Zhangjiajie is situated in the northwest of Hunan province, in the juncture of the Yunan-Guizhou Plateau and the subsidence of Dongting Lake, stretching over the area from between 109'40 to 110'20 E to between 28'52 to 29'48 N. It is bounded by Shimen county and Taoyuan county on the east, Yuanling county on the south, and Hefeng, Xuan'en of Hubei province on the north. The city stretches 167 km from east to west, and 96 km from north to south at best. Zhangjiajie city covers an area of 9,653 square kilometers, which accounts for 4.5 percent of Hunan province.  

The landform is complex in Zhangjiajie, including mountains, lava, hills, plains, etc. Mountainous area takes up 76 percent of the total. The most characteristic feature is the quartzes sandstone landform, which is rare in the world. The city is higher on the northwest, and tilts along Li River to the south. Wuling mountains, divided from Yunwu Mountain in Guizhou province, are again divided into some branches across the city . There are mountains over mountains in the city and many abrupt peaks and low lands. The highest point is 1890.4 meters above the sea level, and the lowest 75 meters. Zhangjiajie is a city under the direct administration of provincial government, and has jurisdiction over Yongding, Wuling districts, and Cili, Sangzhi counties. Up to the end of 1999, it has a population of 1.55 million, of which 1.13 million are minorities which accounts for 73.1 percent of the total population.

Zhangjiajie is located in the middle latitude in the north hemisphere, and falls into the category of subtropical humid monsoon climate. It has enough sunshine, rich rainwater, long frost-free period, short cold period and quite different four seasons. The annual average sunshine hours, temperature, the amount of rainfall is 1440 hours, 16 degree C and 1400 mm respectively. The average frost-free period over the past years is about 216 to 269 days a year. The climate of this kind benefits the total development of agriculture, forestry, husbandry, subsidiary and fishery. However, influenced by the special landforms and groundfeature, the climate is complex and changeable in the city. Droughts, floods, storms, hails and other disasters occasionally happen.

Zhangjiajie is known for its unique tourist resources. Wulingyuan Scenic Area, made up of the First National Forest Park--Zhangjiajie and two nature reserves-Suoxi Gully and Emperor Mountain, possesses 369 square kilometers. The main land feature is quartzes sandstone that is rare in the world. It is a perfect combination of the beauty of Guilin, the queerness of Huang Mountain, the peril of Hua Mountain and the magnificence of Tai Mountain. Pavilions, bridges, caves, lakes and waterfalls are everywhere. Consequently, it enjoys the name of "an enlarged potted landscape", "a miniature fairyland".
Zhangjiajie is a treasure house for natural resources. There are woody plants of 106 families, 320 genera and 850 species, backboned animals of 146 species. Among them 56 species of plants and 40 species of animals are under national protection. Precious plants include gingko, Chinese dovetrees, Chinese yew, cherry and so on. Valuable medicinal herbs include glossy ganoderma, the tuber of elevated gastrodia, the tuber of multiflower knotweed, the bark of eucommia and so on; while rare animals, the giant salamander, unicorn, Sumen antelope, south China tiger, leopard, macaque, zibet and so on.

Zhangjiajie enjoys its rich forest resources. It has 1012 acres for forest, which covers 64.61 percent of the entire city and ranks NO.1 in Hunan province. The project of "Beautifying, Purifying and Illuminating" is being carried out. There are 1.55 square meters green land per person. Undoubtedly, it is an ideal ecological tourist zone and an international holiday village.

Zhangjiajie is named after the Zhangjiajie Scenic Area. In 1979 Zhangjiajiese found this rare forest in the world. In 1982, after the permission of the State Council, the State Planning Committee approved Zhangjiajie to be the first national forest park in China. In 1988, Dayong city where Zhangjiajie is located, jointly combined with Sangzhi where the Emperor Mountain lies and Cili where Suoxi Gully sits, became a city under the direct administration of provincial government. In 1992, Wulingyuan nature reserve, consisting of Zhangjiajie national forest park, the Emperor Mountain reserve and Suoxi Gully reserve, has been listed in the "World Natural Heritage" by UNESCO. In 1994, Dayong city was renamed as Zhangjiajie city under the permission of the State Council. Now, Zhangjiajie has basically become a large-scale, high-rank tourist resort where mountains, lakes, caves and historical culture and special customs are well blended in the area of 500 square kilometers. It has Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Emperor Mountain reserve and Suoxi Gully reserve as its core, and Maoyan River, Nine-Heaven cave, Five-Thunder Mountain, and the Universal Light Temple as its satellite tourist resorts. So far, more than 20 scenic spots have been explored, and more than 30 tourist routes have been formed. The total traveling lane adds up to more than 500 km.