Furong Ancient Town: The Town on a Waterfall, When to Go and How to Reach It from Zhangjiajie

Furong Ancient Town (Furong Zhen, 芙蓉镇, also called Hibiscus Town) is a Tujia town in Yongshun County, western Hunan, built on the cliff above a waterfall about 60 m high and 40 m wide. It lies about halfway between Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang and has its own high-speed rail station 2.5 km away. Entry is ticketed, at about RMB 100–108 for an adult with the evening show, and the town stays open from 08:00 to midnight. The lights come on at about 19:30, so arrive in the afternoon and stay the night.

What is Furong Ancient Town?

Hunan’s provincial government describes it as a town with more than 2,000 years of history and calls it “an ancient town hanging on the waterfall”. It was once a seat of the Tusi, the hereditary chieftains who ruled this part of south-west China for the imperial court. The town used to be called Wangcun. Director Xie Jin shot the 1986 film Hibiscus Town here, with Liu Xiaoqing and Jiang Wen, and the town later took the film’s name. Official pages give 1997 or 2007 for the renaming, so we do not state a year. Today it is a national 4A scenic area.

It is no longer a quick stop on the road. The Paper reported in August 2026 that the town received 6.53 million visits in 2025, that evening visitors rose from 45% of the total in 2023 to 72% in 2025, and that foreign visitors grew 57% in a year. Opening hours were extended from 18:00 to midnight.

What to see

Tickets and opening hours

• Hours: 08:00 to midnight, on the Ctrip listing in October 2026.
• Price: we found no official price list. In October 2026 Qunar listed the adult ticket with the evening show at RMB 100 and Ctrip listed RMB 108, so expect RMB 100–108 depending on the channel.
• Foreign visitors: Qunar lists a ticket for non-mainland visitors at the same RMB 100. Bring your passport.
• Concessions listed: children under 1.2 m free; from 1.2 m to under 14, ages 14–18 and full-time students RMB 60 with the show; ages 65–74 RMB 10 and 75 and over free, both without the show. Ask whether a passport is accepted for the one you need.
• Ticket office: 0743-5854532. Check the price and the show time on the day you book.

Why stay for the evening

The lights on the waterfall and the stilt houses come on at about 19:30, and this is what most visitors now come for: nearly three in four arrive for the evening. The Paper names Tuwang Bridge, the waterfall pier and Wuli Flagstone Street as the three main evening spots. The town has about 200 guesthouses and more than 7,000 beds, so a night here is easy to arrange and saves a late drive.

Getting there from Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang

• By high-speed train: Furongzhen station is on the Zhangjiajie–Jishou–Huaihua line, which opened on 6 December 2021. It is the first station south of Zhangjiajie West and three stations north of Fenghuanggucheng.
• From the station: it is 2.5 km from the town, and the scenic area runs shuttle vehicles.
• Not every train stops at Furongzhen. Check the stop and the time on 12306 for your date.
• By road: CGTN put the direct bus from Zhangjiajie at about 1.5 hours in 2019. A private car lets you carry luggage between hotels.

How long, and Furong or Fenghuang?

• Time needed: an afternoon and an evening. One night is enough.
• Furong is small and ticketed, and everything is built around one waterfall.
• Fenghuang is a larger river town with free public streets and needs one or two nights.
• They are on the same railway line, so most routes from Zhangjiajie take Furong first and finish in Fenghuang.
• The real Tusi capital, Laosicheng, is a separate site in the same county and part of the UNESCO Tusi Sites listing.