China's nature epic: Zhangjiajie and the Li River in 10 days

Day 2 — Avatar day: Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain

The ticket maths, once: park entry is a flat ¥236 (4-day validity, eco-buses included, under-14s/1.3 m free-ish tiers apply) — but every cable car and lift costs extra. The ¥298 unlimited combo (all cable cars + the Bailong Elevator, all four days) beats paying per ride (¥65–76 each) the moment you ride three. Buy both together.

• 07:00 — In the gate at opening; eco-bus to the Bailong Elevator — a glass lift bolted onto a cliff, 326 m in 88 seconds (the world’s tallest outdoor elevator).
• 08:00 — Yuanjiajie before the tour groups: the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain (the floating-peak prototype), the First Bridge Under Heaven — a natural stone span between towers. The platforms are busiest 09:30–15:00; you’ll have beaten them.
• 11:00 — Bus onward and up to Tianzi Mountain: the emperor’s-view balconies over a thousand pinnacles, McDonald’s at 1,200 m (China commits), and the He Long Park lookouts.
• 14:00 — Noodle lunch at a summit stall (~¥30), then cable car down (covered by the combo).
• 16:00 — Decompress in Ten-Mile Gallery by open tram (¥38/76 return — or walk it, flat and pretty) under peaks named for what they resemble; the “Three Sisters” require the least imagination.
• 19:00 — Hotpot back in town — Hunan’s dry-pot version, order rice early and often (~¥60–100 a head).

Day 3 — Golden Whip Stream and the quiet side

• 08:00 — Walk the Golden Whip Stream: 7.5 flat kilometres along a creek at the bottom of the pillars — the inverse of yesterday, towers vertical overhead, wild macaques working the crowd (zip your snacks; they’ve unzipped better tourists than you).
• 11:30 — Cable car or hike up Yangjiajie for the wilder, rawer platforms — Natural Great Wall, One Step to Heaven — most tours skip it entirely, which is the recommendation.
• 15:00 — Optional third helping (Huangshizhai’s 360° mesa, cable car included in the combo) or early return for a foot massage (~¥100/hr) — day three’s legs will vote.
• 19:30 — Optional: the Charming Xiangxi show (~¥230–280) — Tujia and Miao folk theatre, fire-and-drums spectacle; touristy, warm-hearted, kids love it.

Day 4 — The Grand Canyon glass bridge, then into the city

• 08:00 — Bus/DiDi (~30 min) to Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon: the glass-bottom bridge — 430 m long, 300 m above the gorge floor, the span that launched a thousand knee-wobble videos. Shoe covers on, phones strapped. Canyon + bridge combos from ¥175 (bridge-only and canyon-hike variants exist; the combo with the gorge walk — waterfalls, cliff stairs, a boat exit — is the full experience). Book a morning slot; it caps daily entries.
• 12:30 — Lunch, then transfer to Zhangjiajie city (~1 h), checking in near the Tianmen cableway base.
• 16:00 — Ride the escalator-era wonder that is downtown Zhangjiajie’s food street; watch Tianmen Mountain’s cliff-face light up at dusk — tomorrow you’re up there.
• 19:30 — Sour-fish-soup dinner (~¥50–80 a head), early night: the cableway queue rewards the early.

Where to stay in Zhangjiajie city (two nights)

• The picks: Hilton Garden Inn Tianmen Mountain — 4.8/5, newly built at the mountain’s foot (“great location, mountain views”), ~¥350–500 — and Hampton by Hilton Tianmen Mountain — 4.3/5, some rooms watch the cable cars sail past, ~¥280–400. Both are new-generation foreigner-easy hotels; review counts are still small because they’re new, not because they’re unloved.

Day 5 — Heaven’s Gate

• 07:00 — Queue at the Tianmen Mountain cableway for the first cars: the ~¥285 A-route package covers entry plus the mountain’s transport spine — including the 7.5-km cable car, one of the world’s longest, rising straight out of the city over 99 switchbacks.
• 08:30 — On top: the cliff-hanging glass skywalks (¥5 shoe covers, courage BYO), the coiled plank roads, and the forest boardwalk loop with the drop always at your elbow.
• 11:00 — Descend to Heaven’s Gate itself — the 131-m-high natural arch punched through the mountain, cloud pouring through it on the right mornings. The 999 steps below it are for photographs (escalators inside the mountain do the actual work).
• 14:30 — Down by cableway, late lunch, pack.
• Evening — Free for the food street, a massage, or an early night — the 07:12 train waits for no one.

Day 6 — The one train south, Guilin by afternoon

• 07:12 — D3967 to Guilin (~7 h, ¥342): Hunan’s gorges give way to Guangxi’s cones — a scenery transfer as much as a transport one. Snacks from the station shop; dining car exists.
• 14:13 — Arrive Guilin, check in by the lakes.
• 16:00 — Gentle re-entry: Elephant Trunk Hill from the free riverside viewpoints, then the Two Rivers and Four Lakes waterfront as the pagodas light up (the Sun and Moon Pagodas double on the water).
• 19:30 — Guilin rice noodles for dinner the way locals eat them (~¥15–25) plus beer fish reconnaissance for Yangshuo.

Where to stay in Guilin (two nights, plus your Yangshuo bags can loop back here)

• Luxury: Shangri-La Guilin — 4.8/5 (~5,300 reviews), Li River and karst views from the pool lawn; the classic. ~¥700–1,000.
• Boutique: Aroma Tea House — 4.6/5, antique-wood calm by the lakes. ~¥300–450.
• Central value: Lijiang Waterfall Hotel — 4.0/5 (~1,200 reviews), tired but grand, unbeatable position (and yes, the building performs a waterfall at 20:30). ~¥350–500.

Day 7 — The Longji rice terraces

• 07:30 — Day trip north (~2.5 h each way; tours ~¥250–350 pp with transfer + entry, or DIY bus): the Longji “Dragon’s Backbone” terraces — 700 years of hand-carved contour lines stacked 800 m up the hillsides.
• 10:30 — Walk village to viewpoint from Ping’an (classic, easier) or Dazhai (bigger amphitheatres, cable car option): rice-terrace panoramas, Yao women’s floor-length hair, bamboo-tube rice lunch (~¥30–50). Entry ~¥80 where not bundled.
• Season honesty: May–June the terraces are mirrors (flooded), July–August electric green, late September– October gold — and post-harvest winter is brown geometry. Match your month to your expectations.
• 18:30 — Back to Guilin; pack a small overnight bag — big luggage can stay with your Guilin hotel through the Yangshuo leg (every hotel here is used to it).

Day 8 — The Li River cruise: riding the ¥20 note

• 08:30 — Transfer to the pier for the Li River cruise to Yangshuo: 4–5 hours, 60+ km of karst theatre. Boat classes: 3-star ~¥215 (+ simple lunch), 4-star ¥360–480 with buffet and an open top deck — worth it for the deck alone. Right side seats going south get slightly more of the famous bank, but everyone ends up on the roof anyway.
• 11:00 — The reaches roll past on cue: Nine-Horse Fresco cliff (count your horses; nine means genius), Yellow Cloth Shoal — the exact scene on the ¥20 note (hold a note up; everyone does; do it anyway), cormorant fishermen posing for their pension.
• 13:30 — Dock at Yangshuo; check in, ice cream on West Street while it’s still calm.
• 16:00 — Cycle or e-bike (~¥30–60/day) into the countryside — the ten-minute rule: ten minutes from West Street, rural Guangxi has you to itself.
• 19:00 — Beer fish — Yangshuo’s dish, river fish braised with Liquan beer, tomatoes and chilli (~¥80–120 for the pan) — then West Street’s neon circus, once, for science.

Where to stay in Yangshuo (two nights)

• Luxury: Banyan Tree Yangshuo — 5.0/5 (~28,600 reviews), pavilion suites in the karst amphitheatre. ~¥1,500+.
• The riverside classic: Yangshuo Mountain Retreat — 4.7/5 (~1,500 reviews), on the Yulong bank with the peaks in the breakfast window; long the foreigners’ favourite, deservedly. ~¥450–650.
• Boutique value: Yangshuo Sugar House — 4.8/5, Li River views away from the noise. ~¥350–500.

Day 9 — Rafts, Moon Hill and the river on fire

• 08:30 — Yulong River bamboo raft: two per raft, a poler, and 90 minutes of drifting under peaks and over little weirs (splash guaranteed; ~¥200–260 per raft). Morning light, empty river.
• 11:00 — Pedal the Yulong valley loop: Moon Hill’s arch (20-min climb for the view through it), farmhouse lunch (~¥40), the villages doing their thousand-year thing.
• 15:00 — Bus/boat to Xingping old town for the ¥20-note viewpoint at river level and cormorant-fisherman photo hour at golden light; back by dark.
• 20:00 — Impression Liu Sanjie (from ~¥238, better seats ¥300+): Zhang Yimou’s night show performed ON the Li River — 600 locals, twelve lit karst peaks as the set, fishermen’s torches on black water. Touristy and transcendent are not opposites here. Book a day or two ahead in season.

Day 10 — Home from Guilin

• Morning — Bus or DiDi back to Guilin (~1.5 h), collect the big bags, KWL and home via your Chinese hub. You’ll spend the first flight scrolling your own photos in disbelief, which is the correct souvenir.