjiajie Village. This refers to the small town where you use it as the base to visit Wulingyuan Scenic Area. The scenic area was accessible, mainly through two gates:
(a) Wulingyuan Gate, officially called Wujiayu Ticket Station;
(b) Forest Park Gate (Sēnlín Gōngyuán). The full name is Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (the use of the name 'Zhangjiajie' was what confused me, and I believed you, too).

Wulingyuan Gate
 There were two main queues, each with long lines of visitors. The free purple park buses will take visitors to their destinations, at ground level to:

• Tianzi Cableway lower station;
• (a) Bailong Elevator lower station (b) Water Winding Four Gates (Shuiraosimen) (to east-end of Jinbianxi trail) and (c)10-Mile Natural Gallery. This queue was further segregated into two lines, Bailong & Water Winding on one line and 10-Mile Gallery on the other.

In my case, I took the free park bus to Tianzi Cableway lower station. From there, I took the cable car to the upper station on the mountain top. At the mountain top, free park buses would shuttle visitors from one station to the next. My route was Tianzi upper station > Helong??? (I was not sure where we were dropped off) > Yangjiajie > Yuanjiajie (First Bridge) - walk on trail to see First Bridge and then Avatar Mountain > Yuanjiajie (Avatar) > Bailong upper station.

Once I reached Bailong lower station, I walked down a flight of staircase and from there, took the free park bus to Water Winding Four Gates (Shuiraosimen) > 10-Mile Natural Gallery > Wulingyuan Gate.

Download this high-resolution map

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Gate (Sēnlín Gōngyuán)
When you are communicating with the locals, you are advised to use the Chinese name, which is Sēnlín Gōngyuán. Go to Wulingyuan (not Zhangjiajie) public bus station and take the bus there to the park entrance. It is not free. You can't take the free purple National Park buses to go to Sēnlín Gōngyuán. Sēnlín Gōngyuán is ideal for visiting:

• Huangshizhai (Yellow Stone Village);
• Jinbianxi (Golden Whip Stream) trail West end

Transport

1. Buses inside the park (purple), including those on the mountain top, are free;
2. Buses from Wulingyuan bus station to Sēnlín Gōngyuán are not free. Fares in the mini-buses were paid to the conductors when they asked for the payment. Receipts were not issued.

Important Names       

• Bailong Elevator - 百龙天梯 - Bǎi lóng tiāntī
• Golden Whip Stream - 金鞭溪 - Jīn biān xī
• Huangshi Village - 黄石寨 - Huángshí zhài
• Tianmen Mountain - 天门山 - Tiānmén Shān   
• Tianzi Mountain - 天子山 - Tiānzǐ shān
• Tianzi Cableway - 天子山索道 - Tiānzǐ shān suǒdào
• Wulingyuan Bus Station - 武陵源汽车站 - Wǔlíngyuán qìchē zhàn
• Wulingyuan Gate (Wujiayu Ticket Station) - 吴家峪门票站   
• Yangjiajie - 杨家界 - Yáng jiā jiè
• Yuanjiajie - 袁家界 - Yuán jiā jiè
• Zhangjiajie - 张家界市 - Zhāngjiājiè shì
• Zhangjiajie National Forest Park - 张家界森林公园 - Zhāngjiājiè sēnlín gōngyuán
• Zhangjiajie Central Bus Station - 张家界中心汽车站 - Zhāngjiājiè zhōngxīn qìchē zhàn
• Avatar Hallelujah Mountain @ Stone Pillar Supporting Heaven @ South Celestial Pillar - 阿凡达-哈利路亚山 - Āfándá hālìlùyà shān
• First Bridge of the World - 天下第一乔 - Tian Xia Di Yi Qiao

Wulingyuan Bus Station ... to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Entrance

Wulingyuan Bus Station served as the starting point to Zhangjiaje National Forest Park (Sēnlín Gōngyuán) gate, the other entrance to the park. It was also the station to catch the bus to Grand Canyon Glass Bridge.

For someone like me who does not read Chinese, I was confused as to where was Wulingyuan Bus Station. When I arrived in Wulingyuan, the bus did not stop at the rear of the station as was the normal practice. Instead, it stopped at a bus stop before moving away again. Nearby was an open area with big buses parked. As I explored the town that evening, I saw groups of buses parked at several locations. Which was the bus station to catch the bus back to Zhangjiajie City?  I was worried.

On the second night, I used a photo of the bus station which I had downloaded from the internet. Using the similarities with this photo as I walked past Wulingyuan Bus Station, and looking through the station glass door and seeing rows of chairs, I concluded that indeed this was Wulingyuan Bus Station (N29° 21.163' E110° 32.453'). If you were confused like me, look out for the clock tower which served as Wulingyuan Bus Station landmark.

 

Hunan Food - Wulingyuan

After checking into Destination Youth Hostel, Wulingyuan at about 3:30 p.m., I went out to find the route to Wulingyan Park Gate and to explore Wulingyuan. I was still exploring the streets when I thought I should look for dinner. There was this restaurant with a number of patrons and I decided to walk in.

I have never tasted anything like this. It was quite good. Savoury.

The Bandit Chicken was a disappointment. The meat was mostly chicken breast. I hate chicken breast. Chicken breast just does not taste good. I love thigh, drumstick and wings but there was none in this bowl. Savoury and spicy

On the following morning, I went out before 7:00 a.m. to find breakfast. Most shops were still closed. Some were just starting to open but food was still not being prepared. This shop was the first to be serving breakfast. I went in and ordered Jiaozi (dumpling) and Xiao Long Bao (steamed bun). I came back to this shop again after the next morning and this time, I ordered the rice noodle. Like the pork rib noodle soup I had at Many Supermarket food court on my arrival in Zhangjiajie from Changsha, the rice noodle texture was very smooth. Silky smooth! The soup was good.

The Jiaozi was good but I think it was not as good as the one I had in Changsha on the day I came to Wulingyuan. Savoury.

The Xiao Long Bao (steamed soup bun) was good too. I did not know why they did not call it Baozi (steamed bun). Savoury. But I still prefer the Chengdu version.

The rice noodle texture was silky smooth and glistening under the light. The soup was good. However, it was not addictive.

Dinner on my second day in Wulingyuan was at this restaurant. It was close to my hostel. Pictures of the various dishes were hanging on the wall. I picked Fried Beef Noodle because I just prefer my noodle dry.

This was good, certainly tastier and better than the soup noodle. Savoury.

When it came to breakfast, there was not much to choose from. The usual fares were rice porridge, soup noodles, Jiaozi (dumplings) and steamed buns. I did not want to have Jiaozi and steamed buns again and walked further into the town centre when I saw this little shop.

The soft flat noodle was prepared like Chee Cheong Fun but the thin batter was poured only a steaming pan instead of a piece of cloth. Minced meat and green onion was mixed into the thin batter before it was being steamed. Savoury. Quite good.

On the final night in Wulingyuan, I had dinner here. Although there were various dishes, I did not go for the exotic food. I normally go for those food which really looked good or which I had favourable experience.

Taiwan sausage was the best. The Taiwan aboriginal sausage was okay, with a tinge of sourness. This Tujia sausage was hard and slightly chewy, but tasted okay. I would rate it 6/10.

I had originally planned to go to Huangshizhai yesterday. However, I got on the wrong bus and lost two hours Hence, I had rescheduled my visit to Huangshizhai to today. When I arrived at Senlin Gongyuan (Forest Park), it started to drizzle. In order to shelter myself from the drizzle, I stepped into this restaurant beside the bus station.

The Baozi tasted like all Baozi in Hunan. Savoury and tasted okay.