Mount Hua

Huashan is the western mountain of the five great peaks of Daoism, a granite massif whose five summits are separated by ridges with drops on both sides, and it has a reputation for exposure that is deserved: the historic ascent runs up a gorge and a stair cut into near-vertical rock at the Thousand Foot Precipice and Hundred Foot Gorge, and the notorious plank walk on the south peak is a line of timber boards bolted to a sheer face, walked with a harness clipped to a chain, leading to a small cliff teahouse. Two cable cars now reach the north and west peaks, which changed who can get up.

History

By the 2nd century BC a Daoist temple, the Shrine of the Western Peak, stood at the foot of the mountain, where mediums sought the god of the underworld believed to live on it; its summits were so hard to reach that it drew mainly imperial and local pilgrims, and seekers of immortality came for its medicinal plants. Kou Qianzhi, founder of the Northern Celestial Masters, and Chen Tuan, who spent his last years on the west peak, received revelations here; the Tang made it the sacred mountain of the royal family, in the 1230s all its temples passed to the Quanzhen school, and in 1998 most were handed to the China Daoist Association (Wikipedia, Mount Hua).

The landscape

• The five summits - peaks linked by narrow ridges with drops both sides.
• The plank walk - timber boards bolted to a vertical face on the south peak.
• The cut stairs - the historic ascent up the Thousand Foot Precipice.
• The cliff teahouse - the small shrine at the end of the plank route.

When to go

April to June and September to October; summer is hot and crowded, winter ices the stairs though it is spectacular. Sunrise from the east peak is traditional and means climbing overnight or sleeping on top.

What to expect

The plank walk costs extra, queues badly and is genuinely exposed, though harnesses are compulsory. Stairs elsewhere are steep with chains rather than rails. Holiday crowds can make the ridges dangerous and slow.

Nearby

Xi'an lies west; the Terracotta Army is between.

Key facts