Hunan · China
Tongtian Avenue
Y104Zhangjiajie to Tianmen Mountain
Tongtian Avenue, the Road to Heaven, climbs 11 km up the sheer face of Tianmen Mountain through its famous 99 bends, rising 1,100 m to a natural rock arch at 1,300 m.
The road begins at the Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park entrance on the edge of Zhangjiajie and climbs in a tight spiral of 99 bends, many of them full 180-degree hairpins, up the limestone face. Built 1998-2005, each bend is numbered in countdown; it ends at Cave Square below the 131 m Tianmen Cave arch. Tourist shuttle buses run year-round.
Ninety-nine bends stacked up the sheer face of Tianmen Mountain to a natural rock arch in the sky. From above it looks drawn on rather than built.
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Tongtian Avenue on the map7.0 mi · point to point
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Character
More hairpins than 9 in 10 roads · steeper than 9 in 10 roads here in the catalogue.
Corners
busiest around mile 6Elevation
approximateunder 4%4–8%over 8%323.7 – 1,228.3 mPoints of interest3 stops
- Tongtian AvenueViewpoint4.8 mi in
- Yuhu PeakViewpoint6.8 mi in
- Tianmen South OverlookViewpoint6.8 mi in
Hazards
- Open to tourist buses only, private vehicles not permitted
- 99 hairpin bends cause severe motion sickness
- Summit 10C colder than the base
- Frequent fog on the upper sections
- Vertical cliff drops off the road edge
Sources
“From above, the bends look almost unreal, like something drawn onto the mountainside rather than carved into it.”
Verified route: mapped from real road geometry and fact-checked by a human editor. How roads get checked
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