Ever since I was a little girl, I had admired the sense of serenity and solitude depicted by the traditional ink and wash paintings of the Sacred Mountains of China.  The beautiful guóhuà (國畫) and the mythological stories my Dad used to tell us before bed were the main reasons behind my trip to China.  Born & raised in Canada, I was on a mission to travel to some of these mountains, and also to learn more about the country and culture.

My pre-trip planning wasn’t very fruitful when it came to figuring out how to get to the mountains on my own, and even less information was available about navigating the mountains themselves.  Now that I have triumphantly returned, I want to share my experiences & provide all the logistics required to get to and from Hua Shan (华山) & Huang Shan (黄山).

Throughout our trip,  we noticed that most of the tour groups and tourists were National Chinese, and many were sporting loud megaphones.  However, I thought it would be different when we escaped to the mountains.  I was wrong…  There were Chinese tour groups everywhere.  Well, at least at the top of the mountain and at the cable car stations.  Since we decided we were going to make it up the mountain by foot, we did manage to sneak off from the crowds and enjoy moments of peace on our own.  My most favourite moments by far from my entire China trip were the mountain treks – although it was definitely a reflective journey, it was also a physical & mental challenge, forcing me to face my severe fear of heights.

If you are considering a trip to China, I highly recommend including at least one visit to a Sacred Mountain.  Whether you choose to hike up on foot or take the cable car, I think it’s worth the detour.

Since I want to share full details about each mountain, I am breaking them into separate posts for easier reading:
1. Hua Shan – famous among tourists as the “most dangerous hiking trail in the world”
2. Huang Shan – also known as Yellow Mountain, it is the subject of many traditional Chinese paintings and literature

If you have any questions, just send me an email & I’d be happy to help.

See more mountain climbing adventures from my trip to Vietnam.