Sea of clouds
From the Golden Summit.
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A towering mountain on the western rim of the Sichuan Basin whose highest peak, Wanfoding, reaches 3,099 metres; its name means «towering eyebrows», the Chinese call it «the most graceful under heaven», it is the highest of China's Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains with some twenty-six monasteries on its slopes, and it was inscribed with neighbouring Leshan on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1996. The mountain covers some 154 square kilometres of dense forest, valleys and streams, with more than three thousand plant species and about 2,300 animal species, among them the red panda, while Tibetan macaques gather along its paths and approach visitors in search of food. Most visitors reach the Golden Summit at 3,077 metres, by bus and cable car or on foot up long flights of steps, to watch what locals call the summit's four wonders: the sunrise, the sea of clouds, the rainbow-coloured halo that sometimes rings shadows cast on the clouds, and the lights at night. Tickets cost CNY 160 from 16 January to 14 December and CNY 110 for the rest of the year, valid 48 hours and booked in advance; the mountain bus costs about CNY 90 return and the Golden Summit cable car CNY 65 up and 55 down in season, per visitor guides. Do not show or offer food to the monkeys, which may snatch or bite, and bring warm clothes, as the summit is cold even in summer.
From the Golden Summit.
Above the clouds.
On the slopes.
Emeishan City, Sichuan, about 150 km south-west of Chengdu
By the mountain bus and then the cable car, which goes up to the summit for about CNY 65, or on foot the whole way up long flights of steps, which takes a day or more, per visitor guides.
Sichuan cooking uses a lot of pork and the mountain's eateries offer few choices, so bring snacks, and look in Emeishan City for noodle shops run by Hui Muslims under the halal sign.