Tianmen Mountain

Tianmen Mountain, the "Heaven's Gate Mountain", rises to 1,518.6 metres above the city of Zhangjiajie in north-western Hunan and is the centrepiece of Tianmen Mountain National Park. Its name comes from Tianmen Cave, a natural arch that pierces the rock wall high on the mountain; the opening is 131.5 metres at its tallest, big enough to frame the sky when seen from below. Zhangjiajie is better known for the sandstone pillars of Wulingyuan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, but Tianmen, a short ride from the city centre, has become the region's other must-see.

Reaching the top is part of the show. A cableway built in 2005 by the French firm Poma starts near Zhangjiajie railway station and climbs 1,279 metres over a length of 7,455 metres, with 98 cabins and gradients of up to 37 degrees; it is promoted locally as one of the longest mountain passenger cableways in the world. The other route is Tongtian Avenue, an 11 km road with 99 hairpin bends that ends below the arch, from where a stairway of 999 steps climbs to Heaven's Gate itself. On the summit plateau, paths are fixed to the cliff faces, some with glass floors, and in August 2016 the Coiling Dragon Cliff skywalk opened above the switchbacks of the road. Tianmenshan Temple, built in the style of the Tang dynasty on the site of an original Tang temple destroyed in the early twentieth century, stands on the summit and can be reached on foot or by chairlift.

The mountain's sheer walls have drawn stunt performers for years. The French climber Alain Robert scaled the cliff below the arch without ropes in 2007, commemorated by a plaque; wingsuit pilots have flown through the cave, and the World Wingsuit League held its first championships here. Drivers have raced up Tongtian Avenue against the clock and in 2018 a car was driven up the 999 steps. For ordinary visitors the attraction is simpler: the views from the cliff paths over the forested ridges of the Wuling range and the city below.

Getting there

The cableway's lower station is in Zhangjiajie, about 8 km from the city centre area near the railway station. Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport (DYG) is about 7 km away.