Zhangjiajie has a day-trip problem, and it is the opposite of the usual one. There is no shortage of places to go. The trouble is that the two most-promoted options are sold in the same breath, at the same price, as if they were the same kind of outing — and one of them is not a day trip at all.
Here is the honest split.
Furong Ancient Town — yes, and it is easy
A Tujia town built on a cliff above a waterfall, about eighty kilometres from Zhangjiajie. It was called Wangcun until a film was shot here in 1986 and the town took the film’s name.
The reason it works as a day trip is the railway. Zhangjiajie West to Furongzhen takes about half an hour, and there are more than ten trains a day.
| How | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| High-speed train, Zhangjiajie West to Furongzhen | About 30 min | CNY 40 second class |
| Bus from Zhangjiajie bus station | About 1 h 30 | CNY 40 |
| Taxi or private car | 1 h 30 – 2 h | CNY 250 – 300 |
Checked 14 Aug 2026 Rail and bus times, fares and frequency per ChinaDiscovery. The earliest bus is 07:30. The train and the bus cost the same and the train takes a third of the time, which makes the choice straightforward.
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1
The town ticket
Furong charges to enter, which surprises people who have just come from free ancient towns elsewhere in Hunan. What softens it is the validity: three consecutive days from the first scan, with unlimited re-entry, and two performances included.
For a day trip you are using a fraction of what you paid for. That is worth knowing before you decide whether to stay a night instead.
- Adult
- CNY 108
- Validity
- 3 consecutive days, unlimited entries
- Includes
- Two shows
- Seniors 60+
- CNY 54
- Under 14 and over 65
- Free, but CNY 10 insurance at the window
Checked 14 Aug 2026 Ticket price, three-day validity, concessions and the compulsory CNY 10 insurance for free-entry categories per current Furong Town ticketing listings. Online pre-booking is marginally cheaper than the gate.
- Leave about 09:00, back mid-afternoon
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2
What the day looks like
Leaving a hotel around 09:00 gets you finished by about 15:30 and back in Zhangjiajie in the afternoon. The town is small and built vertically — the waterfall runs underneath it, and the stilted houses are stacked on the rock above.
It is a change of register rather than more of the same, which is the point. After two days of cable cars and viewing platforms, a town where the only thing to do is walk down some steps and look at water is a relief.
- Out
- About 09:00
- Back
- Mid-afternoon
- Time in town
- 3 – 4 h is enough
Fenghuang Ancient Town — not a day trip
Fenghuang is the famous one: a Miao and Tujia town on the Tuo river, stilted houses over the water, and the photograph everybody has seen. Entry to the town itself is free.
Every agency in Wulingyuan will sell you a day trip there. We would not take it.
| How | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| High-speed train to Fenghuanggucheng station | About 1 h | Plus 10 km to the town |
| Then bus or taxi from the station | About 20 min | — |
| Direct bus | 3 h 30 – 4 h | CNY 90 |
| Town entry | — | Free |
Checked 14 Aug 2026 Train and bus options per ChinaDiscovery, which lists more than 15 daily trains between about 08:00 and 21:00, an earliest bus at 08:50, and recommends 1.5 to 2 days in Fenghuang. The railway station is 10 km from the old town, roughly 20 minutes by road.
The train is an hour, but the station is ten kilometres out, so the real door-to-door is closer to two hours each way. That leaves you in Fenghuang for the middle of the day — which is the one part of the day the town is not worth seeing. Fenghuang is an evening and an early morning: the lanterns on the water after dark, and the river before the coaches arrive. A day trip delivers neither.
If you want Fenghuang, give it a night. It also sits neatly between Zhangjiajie and the onward journey south, so it works better as a stop on the way than as an out-and-back.
The half-day option: the Grand Canyon and glass bridge
Not really a day trip — it is about forty minutes from Wulingyuan — but it is the other thing people leave the park for. It has its own ticket and its own daily cap, and we have priced it on the things-to-do page along with the honest argument about whether it beats a fourth day inside the park.
What we would actually do
- Three days here? No day trips. The park ticket runs four days and you will not have used it up.
- Four days? Furong on the fourth, by train, back for dinner.
- Five days or moving on south? Fenghuang with a night in it, as a stop rather than a return trip.
Public traveller reports through 2026 consistently describe Fenghuang as ruined by day-trippers in the middle of the day and worth staying for after they leave, and describe Furong as smaller than expected — several hours rather than a full day inside the town itself.
Summarised from public traveller discussion, not from a visit. We have not travelled this route ourselves — see how we check.