Zhangjiajie with Kids
A glass lift up a cliff, floating mountains & a dragon cave they've never seen anywhere

This is the bit kids love most, and there's no walking involved — the Bailong Elevator is a double-deck glass lift built onto a sandstone cliff that rises 326 metres in just over a minute and a half. On the way up the kids watch the whole valley of peaks slide past the glass wall, an image they'll remember. It holds a Guinness World Record as the tallest outdoor lift, and it carries you from the valley floor up to the Yuanjiajie ridge (the Avatar mountains) instead of a very long stair climb — a big energy-saver for kids. You can walk down or take the lift again.

At the top of the Bailong lift is Yuanjiajie, a ridge where a thousand slender sandstone pillars rise out of the mist. This view inspired the floating mountains in Avatar, and the most famous pillar was nicknamed "Hallelujah Mountain". Kids love the game of finding which pillar looks like the film. There are flat ridge paths in stretches that loop several viewpoints, including the "No. 1 Bridge Under Heaven", a natural rock span linking two peaks. Walk it unhurried in about 2–3 hours, using the green shuttle bus to hop between points.

A cave kids react to, with no mountain to climb — Yellow Dragon Cave is one of the largest stalactite caves in China, with soaring chambers, an indoor waterfall and giant lit-up rock columns. The bit kids love most is the boat ride along the underground river, the water still and clear and cool. It's a great indoor stop when it's hot or raining. Most of the path is paved and lit, and walking it plus the boat takes about 2 hours. It's near Wulingyuan, so it pairs neatly with Baofeng Lake in the same day.

If the Avatar mountains are the big walking day, Baofeng Lake is the rest day kids love — a mountain lake of emerald water ringed by pillars and forest, where the boat drifts gently and quietly. The highlight kids enjoy is the boatwomen singing folk songs back and forth across the water, echoing around the whole lake. It's a light activity the whole family can sit through together, with little walking, and you can add a short scenic walk near the jetty. Reckon on about 1.5–2 hours total, and it pairs well with Yellow Dragon Cave nearby.

Good news for tired legs — Golden Whip Stream is a flat streamside path beneath the wall of sandstone pillars, the easiest walk in the park: clear cool water, shade, and the highlight kids squeal at — wild monkeys that come out along the path for them to see up close (but don't feed them and keep your snacks hidden; they grab fast). The whole route is ~5–6km, but you can walk just the first stretch and turn back — you don't have to do it all. It suits families because there are no steep stairs; kids walk it themselves and adults don't get worn out.

The heart-in-mouth one older kids love — the Grand Canyon Glass Bridge is a clear glass-deck bridge 430 metres long, spanning a canyon about 300 metres deep. Walk across and you look straight through the floor to the canyon bottom. Some kids find it thrilling, but some find heights frightening and not everyone enjoys it. Honestly, it's not recommended for little ones who are scared of heights, or for babies. Children under 1.2m enter free and there's no hard age limit, but it's worth reading your own kids first. It's in a separate area ~15–30km from Wulingyuan, so plan it as its own thing.

In Zhangjiajie city is Tianmen Mountain (Heaven's Gate Mountain), which you ride up by cable car straight from the city centre — this is one of the longest cable cars in the world, floating over the town and the 99-bend road that winds up the mountain. Kids love the ride for its long, wide views. Up top are clifftop paths and viewpoints, and the highlight is Heaven's Gate, a natural cave punched through the mountain, reached by 999 steps — though there are escalators inside for families who'd rather not climb. It's a half- to full-day thing you can fit on your arrival or your way out.

This is the one parents need to know about — the Zhangjiajie Forest Park has a green shuttle bus (a free in-park shuttle, included in the park ticket) running between the sights: between gates, the Bailong lift base, the cable-car bases and the clifftop viewpoints. Used well, it cuts the kids' walking enormously — instead of trudging up and down for kilometres, ride to the next point and walk only short stretches. Plan a route that goes up by lift or cable car, then hops the shuttle on top, and the whole family lasts longer without the kids melting down. The park is huge and the sights are far apart, so the shuttle is the hero of a family day.

A heads-up on food — Hunan cooking is bold and spicy and local restaurants use a lot of chilli, but kids won't go hungry: just order it without chilli (búlà 不辣) or ask for the chilli on the side. The easiest dishes for kids are plain rice with non-spicy stir-fries, omelette, stir-fried vegetables, tofu, clear soup and steamed buns. The local star is the three-layer Tujia hotpot (sanxiaguo) — tasty but strong, and maybe too much for little ones. In the city and in Wulingyuan you'll find places with Western menus, fried food and non-spicy noodles kids know. Convenience stores stock milk and snacks. Up on the mountain food is pricier and choices are few, so bring your own snacks.

This one matters most for families — Zhangjiajie means a lot of walking, a lot of stairs and sights spread across two zones. The Forest Park (Wulingyuan) is ~33km / ~1 hour from the city and Tianmen, and there's no metro to help. Don't try to do the park, Tianmen and the Glass Bridge in one day — the kids will burn out on stairs and car time. With three days, keep it clean: two days exploring the park slowly, leaning on the green shuttle, and one day for the cave/lake or Tianmen. One or two big sights a day is plenty, with time built in for naps and breaks — and the trip will be far more fun for it.