Zhangjiajie National Forest Park locates in the south of Wulingyuan Scenic Area, with the total area of 481,000 square meters. In 1982, the park was approved by the National Planning Board to be China's first forest national park.
The management organization of the park was located in the Luogu Tower, which is 32km away from the downtown of Zhangjiajie City, and 28km from Wulingyuan District Government.
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park combines with the Suoxi Valley, Mountain Tianzi and Yangjiazhai scenic range to form the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, that was in 1998 granted as a key scenic spot by the State Council. And then in 1992 , it was listed in the World Heritage Directory by UNESCO, became a world-widely protected heritage.
In 1994, it was named by the former National Forest Industry Ministry as a “Model National Park”, where the primitive natural scenes highlight Zhangjiajie in the tourists' travel notes: the uninterrupted peaks and steep cliffs, the deep valleys and far-below streams, the greenery woods and clean water, and the mist wreathed and the mountain-tops. Zhangjiajie is an amazing integration of being magnificent, fabulous, secluded, wild and elegant, as well as a unbelievable carrier of mountains, valleys, cliffs, forest and water.
Within the park, there are altogether more than 2,000 cliff mountains, towering into the sky like a dancing group, with various physical appearance and grand force of character. Standing on the top of a mountain, tourists may recognize the actors: the towering pillars, the indestructible high city walls; some bring you a chill like two stacked eggs; some allow you relax like a waving boat.
Here the water is not only clean but also contribute an attraction. Five streams snakes in the deep valleys. The waterfalls sometimes are hidden in the jungle, sometimes shock you with the boom reflected from the valley.
According to the laboratory data, the water quality meets the national 1-grade drinking standard. Zhangjiajie is a green treasure house as well as a natural zoo. 98% forest coverage nursed a booming nature. The large primeval secondary forest features in its long-aged trees and solitary jungle. Among the 102 families and 720 species trees, some are very unusual: Chinese dove tree, trembling poplar, red nutmeg, BaDong manglietie, metasequoia (redwood), etc. The jungle provides a well-protected environment for the wild lives to habitat. Within this area there are 149 species of vertebrate animals, including 28 national grade 1 and grade 2 protected animals. In the harmonious world of rock, trees and streams, diverse rare animals enjoy their happy lives. So far we have found crimson-bellied tragopan, pheasant, red-billed leiothrix, musk deer, macaque, flying lizard, etc Walking on the mountain paths, you will be accompanied by the birds' singing and the monkeys playing around you, along the paths or in the trees. In the forest park the dust content in the air is 88% less than the dense population area, and the bacteria content is 97%; the duration of possible sunshine is 40% and the average daily temperature is 6℃ lower. In the summer the temperature keeps between 22℃ and 28℃, and in the jungle it remains thermal inversion below 150cm. The relative humidity of the air increases appr. 10%. The wind speed is basically less than 1m/s, 80% of the time it is calm wind. People who lives or works in the park find out their blood pressure is lowered, the pulse recovery rate increases 30% averagely and feel more comfortable. In the past years, the government has drawn a detailed blueprint for Zhangjiajie's layout, development and construction. There are 6 scenic districts: Huangshizhai, Jinbian Stream, Yaozizhai, Shadao Valley, Chaotianguan, Yuanjiajie, in which more than 90 most popular spots have been named. The standard stone tourist paths are 6, with the total length of 21.8km; the road for tourism bus has a length of 29.8km. In the park's hotels there are 4,000 beds available and in the restaurants they can serve 5,000 tourists at the same time. Up to now Zhangjiajie has built up a comprehensive and complete system for the tourism industry: foods, hotel, tourism bus, travel, shopping and entertainment.