The Golden Summit
A split rock pillar.
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The highest peak of the Wuling Mountains in southern China, rising to 2,570 metres within a nature reserve founded in 1978 over 567 square kilometres, which became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1986; in 2018 the mountain joined the World Heritage List for its natural wealth: it holds the largest continuous primeval beech forest in the subtropics and is home to the rare Guizhou golden monkey, found nowhere else, a fir named after the mountain and the Chinese giant salamander. Its best-known sight is the Red Clouds Golden Summit, a huge rock pillar split in two at the top and joined by a small bridge, climbed on steep steps between the rocks; two small temples crown it, as the mountain has been sacred in Chinese Buddhism for centuries. Nearby stand the Mushroom Rock, a mass of stone balanced on a slender base, and the «Ten Thousand Volumes» rock, its layers stacked like piles of books, while rhododendrons flower on the summits in spring. The park bus carries visitors about nine and a half kilometres from the gate to the cable car, which climbs in a quarter of an hour. Tickets cost CNY 110 in season and 90 in winter, the compulsory bus 48 return and the cable car 140 return; booking is by name through the official account with a daily cap, and east-gate entry closes at 3 pm, per visitor guides.
A split rock pillar.
A balanced stone.
On the summits in spring.
Between Jiangkou and Yinjiang counties, Tongren, Guizhou
Yes, entry is by name with a daily cap, and tickets are released in rounds a week ahead, three days ahead and on the day, so book early for holidays, per visitor guides.
Choices are few at the mountain, so bring food and look in Tongren for restaurants run by Muslims under the halal sign.