Bailong Elevator: Price, Ride Time and Whether to Ride

The Bailong Elevator (百龙天梯, sometimes written Hundred Dragons Elevator) is the glass lift built against a cliff in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, carrying people between the valley floor and the top of the cliff beside Yuanjiajie. It rises 335 m (1,099 ft) in about 2 min, and an adult one-way ticket costs CNY 65 on top of your park entry.

Two things surprise people. It is not covered by the park ticket, and the ride is a route connector rather than an attraction in its own right. Once you know both, the decision is about time, legs and money.

Prices and hours on this page were last verified on 11 November 2026. Park ticketing changes, so confirm at the window.

What is the Bailong Elevator, and what does the ride feel like?

It is a lift that saves you a long climb, and the view is a bonus.

The shaft runs up a sheer sandstone cliff, so the cabin lifts you along the rock face with the pillar forest opening out as you rise. Because the whole climb takes about 2 min, you get one long look at the pillars rather than a slow panorama you can study from several angles. Treat it as transport with a view attached, and you will not be disappointed.

How much is a Bailong Elevator ticket, and what is not included?

An adult one-way ticket is CNY 65, and the park ticket does not cover it.

Last verified: 11 November 2026.

The CNY 236 joint ticket covers entrance and unlimited eco-bus rides for 4 consecutive days. Its exclusion list names the elevator, the Tianzi Mountain cableway, the Yangjiajie cableway, the Huangshi Village cableway and the Ten-Mile Gallery train, so budget for the lifts you actually plan to use.

If you expect to use several lifts across your days, two passes are sold. One covers four rides within four days at CNY 238; the unlimited pass is CNY 298. Both cover the elevator and the three main cableways and exclude the Ten-Mile Gallery train. Compare the pass price with the single fares above for the rides you actually plan; the Zhangjiajie ticket prices page sets out all the lift fares side by side.

A discount elevator fare of CNY 33 is also published. The eligibility rules are not published in English, so ask at the ticket window whether your passport qualifies and budget the adult fare until someone confirms it.

Children ride free only under a combined rule: under 14 years old and under 1.2 m (about 3 ft 11 in). The child needs a voucher plus an insurance ticket, which costs CNY 7 at the counter or CNY 3 online.

Where do you buy the elevator ticket and the ride passes?

Our fact base records the prices of the elevator single and the two ride passes, but not the counter or app that sells them, so the honest answer is to ask at the gate which window handles them on your date.

What is documented is how paying works in the park. The RMB is legal tender, and by law no business may refuse it, so yuan notes always work. The official WeChat mini programs (张家界一机游 and 张家界旅游小助手) are the official booking channel for park entry, they take WeChat Pay only, and OTAs such as Trip.com resell entry to foreign cards. The same passport used for your entry slot is the document checked, so carry the original, not a photo.

One question to settle at the window: whether a ride pass can be started after your first ride, or has to be bought before you board. We ask this for guests at the time of booking rather than assume.

How tall is it, and how long is the ride?

It rises 335 m (1,099 ft) and the ride takes about 2 min.

Those are the two figures to plan with. The ride is over almost as soon as it starts, so the time in your day goes on reaching the station and waiting, not on the climb.

How long is the queue, and when should you ride?

No queue length is published, and any single figure you read online reflects one day, one gate and one direction, so plan with timing rather than numbers.

The lever you control is your entry slot. Entry is timed: 8 time slots between 07:00 and 17:00, booked in advance with your passport. The gate and slot you choose at purchase are what the rest of the day is built on.

That matters more than it looks, because you will probably be back a second day. The joint ticket runs for four consecutive days, but each later day needs a new reservation: use the 张家界一机游 WeChat mini program, or a ticket window if you have a foreign phone number. Build that into the evening routine, or you will be queueing at a gate at 07:00 with no slot.

Gate hours are listed in our fact base as 07:00-17:00, but that entry is low-confidence: three published ranges disagree on both the opening and closing times, including a peak-season variant. Treat any fixed figure as indicative, and ask at your hotel or at the gate what time the last lift goes up on your date; start your descent well before it.

Local tip: take the earliest entry slot on offer at the gate you are actually using, then walk straight to the elevator before anything else. Later in the morning the day’s arrivals move in the same direction at the same time.

Local tip: ride it in one direction and leave the plateau by a different lift. A second ride puts you in the queue again for the same view.

Up or down — which direction should you ride?

Ride it once, as a route connector, and cross the plateau rather than doubling back.

A common loop goes up by elevator, along the Yuanjiajie rim, by eco-bus to Tianzi Mountain, then down by the Tianzi Mountain cableway (CNY 72 one way). The reverse works too and puts the lift at the end of the day, after the morning wave has gone up. The Tianzi Mountain guide covers the viewpoint end of that loop.

Local tip: if you are sleeping in Wulingyuan town, you can take a first slot without a pre-dawn drive from the city. See where to stay in Wulingyuan for hotels near the gate.

Which gate should you start from, and how do you reach the lower station?

East Gate is the entrance beside Wulingyuan town, which is what makes it work for a morning elevator ride. Hotels in Wulingyuan town sit between a few hundred meters and about 3 km from the Wulingyuan Landmark Gate (Biaozhimen, East Gate entrance)

Inside the park, eco-buses are included in your joint ticket and connect the gate with the elevator and cableway stations. Confirm with the driver that you are getting off at the elevator station rather than guessing.

If you are coming from Zhangjiajie city, Zhangjiajie West Railway Station or a hotel near Tianmen Mountain, add the drive to the gate before any of this. Our guide to the park gates and which one to use compares East, South and Middle, and the park overview explains how the areas connect.

What is there at the top?

The upper station sits at the top of the cliff, about 2 km (1 mi) (1.2 mi) from the Yuanjiajie viewpoints, so allow time to reach the rim before you expect the classic views.

Yuanjiajie is the reason to be up there: a boardwalk along the plateau edge with pillars dropping away on both sides. The Southern Sky Column here was formally renamed Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, and the film’s designers said their floating mountains drew on peaks in several parts of China, Zhangjiajie among them. Give the plateau the better part of a morning rather than rushing back to the lift. The Yuanjiajie guide walks through the viewpoints in a sensible order.

When should you skip the elevator?

Skip it if you would rather spend the money or the wait on walking, because the park offers three other cableways and a long stone stair trail as alternatives.

• Another cableway: Tianzi Mountain at CNY 72, Yangjiajie at CNY 76 or Huangshi Village at CNY 65, all one way.
• The stone steps: a long stair trail links the valley floor with the plateau for anyone fit enough to climb it. Ask at the gate which trail is open and how long staff expect it to take that day.
• The flat valley walk: Golden Whip Stream follows the water with no steps, which makes it the fallback for anyone avoiding both lifts and stairs.
• Heavy cloud: in thick fog the cabin view disappears, so save the fare for a clearer morning. Our best time to visit page explains when cloud tends to lift.

Is the elevator suitable for seniors, kids and nervous riders?

The lift itself is easy: level access to the cabin, no steps inside, and a ride of about 2 min.

The part that decides whether it works for you comes afterwards. The upper station is at the top of the cliff but about 2 km (1 mi) (1.2 mi) from the viewpoints, so make sure everyone in the group can cover that ground and the wait at the station. Our pages on Zhangjiajie for seniors and Zhangjiajie with kids set out the lifts and routes that shorten the walking.

What should you carry before you queue?

Carry a layer, water and your original passport; the wait is standing, and the paperwork is checked at the ticket window and on the train.

Hotels, real-name tickets, trains and police spot-checks all require the passport itself, so keep it reachable and keep a copy of the details separately. The packing list covers layers by season and what the mountain weather asks for.

Before you ride, run this list:

• Entry slot booked for the correct gate, passport in hand
• Second-day reservation made if you are going back into the park
• Direction decided — up or down — before you buy
• Return leg checked at the window, if you plan to come back the same way
• A layer for the station and the cabin
• A fallback route chosen in case the wait is long

Do you need a guide to ride the elevator, or can you do it alone?

You can ride it alone; it is a lift with a ticket counter, and the same passport that booked your entry gets you through. What a local plan changes is the timing and the route either side of it.

If you would rather not rebuild that route on the day, we run a 1-day Zhangjiajie National Forest Park private tour that fits the elevator into a sensible loop, and a 2-day Zhangjiajie highlights tour for people who want both Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain without backtracking. Hikers who would rather skip the lift altogether tend to prefer our 2-day off-the-beaten-path hiking tour. Prices depend on your dates, group size and hotels, so we quote per trip rather than publishing a figure: send your dates through the inquiry form and we will reply with a day plan and a price.