Emei Mountain

Also known as Emei Shan, is one of China’s four holy Buddhist mountains and together with the Leshan Big Budhha is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its Buddhist heritage is reflected in its many monasteries, nunneries and temples and some of these, especially handy for those who attempt a walk up the mountain, offer simple accommodation and food. Otherwise, the site has many other accommodation options, ranging from the most expensive luxury to budget backpacking. The summit is just over 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) in altitude and can be climbed by using a network of stone staircases. Depending on route and where you start, you are looking at a walk of between 40 to 60 kilometres to get from top to bottom, which, for most of us, is at least a two-day trek (after which you won’t want to see another staircase for an awful long time). Synonymous with this walk is the clank of bamboo walking poles against the multitude stone steps. Sold by local vendors and popular with Chinese tourists, these sticks also make goods defensive instruments against the troops of robber monkeys – Tibetan Macaques - that inhabit a couple of stretches of the route. However, for the less energetic there is also an easy way up to the summit – by public road, to a point around half-way up, and then transfer to park bus and a final stretch in huge cable cars. There are also other gates in-between this point and the lowest entrance gate, which also give you the chance to take shorter walks on the mountain. Many journey to the site to get to the summit at daybreak to watch the sunrise. It’s an interesting business, often involving large crowds, making it also a bit of a people watching experience! With the summit often being enveloped in mist, the weather also must play its part. But in the right conditions, when the summit pokes up though a layer of lower cloud, it can be a great sight. 

Access to the mountain is by ticket, although stretches of nice walkways, like the area at the bottom around Baogou Temple, are also found outside ticketed zones. Emei is a major tourist site, ranking up there with Jiuzhaigou and Big Buddha and during peak periods it attracts big crowds. However, just like Jiuzhaigou, most will be heading to well-known locations, especially the summit, and walking on paths that take you away from those will also bring you into quieter, less crowded spots.

Emei City is a large, modern urban area with a population of over 400,000 and is well served by road and transport connections. Its linked to Chengdu by an hour-long high-speed rail service that also runs to Leshan. There’s a 15-minute ride between Emei and Leshan and the short distance can be an important factor when planning a visit.

Leshan and Enei Mountain are just 50 km apart and a visit to these sites can easily be combined

UNESCO site on Emei Mountian here

Wikipedia Emei Mountain here