Tianmen Mountain 天门山

About Tianmen Mountain

The mountain-top circuit, temple area and Tianmen Cave give it a different character from Wulingyuan’s sandstone pillars. Access is currently shaped by cableway works: the upper section of the long city cableway remains suspended under the August 2026 operating notice. The adjusted routes use combinations of lower cableway, mountain shuttle, cave express cableway and escalators, so the route letter on your ticket is essential to planning the day.

In 263, during the Three Kingdoms period, a large cave is said to have opened suddenly in the mountainside; local officials reported it to the Wu ruler Sun Xiu, who took it as an auspicious sign and named it Tianmen Cave (天门洞), giving the mountain its name. The mountain was approved as a national forest park in July 1992, with a management office established the following month. In 2001 the privately owned Tianjin Ningfa Group signed a fifty-year contract with the Yongding district government to develop 1,700 mu (亩) of the site, and the scenic area formally opened in September 2005.

A cableway 7,455 metres long, with a vertical difference of 1,279 metres between its upper and lower stations, is described as the world's longest single-line detachable-grip gondola cableway. Paths run along the cliff face at the summit, some with glass floors, and an 11-kilometre road with 99 bends, Tongtian Avenue, leads to Tianmen Cave, a natural arch 131.5 metres high with a 999-step entrance known as the Stairway to Heaven. Tianmenshan Temple stands on the summit; the original Tang dynasty temple was destroyed in the early twentieth century, and a new temple in Tang-style architecture began construction in 1949.

What to look for

• Tianmen Cave’s natural arch and the monumental stairway setting.
• The open summit cliff paths and mountain-top temple area.

Location & getting there

Getting to Tianmen Mountain

Follow the entrance specified on the ticket. Under the August 31, 2026 notice, A starts at the city cableway lower station, while B and C begin at the mountain gate. Check the latest route before travelling; the long cableway is not currently a direct city-to-summit ride.