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Dear Travelers, We’d like to have the following quick guide to be always...
Dear Travelers,
Mt. Huashan is reputed as the most precipitous of the five. Then how to visit Mt. Huashan?
Mt.Huashan is easily accessible by high-speed trains from the five cities – Beijing ( 5 hours), Xian ( 35 minutes), Luoyang (one and half hours ) and Shanghai ( 10 hours) .
With Beijing Xian Zhengzhou Luoyang high-speed trains completed, it is faster and more comfortable to travel from Beijing, Xian or Zhenzghou (Luoyang) to Mt.Huashan by high-speed trains. Of course, you may take a long distance bus or rent a private vehicle from Xian to Mount Hua, but visiting Mount Hua by train is the best choice for individual tourists who prefer to travel on their own.
The Huayin City (where Mt.Huashan is located) has two train station, namely Huashan North Railway Station and Huashan Railway Station. Huashan North Railway Station is a new station used for bullet trains and high speed trains.
If you go to Huashan by high speed or bullet trains from Beijing, Xian and Zhengzhou (Luoyang), you will arrive at Huashan North Railway Station. For taking other trains, you will arrive at Huashan Railway Station.
Huashan North Railway Station is located in the north of Huayin City and Mt.Huashan.
Today I make an excursion from Xian to Mt.Huashan by train, Please follow me into the sacred mountain – Mount Hua. Last night I bought the train ticket for Train G672 for Huashan from the ticket office at Xian Railway Station though the train starts from Xian North Railway Station instead Xian Railway Station.
My bullet train leaves Xian North Railway Station at 09:06am
Still a tourist low season, there are not many passengers on the train.
Within 40 minutes, we arrive at Huashan North Railway Station which is located in the north of Huayin City.
I take a clichéd picture of the exterior Huashan North Train Station
The two bus lines start from the square in front of Huashan North Railway Station and ends at Huashan Eco-Square, namely Huashan Tourist Dispatch Center where you line up to purchase the entrance tickets, the ticket for shuttle buses up to the cable station and the tickets for taking cable car up or down.
Local taxi drivers don’t use the meter to calculate the taxi fare since Huayin is a small city. The taxi ride costs RMB 15 – 20 from Huashan North Train Station to the Dispatch Center for Mt. Huashan Scenic Spot.
Mt.Huashan is a well organized scenic spot and rated as a 5-star attraction at the national level in terms of safety, cleanness and convenience. All passengers are supposed to go to the Dispatch Center for Mt. Huashan Scenic Spot where people buy entrance tickets and bus tickets.
In the Ticket Hall there is a China Bank ATM with English, and it works well. If you are in dire need of cash, you can process your credit get the cash you need.
Note: The ticket is valid within 48 hours. You don’t have to stay overnight on the mountain and you can stay elsewhere and return to the mountain next day.
Mt.Huashan Scenic Spot is mainly composed of 5 peaks – North Peak (1614.pm), the Central Peak(2037.8m), East Peak(2096.m), West Peak(2086.2m) and South Peak (2154.9m).
Basically people with strong legs would climb up to the North Peak before reaching other four peaks.
There are two walking trails leading to the North Peak. The most popular is the traditional route in Huashan Yu (Huashan Gorge) starting from Yuquanyuan Temple (west gate); the second trail is the Huangpu Yu (Huangpu Gorge) starting from Huashan East Gate.
A cable car is set over the Huangpu Yu (Huangpu Gorge) trail where you can take the cable up to the North Peak. On the top of the North Peak, people would climb from North Peak respectively to Mid-Peak, East Peak, South Peak and West Peak, then take cable car down from West Peak.
Of course, it is difficult for you to hike all the five peaks in a day. If you don’t have strong legs, you may retrace to the north peak, take cable car down. Basically it takes about 4 hours walking from the North Peak to the West Peak.
There are two cable car stations – one at the North Peak and the other at the West Peak. You may take the cable up to the north peak, then hike to the West Peak and take the West Peak’s cable car down (about 4 hours’ walk).
You don’t have to retrace to the North Peak. Of course, you need strong legs hiking from the north peak to the west peak. . If you don’t have strong legs, you may retrace to the north peak, take cable car down.
Note: The last cable car starts at 19:00 ( high season: March – November ); 17:00 ( low season: December – February ).
I first take the shuttle bus (RMB40 two ways) from the Dispatch Center to Huangpu Yu, the starting point for cable car up to the North Peak.
Cable car ticket: RMB 80 (two ways Dec – Feb); RMB150 (two ways March – November). The cable car ticket is separated from the entrance tickets and people have to buy at the cable car station. Each cable car accommodates 6 passengers.
It takes about 6 minutes up to the North Peak.
We get off the cable car and continue to walk up for 15 minutes before we reach the North Peak. Now we are on the platform of the North Peak with the West Peak and East Peak as the back drop.
Looking at the East Peak and West Peak from the North Peak where I stand. To climb all the peaks take about 5 hours.
If you don’t have strong legs, you may just stop on the north peak and enjoy the beautiful surrounding views. If you’d like to continue your climb, you may do as the two gentlemen.
Passengers have hung thousands of locks along the safety chain at various places along the trail for good wishes.
If you want to see the sunrise or sunset, you need to stay overnight on the mountains. there are some hotels with basic facilities. In high season you need to book in advance.
The best time to visit Huashan is from April to October, a high tourist season in Huashan. Each 15th day of March ( Chinese lunar calendar ) is the “Mountain Praying” Day when there are a number of grand temple activities and celebrations.
Just pay attention to environmental protection. Please do not litter. It is recommended to take your trash back and don’t leave it on the mountains. In addition, bonfire and smoking are forbidden in Huashan.
Also follow the safety tips in the scenic area, do not make big actions, and do not climb the areas that are not allowed.
If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Xian guided tours:
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