Éméi Shān in detail

Activities

The entry ticket (adult ¥185/student and seniors ¥90, winter ¥110/55) gets you access to most sites on the mountain but does not include rides on the three buses to the main routes up or into a few of the temples.

Visiting the Temples & Monasteries

Most rewarding is walking the whole way starting from Bàoguó Temple, but most opt to ride to Wànnián depot (for easy access to the cable car) or to Wǔxiǎngǎng depot (an easy walk to

poetic Qīngyīn Pavilion and other important sights). The Léidòngpíng bus drops off closest to the summit, just a few hours short of Jīndǐng Peak (or half an hour up to the upper cable car).

Regardless of your starting point, getting a feel for the place takes at least a full day, ideally two or three. Wander the wooden temples, meet the macaques demanding tribute for safe passage, then find shelter in a monastery guesthouse and wake up in time to welcome the sunrise. The early morning light refracting in the cool mist has been heralded since ancient times as Buddha's Halo, and the sea of clouds stretching out to the horizon is enough to make even the most jaded traveller feel a little bit closer to the heavens.

Éméi Shān Hiking Routes

There are many combinations of paths, buses, cable cars and monastery rest stops on Éméi Shān. Below are some possibilities. Estimated times exclude breaks, which you will certainly need after all those stairs.

One day

Take the bus from Bàoguó station to Wànnián bus depot (45 minutes, ¥20),then hike to the Golden Summit (five hours) with the help of both cable cars. Catch a ride from Léidòngpíng bus depot (1½ hours, ¥50) back to Bàoguó Village.

Two days

Take the bus from Bàoguó station to Wànnián bus depot, then hike to the summit (6½ hours). Sleep in a hotel at the peak or descend for a monastery, but either way make it back up to the top for sunrise. On the way down, turn right a short distance past Elephant Bathing Pool and take the more scenic path, via Xiānfēng Temple, to Wǔxiǎngǎng depot (eight hours) for a ride back to the village (30 minutes, round trip ¥40).

Three days

Hoof it up and down the mountain (20 hours or more in total). To see all the sights the mountain has to offer, ascend via Wànnián Temple and descend via Xiānfēng Temple. (Perhaps make offerings to sore muscles at each – you'll be taking a break anyway.)

——LONELY PLANET