2021 National Day Shennongjia & Wudang Mountains Self-driving In-depth Travel Guide

Originally planned to go to Gannan for the National Day, but a few days before departure we found out that the temperature had dropped and it was snowing there, so the scenery would naturally be greatly diminished. After checking many places, I found that the weather in Shennongjia was good and the scenery was also nice, so I changed the plan to Shennongjia at the last minute, one week before the National Day. Attached are the itinerary and budget table:

This itinerary seems simple, but because it was so close to the National Day, it was quite complicated. The biggest issues were flights and car rental, and they were interconnected. I had to drive myself, but there was no car rental service in Shennongjia itself, which meant it was impossible to transfer from Wuhan to Shennongjia by plane. The only way to rent a car was to rent one at a nearby airport. The most convenient nearby airport was Yichang Airport, but tickets were sold out, so I had to choose Wudangshan Airport. Of course, there was also Wuxia Airport nearby, but there were no direct flights from Shanghai. I also checked rail travel, but train tickets were sold out. Therefore, entering and exiting via Wudangshan became the only choice. The only direct flights between Shanghai and Wudangshan are operated by Spring Airlines. When purchasing tickets, remember to buy luggage allowance or choose a slightly higher class that includes luggage allowance. If it were not the National Day, I recommend travelers to enter and exit via Yichang, either by plane or high-speed rail.

Worth mentioning is the car rental. Since there were five people, six days and five nights, staying at four different hotels, we needed to rent an SUV for comfortable seating and enough luggage space. We rented a Volkswagen Acura, which still seemed a bit small. When renting, I initiated the booking from Ctrip for a YiHai car because Ctrip had discount coupons, so it was cheaper than renting directly from YiHai. Since our flight arrived late and the branch closed at 8 PM, we contacted the branch in advance, had our driver's license verified, and the deposit was waived. The car could be picked up directly from the parking lot; the key was hidden in a corner, and after customer service sent us a photo we found it easily.

D1: Shanghai to Wudangshan

Spring Airlines is at the legendary T3 terminal at Pudong Airport. After security, we had to take a shuttle train, which was a bit ridiculous. The flight was on time. After arrival, we picked up the car and drove directly to the hotel to check in. We stayed at a hotel a 30-minute drive away, which was very noisy and not recommended. However, one kilometer from that hotel there was a new hotel that seemed very nice. One of our group stayed there for the last night and flew back to Hangzhou the next day, so he had some experience.

D2: Shennongding Scenic Area

We bought the Shennongjia joint ticket the day before. In the morning, we drove over three hours into the Shennongjia area and went straight up to Shennongding. It happened to be foggy, so we ended up seeing nothing at the summit — weather is really critical. As for Shennong Valley, due to traffic jams, we didn’t have time to go down; the round trip takes four hours and is quite physically demanding. In the evening, we checked into a hotel in Pingqian Ancient Town.

D3: Dajiuhu Lake Scenic Area

Dajiuhu Lake had the best scenery of the trip. We walked from the hotel to the visitor center, bought a sightseeing bus ticket, and entered the scenic area. You can get off at each lake; the later ones had even better views. Here are some pictures directly. The aerial shots were also great. After the tour, we drove two hours back to Muyu Town.

D4: Tiansheng Bridge and Other Four Attractions

We drove to the farthest attraction, Tiansheng Bridge. Because of the National Day, cars were queuing all the way down the mountain. We parked at a farmhouse halfway up and walked less than two kilometers to the scenic area. This was clearly much faster than waiting in line to drive up. As long as we had lunch at the farmhouse on the way back, parking was free; otherwise, it cost 30 yuan. Tiansheng Bridge is just a place to see a waterfall — the air was good, but the scenery was similar to other mountains and waters we had seen.

After lunch, we went to Shennong Altar, saw the thousand-year-old tree, and since no one was willing to accompany me to climb the 2,999 steps, I didn’t go up to see the altar.

After leaving, we went to Guanmen Mountain. We drove in for a quick look and then left. It’s suitable for children’s science education, but meaningless for adults. This freed up some time, so we visited the backup spot, Xiangxi Source. The scenery there was beautiful with green mountains and clear water — highly recommended. After the tour, we returned to the same hotel in Muyu Town as the previous night.

D5: Tianyan Scenic Area

We drove from the hotel for about an hour and a half. There was a famous rainbow bridge in the scenic area, which wasn’t scary; a friend who has acrophobia also crossed it safely. Then we saw the Swallow Cave, which had no swallows, and then the Yeren Cave, which had no Yeren (wild men). We finished checking off the attractions. Then we drove back to Wudangshan and checked into a hotel at the entrance of the Wudangshan Scenic Area. That evening, we happened to encounter the husband of a famous actress at the hotel entrance.

D6: Wudang Mountains & Return Trip

A few years ago, I visited Shaolin, and now I came to Wudang, which fits the order in Jin Yong’s novels — first destroy Shaolin, then destroy Wudang. Compared to Shaolin, the ticket prices for Wudang are too expensive. The main entrance ticket, the cable car ticket, and tickets for two small attractions added up to nearly 500 yuan. Since we only had one day, we took the essence route: Visitor Center — Taizi Slope — Qiongtai Zhongguan — Cable Car — Golden Summit — Cable Car — Qiongtai Zhongguan — Taizi Slope — South Cliff — Visitor Center. Due to time constraints, we missed Zixia. The architecture at Taizi Slope and Zhongguan was excellent. At the Golden Summit, it was raining so we saw nothing. South Cliff is highly recommended — the architecture was stunning, and the Dragon Head Incense was very intriguing, but the round trip involved an hour of stairs. Some of our group chose to have tea and chat nearby.

After descending from Wudang, we returned to the town center for dinner, then went to the airport to refuel, return the car, and board the plane. We arrived home after midnight. We rested for a day before going to work — a very reasonable arrangement. The final cost was similar to the total budget, about 6,500 yuan per person. For National Day, this price was very comfortable.