After the horrible experience of waiting in line at the Bailong Elevator in Zhangjiajie national park, we made sure our guide explored all options. When we arrived at the cable car station in the morning, the lines were very long, probably 2-3 hours long. Fortunately, there is the option to take a minibus outside the station to the lesser peak entrance and then change to another park bus to the stairs leading up to Heaven’s Door cave. We only had to wait for about 20 mins for the minibus.
There are 999 steps up to the Tianmen Cave but you can cheat and take a very long escalator which is what I did! After reaching the cave, there are more escalators taking you up to the walkways hugging the cliff and the famous Glass Walkway which was unfortunately (or fortunately) closed for repairs while we were there….. After the leisurely walk around the mountain, we took the cable car back to the city. Strangely enough, there was barely any line going down.
