Wugong Mountain

Wugongshan rises to 1,918 metres in western Jiangxi, and what makes it unusual in southern China is the vegetation: above about fifteen hundred metres the forest gives way to open alpine meadow, some hundred square kilometres of grass rolling over the ridges, which is rare at this latitude and is thought to result from a combination of soil, wind and centuries of burning. That open ground made it a camping mountain: hundreds of tents appear on the ridge at weekends, pitched for sunrise over the cloud sea that fills the valleys below on many mornings. A cable car climbs most of the height, and a ridge trail runs for around twenty kilometres between camps.

What you actually see

• The grass ridges - open alpine meadow rolling over the summits.
• The cloud sea - mist filling the valleys below the ridge at dawn.
• The tent camps - hundreds of tents on the ridge at weekends.
• The ridge traverse - the long walk between the mountain's high points.

When to go

April to June and September to November; the grass is greenest in summer and gold in autumn. Weekends bring large camping crowds. Winter brings ice and rime, striking but with closures and severe cold on the exposed ridge.

Honest expectations

The ridge is fully exposed with no shelter, and weather changes fast; camping there needs proper gear. Weekend crowds are heavy and the campsites busy. Cable car queues at peak times are long.

Nearby

Pingxiang lies west; Ji'an is east.