How to Visit Hua Shan: Complete Guide to Hiking, Cable Cars & the Plank Walk

Hua Shan is not your typical mountain hike. Located just a short distance from Xi’an, this sacred mountain is famous for its towering granite cliffs, dizzyingly steep staircases carved into the rock face, and some of the most dramatic mountain trails in China. And if you’re feeling adventurous like we were, you can even tackle the famous ChangKong Plank Walk, a narrow path bolted into the side of the sheer cliffs.

But when we first started researching how to visit Hua Shan, we quickly realized that it wasn’t as straightforward as we expected. There are multiple cable cars, hiking routes, five different peaks, and several ways to combine them, all of which can drastically change the difficulty and overall experience. You can visit Hua Shan as a relatively easy day trip, or turn it into an epic overnight hike to catch the sunrise. And if you know us, you know we went for the epic option! 

In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know to plan your visit to Hua Shan, including the different routes, how to get there, what each option is like, the famous Plank Walk, where to stay, how much it costs, and exactly how we planned our own overnight hike. Let’s get right into it! 

What Makes Hua Shan Special

Recognized as China’s Most Precipitous Mountains

In ancient times, Hua Shan was recognized as one of China’s Five Sacred Mountains and held enormous cultural importance. With multiple temples and monasteries built high on its cliffs and peaks, it’s no wonder Hua Shan has inspired countless legends and stories over the centuries. 

But what really made Hua Shan stand out to us is that it has long been regarded as “the most precipitous mountain in China”. Having now experienced it ourselves, we can say it is absolutely jaw-dropping to see the endless jagged cliffs, with Taoist temples and structures seemingly perched in the most impossible-to-reach places. And if you take the West Cable Car up/down, you’ll get to fully experience just how precipitous it is!

The Famous Plank Walk and steep staircases

For those adventurous-inclined, this is also where you’ll find the famous Hua Shan Plank Walk, a narrow “via-ferrata” style planked path bolted into the side of a sheer cliff. We personally love experiences like this, ones that challenge you to reach places that would otherwise be almost impossible to access, and rewarding you with a completely unique perspective of the landscape.

And for those deciding to hike up Hua Shan, you’ll scramble up steep sections while gripping chains and navigating narrow paths with dizzying drops below. 

Ease of accessibility

If you’ll be visiting Xi’an for the Terracotta Warriors, a trip to Hua Shan can be easily included into your itinerary. Located just 120km away from Xi An, Hua Shan can be reached by high-speed train in under 30 minutes! 

And as intense as it sounds, there are multiple routes and ways to visit, making it accessible to all visitors. With the availability of advanced chair lifts connecting to the Northern and Western summits, the visit can be as easy as a 1-2 hour stroll, all the way up to a strenuous 11 hour overnight hike! 

Either way, Hua Shan is definitely a bucket-list experience in China!

Where is Mount Hua

Hua Shan is located about 120km away from Xi An, the city famous for the Terracotta Warriors. Although 120km might sound far, but with the high speed train, it can be reached in under 30 minutes! This makes Hua Shan one of the more accessible of the 5 sacred mountains and can be easily combined with an itinerary to visit the Terracotta Warriors!

Summary of Ways to Visit Hua Shan Mountain

Our first point of confusion when figuring out how to visit Hua Shan was understanding the different ways to actually explore the mountain. There’s a combination of hiking routes, cable cars, and pathways that can dramatically change the difficulty and experience. And unlike most mountain parks where you simply arrive and follow a trail, Hua shan requires some careful planning. 

Regardless of which way you choose to explore, you need to first reach the summit by either hiking up overnight, or taking the cable car. Once there, you can follow a few different pathways to explore between the peaks.

Below, we’ll break down the four different ways to explore Hua Shan, starting with the most challenging and working our way down to the most accessible:

• Hardest: Overnight hike up Hua Shan to see sunrise, explore all peaks, then cable car down West Peak (8-10 hours)
• Hard: Cable Car up the North Peak (lowest peak), hike uphill to explore all peaks, Cable Car Down West Peak (4-5 hours)
• Moderate: Cable Car up West Peak (higher peak), hike downhill to explore all peaks, Cable Car Down North Peak (3-4 hours)
• Easy: Cable Car up West Peak, short hike up to South Peak, then back down to West Peak for Cable Car down (1-2 hours)

Different Peaks of Hua Shan

First, it’s important to understand that HuaShan Mountain isn’t just a single summit, but a collection of five main peaks. Once you understand how these peaks are laid out, and what you’ll find at each one, it becomes much easier to figure out how to visit Hua Shan, which cable car or hiking route to take, and how to plan your itinerary.

The five main peaks are North Peak, Middle Peak, East Peak, South Peak, and West Peak. 

The North and West Peaks are also where you’ll find the two upper cable car stations. From either of these stations, you can hike between the peaks and follow a loop that connects North, Middle, East, South, and West Peaks, making it possible to see all five without having to retrace your steps.

Below we’ll summarize the notable highlights of each peak:

• North Peak (1614m): Cable Car Station, lowest elevation of all the peaks, this is also where you’ll first arrive if you do the overnight hike up.
  
• Middle Peak (2037m): junction point to either go towards East Peak or West Peak
  
• East Peak (2096m): Considered the best peak to view sunrise. Also next to East Peak is the famous Chess Pavillion ‘Via Ferrata’ Walk.
  
• South Peak (2154m): The Highest peak. This is also where you’ll find the Changkong Plank walk, considered one of the most ‘dangerous’ cliff plank walks.
  
• West Peak (2082m): The second Cable Car Station, this cable car is the newest and has one of the steepest and longest cable car rides in the world!

How to Visit Hua Shan – Step by Step Guide

When we first decided to tackle the night hike on Hua Shan, we quickly realized through our research that just reaching the mountain involves several complicated steps. With a mix of Chinese hiking tutorials and english guides, we were able to piece together how exactly to get to Hua Shan, whether you’re hiking or taking the cable car up.

To save you the same headache, we’ll walk you through exactly how to get to Hua Shan, step by step.

Xi An – High speed rail to Hua Shan North – Taxi to starting point – hike up or take bus to Cable car station then cable car up to summit – hike loop – cable car down – shuttle bus to tourist center – taxi to railway station – railway back to Xi An

High Speed Train Xi An Bei – Hua Shan Bei

From Xi An bei station, take the high speed train to Hua shan North Railway Station (Hua Shan Bei). It is important to highlight that this is Hua Shan North Railway Station, not Hua Shan Railway Station. Hua Shan North is further from Hua Shan town but this is where the highspeed trains arrive.

We highly recommend booking your train ticket in advance since it tends to sell out due to the popularity of the overnight hike. Throughout china, we bought our train tickets through Trip.com and the process was seamless. Booking through Trip also made it easy to research in english, and make the payment without AliPay or WeChat. 

Taxi from Railway Station to Yuquan Temple/Tourist Center

From the train station, you will need to take a taxi or didi to reach your starting point. You can either take a taxi by carpooling with others, or just order your own didi. Since we were two, we decided it would be easier to just order our own didi and it ended up costing around 20 CNY. 

If you are hiking up, set your destination as Yuquan temple. Alternatively, if you are taking the cable car up, set the destination to the Hua shan Scenery Tourist Center where you can catch the shuttle bus. 

Hua shan Entrance Ticket

You can either buy your ticket at the tourism office or Yuquan Temple counter (but requires scanning a barcode and filling up details and payment in Chinese) or you can purchase your hiking ticket online here (way easier, payment and navigation in english).

We made the mistake of trying to buy the ticket at the counter but fortunately my wife reads Chinese so we were able to figure it out in the end. The ticket is valid for a full 48 hours and costs 100 CNY.

If you are doing the Overnight Hike

From Yuquan temple, hike up around 15 minutes to reach the entrance gate. This is another point where you can purchase your ticket.

We recommend arriving at around 11pm-11:30pm to have enough time to climb up for sunrise

The hike up to North Peak takes around 4 hours. North Peak is also where you’ll find the top Cable Car station. Then from North Peak, it takes another 2 hours uphill hike to reach Middle Peak, and then another 40-60 minutes to reach East Peak (best spot for sunrise)

We started our hike at around 11:20pm and arrived at East Peak at 5:50am (total of 5.5 hours), just in time for sunrise.

If you are taking the Cable Car up

From the tourist center, you’ll need to purchase a bus ticket to bring you to the Cable Car Station. You have the option of going to the North Cable Car, or the West Cable Car. 

The North Cable Car is the shorter cable car route, and costs 80 yuan. 

The West Cable Car is the longer and more impressive route, and the ticket costs 140 yuan during peak season. 

The bus journey that brings you from the tourist centre to the cable car station takes between 30-40 minutes and costs 40-45 yuan one way. 

Once at the cable car station, you will take the cable car up to the respective peak. And once at the top, you can then begin your hike

Hiking between the peaks

Once you’ve reached the summit (either by hiking or cable car), you can then choose a route to hike between the peaks.

In general, the peaks are connected by a circular trail that loops between the peaks. If you arrive at North Peak, we recommend hiking up to Middle peak, then East Peak, South Peak, and then end at West Peak where you’ll take the Cable Car down.

If you arrive from the West peak, you will do the loop in reverse, going to South Peak, East Peak, Middle Peak, and then downhill to North Peak where you’ll take the Cable Car down.

Starting from the North Peak means you will mostly be hiking uphill, whereas starting from the West Peak means you’ll mostly be hiking downhill.

Optional: Chess Pavillion and Plank walk

If you are adventurous, you can add on the ‘via ferrata’ style chess pavillion experience, or the changkong plank walk. 

The Chess Pavillion is located just beside the East Peak where you’ll watch the sunrise, and costs 30 Yuan. Changkong Plank walk is located on the South Peak and costs 30 Yuan.

I ended up doing the Chess Pavillion and it was an absolute blast. The pathway is incredibly steep but rewards you with jaw-dropping views of the precipitous landscape. Although the trail is not very long, you need to navigate through it slowly so the entire experience lasted close to an hour. I had intended to also do the ChangKong Plank walk but we ended up running out of time, and energy!   

Return to Bottom of Hua Shan

To return back down, you will follow the instructions in reverse.

From the summit, you’ll take the cable car down, then the shuttle bus back to the tourist centre, then a taxi back to Hua Shan North Railway Station, then the highspeed train back to Xi An. Again, we recommend buying the high speed train ticket in advance. Since we didn’t know whether you would stay the night or not, we only booked it last minute at the train station but many of the trains were already full and we had to wait a few hours. 

This post is part of our series about China. If you want to learn more about China, planning your trip, and some of the best experiences there, check out the guides below:

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Recommended Route for Hua Shan

When we first decided to visit Mount Hua, we were overwhelmed by the options. Should we take on the overnight hike? Or take the cable car? And if we take the cable car, which route is better, the North or the West?

Ultimately, being the adventurous (and perhaps slightly crazy) travelers that we are, we decided to tackle the mega-steep overnight hike. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best option for everyone. Below, we’ll break down the different routes, along with our tips and recommendations for who each option is best suited for.

Overnight Hike

For the Adventurous and Fit – to see the sunrise

This hike is no joke! it took us a good 5-6 hours to reach the East peak for sunrise, and then another 3-4 hours to go through Chess Pavillion walk, South Peak, and then West Peak.

In total, our hike was close to 11 hours (with many breaks and a lunch break at the top), with a total length of about 10km but a crazy elevation gain of 1,750m! 

On the way up, there are also several incredibly steep sections where you have to scramble up the staircase (or at that point, it almost seems like a ladder) and hold onto chains anchored to the rock. Only do this hike if you are quite fit and not afraid of heights.

Finally, if your goal is to see the sunrise at the top of Hua Shan, doing the overnight hike (or staying overnight at one of the summit hotels) is the only way to see it. This is because the cablecars start operating around 7am, whereas the sunrise during peak season is usually around 5:30am-6:00am.

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Cable Car up North Peak + Cable car down West Peak

2nd hardest – For those willing to hike over 5 hours uphill

This is the second hardest option.

Although you take the cable car up, skipping a strenuous 4-5 hours hike, North peak is the lowest in elevation which means your entire hike will be uphill. In total, it should take about 4-5 hours to hike from North Peak, looping through the other peaks to end at West Peak. Although tiring, this hike is suitable for most moderately fit people.

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Cable Car up West Peak + Cable car down North Peak

Suitable for most – Since you’re hiking mostly downhill

This way is a lot easier since you start from one of the highest peaks, and then generally hike downhill to reach North Peak. In total, this hike should take 3-4 hours and is suitable for everyone.

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Cable Car up West Peak, small hike up to South Peak, and back down West Peak

Suitable for families with kids and those with mobility limitations

This short 1-2 hour hike is recommended for those with mobility limitations or those who don’t want to tackle a difficult hike. Around South and West Peak, we saw many tour groups of elderly visitors who wanted to see Hua Shan but without doing the entire hike.

Can Hua Shan be done as a Day Trip

Yes, Hua Shan Mountain can be done as a day trip, especially if you’ll be taking the cabe car up and down.

However, if you do the overnight hike like we did, we highly recommend staying one night at the base of Hua Shan after you descend from the mountain. By the end of the 11 hour hike, and then coming back down, we were absolutely exhausted and had to endure through waiting at the train station, then a 30-40 minute train ride, and then taking a didi back to our accommodation in Xi An.

When we arrived at our hotel, it was around 3-4pm and were felt pretty awful. For this reason, if you get the chance, stay a night at the base of Hua Shan and in this way, you’ll get some extra time to enjoy the nature and serenity of the region.

On the other hand, if you plan to take the cable car up and down and doing the hike between the peaks, the total journey should take about 5 hours on the mountain so can easily be done as a day trip.

Recommended Hua Shan Tours

As you can see, planning Hua Shan on your own can be quite the hurdle. From purchasing the high speed train ticket, taxi to the tourist center, then buying the bus and cable car tickets, then navigating the hike, and once done, redoing all this to get back to Xi An.

If all that sounds too much for you, then we would recommend going on a guided tour. If you speak Chinese, you can contact some local tour operators, but otherwise, we would recommend this Hua Shan Day Tour. 

Recommended Hua Shan Tour

On this Hua Shan Day Tour, they have multiple buses that go through Xi An to pick up the guests, then bring you to Hua Shan (by coach bus) and help you arrange all the necessary transports. 

Another huge advantage is that the guide can advise you on which route to take and give additional tips on the best viewpoints and safety. We did a similar guided tour to go see the Terracotta Warriors in Xi An and the guide provided some really helpful advice that would’ve otherwise been impossible to come by.

For most visitors, we would recommend the North Ascent Cable Car + West Descent Cable Car route, or if you want it to be more downhill and easier, then the West Ascent + North Descent Route. I have highlighted the tour option you should select below.

Either way, make sure to include at least one cable car ride on the West Cable Car since it is absolutely spectacular! We descended from it and the ride itself lasts about 20 minutes and really shows the incredible scale of the mountains!     

Should You Stay Overnight in Hua Shan

Staying at the Base of Hua Shan

If you are planning on doing the overnight hike up Hua Shan, we would recommend staying a night at the base of Hua Shan after you descend.

The reason for that, as highlighted above, is that you’ll be absolutely exhausted after the hike.

Another bonus is that you’ll get to spend more time surrounded by the beautiful mountains! For the most immersive experience, spend the night at Jian Shan Xi Mei Su or Floral Hotel Hua Shan, both of which have some of the best views of the mountains, even directly from your room! And what’s more is that the hotels are super affordable, at only around 38$/night! 

Hotels on the Peak of Hua Shan

Another option would be to stay directly at the summit of Hua Shan. This is for those who want to enjoy an incredible sunset from the peak, and then can easily wake up in the morning to admire the sunrise. Since the cableways normally close latest 6pm, it would otherwise be impossible to watch the sunset. 

The only drawback with this option is that the 3 available hotels are quite expensive for what they offer. You have Mount Hua East Peak Hotel, Hua Shan XiFent Hotel, and Huayin Five Cloud Mountain Inn. Each offer a more affordable bunk bed option, or you can book your private room for a premium.   

Opening Hours & Price of Hua Shan Cablecars

HuaShan West Cable Car Operating Hours

Station	Mar. – Nov.	Dec. – Feb.
Lower Station for Ascending	7:00 – 16:00	8:00 – 16:00
Upper Station for Descending	7:00 – 19:00	8:00 – 18:00

• Hua Shan West Cable Car Ticket Price: 140 CNY/person one-way

HuaShan North Cable Car Operating Hours

Station	Mar. – Nov.	Dec. – Feb.
Lower Station for Ascending	7:00 – 16:00	8:00 – 16:00
Upper Station for Descending	7:00 – 19:00	8:00 – 18:00

• Hua Shan North Cable Car Ticket Price: 80 CNY/person one-way

How Difficult is the Hua Shan Overnight Hike

We would rate the Huashan overnight hike as moderate to challenging.

While the overall hiking distance is not huge, but the elevation gain is significant. For comparison, many of the other challenging hikes that we’ve done, such as the 22km hike in Torres del Paine or Los Glaciares in Patagonia, or even Colca Canyon in Peru, only have an elevation gain of about 1,000m. Hua Shan, on the other hand, is almost constantly uphill, with some sections becoming very steep, and a total elevation gain of 1,750m.

There are also sections with extreme inclines where you’ll need to use chains to pull yourself up. For this reason, we would say the Hua Shan overnight hike is suitable for those in good physical fitness, sure-footedness, and no fear of heights.

How Dangerous is the Plank Walk/Chess Pavillion

One of the main draws of visiting Hua Shan is tackling the famous Chess Pavilion and Chang Kong Plank Walk. But just how dangerous are they really?

I only had time to do the Chess Pavilion, and overall, I felt that it was very safely managed. You’re secured with a harness and, throughout all the sections, you use a double safety-clip system similar to the ones we’ve used on other via ferratas.

While the system itself felt very secure, I did see several people in my group freeze because of their fear of heights. The first section involves an almost vertical descent, and you follow one behind another in a single line. This means you may occasionally find yourself standing on a narrow vertical ledge, waiting for the person ahead of you to move.

Overall, if looking straight down from the edge of a cliff makes your stomach drop, the Chess Pavilion and Plank Walk probably aren’t for you. But if you’re comfortable with heights and looking for a bit of an adrenaline rush, I highly recommend it. It gives you a truly incredible perspective of the mountains.

Food Facilities on Hua Shan

One of the really fun parts of doing the Hua Shan overnight hike is that it almost feels like a party. You’ll be surrounded by countless other hikers, and along the way, there are plenty of stops selling food and drinks.

Common options include sausages, cucumbers, fruit, and, at certain points, even hot noodles. Just keep in mind that the higher you climb, the more expensive everything gets.

Once you reach the peaks, you’ll even find actual restaurants. We ended up having lunch at the restaurant next to the Chess Pavilion on East Peak, where we had hot, spicy noodles and baozi (steamed buns). Everything was delicious and surprisingly affordable.

So if you’re worried about going hungry on Hua Shan, don’t be! You’ll have plenty of opportunities to refuel along the way and it is part of the fun!

Cost of Visiting Hua Shan Mountain

When planning your visit to Hua Shan, there’s more to budget for than just the entrance ticket. Below, we’ll break down the exact costs involved in planning your entire day trip:

• High speed rail ticket Xi An to Hua Shan North: Prices start from 60 CNY for 2nd class and 95 CNY for 1st class, per person, one-way
• Taxi from railway station to base of Hua Shan: 20 CNY per car
• Entrance ticket to Hua Shan: 100 CNY per person
• Bus to Cable Car Station: 40-45 CNY per person one-way
• Cable Car up: 80 CNY (North Cable Car) or 140 CNY (West Cable Car) per person, one-way
• Cable Car down: 80 CNY (North Cable Car) or 140 CNY (West Cable Car) per person, one-way
• Bus to Tourist Center: 40-45 CNY per person one-way
• Taxi back to railway station: 20 CNY per car
• Optional: Hotel at Hua Shan (around 39$/night at Jian Shan Xi Mei Su or Floral Hotel Hua Shan)
• High Speed Rail ticket back to Xi An: 60-95 CNY per person

Therefore, the total cost of our overnight hike and taking the West Cable Car down, starting from Xi an, was about 495 CNY per person. If you will be taking the cable car up and down, then the price will be around 620 CNY per person. 

Tips for Hua Shan

• Buy your high speed rail train ticket in advance
• If you do the hike, start at around 11pm and bring snacks
• Also bring cash for the snack stations along the hike
• Bring your own gloves or buy them at the train station – Useful for protecting your hands when holding on to the chains.
• Bring warm clothes, it is very cold at the summit
• The Sunset viewpoint at the East Peak gets very crowded. Try to get there early!
• If you do the overnight hike, spend the night in Hua Shan after you descend
• Bring a leash for your cellphone (so you don’t drop it off the cliff)
• Avoid Chinese holidays due to the crowds (national golden week from October 1-7, Chinese new year from mid to late February, and Labor day from May 1-5)
• In peak season, you may need to queue an hour to take the Cable car

Recap: How to Visit Hua Shan

Hua Shan ended up being one of the most memorable mountain experiences we’ve had in China. Between the dramatic cliffs, endless staircases, ancient temples in almost impossible-to-reach places, and adrenaline-pumping trails, it’s a place that feels like an adventure from start to finish.

While planning your visit can be a little confusing at first, hopefully this guide makes it much easier to figure out which route and experience is right for you. Whether you tackle the overnight hike, take the cable cars, or simply come for the incredible views, Hua Shan is absolutely worth adding to your China itinerary. And since you’ll be right near Xi An, make sure to also visit the stunning Terracotta Warriors as well as the ancient cities in Xi An.