Parking Arrangements for Self-Drive Trips During Spring Festival
On January 26, 2016, the Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area and National Forest Park Administration held a meeting on tourism traffic management for the park during the Spring Festival holiday. The meeting confirmed that a total of 1,720 parking spaces had been opened up in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park area to serve self-drive visitors during Spring Festival.
These 1,720 spaces did not all come from regular parking lots; they were cleared through temporary borrowing, levelling of sites and similar measures, across 14 parking areas. For self-drive visitors, this meant there was a clear place to park when entering the park during Spring Festival, but total capacity was still limited, so arriving early was the safer choice.
Why Parking Was Especially Tight That Year
Several large parking lots in Wulingyuan and the forest park were closed for construction, leaving insufficient parking spaces; combined with adjustments to visitor routes, the entrance to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park saw the most concentrated flow of visitors, putting severe pressure on the reception of self-drive vehicles.
In other words, regular parking capacity was squeezed by construction while visitor traffic converged on the same entrance; the two factors together led to the approach of opening temporary spaces. Self-drive visitors should factor "possible parking queues" into their travel time before setting out.
What Measures the Administration Took
To this end, the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park Administration formulated the "2016 Spring Festival Holiday Park Tourism Traffic Order Management Work Plan," making careful deployment and arrangements for tourism traffic order management during the Spring Festival holiday.
- Coordinating the borrowing of construction sites idle during Spring Festival, and after levelling and simple fitting out, setting up temporary parking lots to ease the shortage of parking spaces;
- Mobilising and drawing on community resources, requiring all units, hotels and residents within the park area to open their idle sites unconditionally, clearing a total of 14 parking areas and 1,720 spaces;
- Deploying traffic management staff rationally through junction direction, fixed-point security and section-by-section responsibility;
- Adopting measures such as classified control of vehicle access areas, scientifically setting up circular routes for large buses, arranging shuttle vehicles at drop-off platforms, and reasonably placing road signs, to ensure smooth and orderly traffic flow;
- Drawing up contingency measures for traffic congestion such as diversion, holding back vehicles and responding to severe weather.
The goal of these arrangements was to ensure that traffic order management during Spring Festival achieved the "five unities" of safety, smooth flow, quality, order and efficiency. For visitors, the most direct effects were: vehicle access areas were placed under classified control, some sections required transfers to shuttle buses as directed, and staff directed traffic at junctions, so please follow on-site guidance.
Practical Tips
- The scenic area operates real-name reservations by time slot and by station; within the 4-day ticket validity period, each entry requires an advance reservation and entry at the appointed time, so self-drive visitors should book their entry slot before setting out.
- For first-time visitors or those bringing elderly people and children, the East Gate (Wulingyuan Landmark Gate) is recommended; just outside the gate is Wulingyuan town, with food, accommodation and transfers all available; those who want to hike Jinbian Stream can choose the South Gate.
- Private cars cannot be driven into the scenic area and must be parked in the lots outside the ticket stations, with a transfer to the scenic area's eco-buses to enter; please allow time for parking and transfers.
- Cableways, elevators and sightseeing trains inside the park require separate tickets; where possible, plan your route to "go up by elevator and down by cableway" to avoid retracing your steps.
- Mountain weather is changeable, trails are slippery in rain or snow, and cableways and elevators may be temporarily suspended; follow the scenic area's announcements for the day and leave flexibility in your itinerary.
Current Standards in Effect
From January 1, 2025, the Wulingyuan core scenic area abolished the difference between peak and off-peak seasons, with a unified ticket price of 165 yuan per person, valid for 4 consecutive days. Transport within the scenic area (eco-buses and so on) is 71 yuan, and personal accident insurance is 3 yuan, totalling 239 yuan for the three items. This site includes the 3 yuan insurance as a complimentary item, so visitors pay 236 yuan in practice. It should be explained that: 165 yuan is only the price of the ticket itself, excluding scenic area transport and insurance, so there is no need to be puzzled by the three figures 165, 236 and 239 — they refer to different scopes.