How much are Tianmen Mountain tickets in 2026?
The entrance ticket is 72 yuan per person per visit. That is the government-guided price in notice 湘发改价费〔2025〕517 号 from the Hunan Provincial Development and Reform Commission (notice text). It includes the state-resource paid-use fee. It has applied since 2025-08-01 and is valid for five years.
The cableways, escalators, eco-bus and chairlift are not part of that figure. They are separate services with their own prices, listed below. The 517 notice does not say what the 72 yuan ticket covers beyond the state-resource fee, so do not assume it includes any ride. Budget 72 yuan to get in, plus each lift you take.
What is not included in the Tianmen Mountain entrance ticket?
The Zhangjiajie city policy summary dated 2025-03-28 (city notice summary) names five services: the Tianmen Mountain cableway (天门山索道), the upper escalator, the lower escalator, the eco-bus (环保车) and the mountain-top chairlift. Under notice 张发改价费〔2025〕13 号, their prices stay at the standard set in 2020 (张发改价费〔2020〕55 号) for two years from 2025-05-01, that is, to the end of April 2027. The summary does not repeat the figures.
The figures come from the city's A-level scenic areas and internal transport price list, 2023 edition, published 2023-12-14 (price list). For Tianmen Mountain it shows:
| Service | Listed price (yuan) | Discount-group price (yuan) |
|---|---|---|
| Main cableway (大索道) | 108 | 54 |
| Eco-bus (环保车) | 33 | 17 |
| Upper escalator (上段扶梯) | 42 | 21 |
| Lower escalator (下段扶梯) | 32 | 16 |
| Tianmen Cave Express cableway (天门洞快线索道) | 76 | 38 |
| Chairlift, one-way (吊椅索道（单程）) | 25 | 13 |
Read these with care:
- These are the 2023 list's figures. The list says new prices apply if prices change, and the price notices require prices and discounts to be posted where tickets are sold, so check the board at the ticket office.
- The list does not say whether the 108 yuan for the main cableway is one-way or return. Only the chairlift is marked one-way.
- The same list shows the entrance ticket at 62 yuan; notice 517 replaced that with 72 yuan in 2025.
- The operator's notice for 2026-04-01 uses the name "7-level through-the-mountain escalator" (7级穿山自动扶梯). The price list says only "upper" and "lower" escalator, and does not say how the names match.
Tianmen Cave Express cableway: what it is and what it costs
The Tianmen Cave Express cableway (天门洞快线观光索道) runs from the main gate up to Tianmen Cave (天门洞). The operator's notice for 2026-04-01 describes the route that way, as the first leg of its Line C package.
The city approval 张发改价费〔2022〕45 号, dated 2022-05-13, sets the price at 76 yuan per person, one-way, including a 6 yuan state-resource fee (approval text). It is valid for five years from that date. The approval adds that the ticket must be priced and sold separately, that it may not be forced into a bundle with other charges, and that insurance fees may not be forcibly collected with it. Its child discounts differ from a newer city notice; see the discount section below.
Tianmen Mountain Line A, B and C packages: is there an official price?
The names are real. The operator's notice, reposted on the Zhangjiajie government site on 2026-03-24 (operator notice), sells "double-way cableway tour Line A, Line B and Line C" and "one-way cableway tour Line 1 and Line 2" as packages (套票). That notice concerns 2026-04-01 only.
It describes only Line C: in through the main gate (山门), up on the Tianmen Cave Express cableway to Tianmen Cave, up the 7-level through-the-mountain escalator to the summit, then back by the same escalator and cableway to the main gate. It gives no routes for Lines A, B, 1 or 2, and no package prices.
Booking sites sell these packages at their own all-in prices. Neither the operator's notice nor the price notices give a package price, so none is quoted here. Before you pay, check which line a listing is and which lifts it includes, and compare it with the 72 yuan entrance fee and the lift prices above.
Where to buy Tianmen Mountain tickets as a foreigner
The price and discount notices do not name an official website, WeChat account or mini-program for tickets. They do not say whether a foreign passport can be used to buy a ticket, or whether foreign visitors must collect tickets at a window.
Two official statements are close to the question:
- A Hunan government news item of 2025-11-27, from Hunan Daily, says that in 2025 Tianmen Mountain and Ctrip launched a multi-language ticketing programme for inbound visitors, with multilingual guidance and international payment (news item). It reports a cooperation and does not say where to buy.
- The operator's 2026 notice gives a customer-service number, 0744-8366666, and calls it the official customer service. It does not say which languages the line handles.
If you buy from any seller, ask what the ticket covers, whether you can use a passport at the gate and whether the ticket is a package or the 72 yuan entrance ticket alone.
Do you need to book a time slot or use your real name?
A Zhangjiajie government news item of 2023-11-20, from Zhangjiajie Daily (news item), says the scenic area launched "real-name time-slot reservation" (实名制分时预约) and paperless smart entry that year. It is a 2023 news item, not a current rule: it gives no hours, deadline or booking window, and says nothing about foreign visitors.
The 2025 reply on children (below) shows one current detail: the free child ticket is a named ticket (实名免费儿童票), claimed on the day.
Who gets free or half-price Tianmen Mountain tickets?
Notice 517 grants these discounts on the entrance ticket with valid ID (有效证件):
- Free: children under 14 (age 14 itself is not free), people aged 65 and over, disabled people, active military and their family members, survivors of martyrs, of those killed on duty and of military who died of illness (the "three categories of relatives", 三属), disabled soldiers and retired military cadres. Clergy and staff of the religious site inside the scenic area, and clergy of the same religion, also enter free to visit it.
- Half price: ages 14 up to but not including 18, ages 60 up to but not including 65, and full-time students at undergraduate level and below.
- Veterans: the notice only encourages a discount. It sets none.
Rides follow a separate city notice, 张发改价费〔2024〕24 号, dated 2024-04-16 (notice text). It says related service prices are half price for the same discount groups and free for children under 14. It also says one carer of a Level 1 or 2 severely disabled person is free on the scenic-area ticket. The 2025 policy summary says the discounts for the cableway, escalators, eco-bus and chairlift follow this notice.
The 2022 Express cableway approval was stricter on children: free only for children under 1.2 m who do not occupy a seat, half price for children 1.2 m and above who are under 18. The 2024 notice says it overrides earlier rules that conflict with it.
On ID, the notices say only "valid ID" (有效证件). They do not say whether a passport or a foreign student card counts for the senior or student discounts.
Foreign children under 14
In a reply dated 2025-05-27 to a Spanish traveller with children aged 7 and 10, Zhangjiajie officials, after checking with the Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park management office, set out the rules (reply text):
- Children under 14 are free for the entrance ticket and the internal transport.
- On the day of the visit, the child goes to the ticket office with their own valid ID and claims a named free child ticket. They enter with that ticket and the ID.
- A free child must be accompanied by an adult who has bought a ticket, for the whole visit. Each adult may take at most two free children. The adult's ID and valid proof of purchase are checked.
- The free ticket does not include accident insurance, and the reply asks that insurance be bought when claiming it. Under notice 517, insurance cannot be collected with the entrance ticket and is sold at a separate window to visitors who choose it.
- Glass walkways and other non-transport items are market-priced, are not covered by the free policy and need a separate ticket.
The reply does not mention passports by name.
Opening hours, the glass walkway and Tianmen Cave
The operator's notice gives times for one day only, 2026-04-01, when the cableway closed for its annual inspection and only the Line C package was sold: ticket sales 07:30 to 16:00, passengers carried from 08:00. That day has passed, and the notice is not a standing schedule; neither it nor the price notices give regular opening hours. Ask the operator's customer service, 0744-8366666, about closures.
The 2023 price list does not include the glass walkway. The 2025 reply above says it is market-priced and needs its own ticket for children using the free-ticket policy, and gives no opening status. Tianmen Cave was on the Line C route in the 2026-04-01 notice, which says nothing about other days.
Plan the rest of the trip
We do not sell Tianmen Mountain tickets or cable car and escalator rides. We can book flights, hotels, train tickets, a local guide or a private car for your Zhangjiajie trip. For the wider trip, see the Zhangjiajie travel guide.
