Mt. Song, Henan, China

5Debbie 5:00 PM Aug 29, 2018

Amazing!!!
Went to Mount Song and I must say it was amazing. I live in Zhengzhou so I took the 7am bus from the Long distance bus station by the railway station. It costs 28 RMB. The bus literally stops at Shaolin Temple so no need to worry. Missed the first Martial Arts show for 9:30am so I had to walk for about 15 mins to Shaolin Temple to look around and walked back to the Martial Arts Hall for the 10:30am show. Entering Shaolin and watching the show costs 100RMB. Nothing really fancy in the show, was expecting brick breaking and all. Then, started the hike to the mountain. There are two ways to hike and I started mine from Shaolin Temple to Shanghuazhai because there’s no bus at Shanghuazhai ending if you do the hike in reverse, which makes your going home harder and you have to struggle for an illegal taxi. There are two signs for the cable car, use the one on the right (it’s pretty new). Specify if you want a single ride or return ride but I opted for a return ride and I was glad I did cos my legs couldn’t take it anymore. Return trip is 100RMB, single is 80RMB. The cable car takes up to the top of the mountain and you walk the rest of the way. I did mine in about 1.5-2 hours. Got to the suspension bridge and walked back down to get the cable car. Take water up there, cos the ones being sold along the hike is expensive. DONOT wear slippers, you’ll hurt yourself. Don’t drink too much water along the hike (there are no restrooms). If you love photography, bring your camera. When I was done, I walked back out through Shaolin Temple to the bus station and caught a bus going back to Zhengzhou (28 RMB). Got back to Zhengzhou by 6:30pm.

5mattodowd 5:00 PM Sep 22, 2016

Beautiful scenery, well worth a visit
This is absolutely beautiful scenery, with some really fascinating rock formations on the way and is great for those who enjoy a hike. General information: Mount Song (嵩山, songshan), is within the Shaolin Temple scenic area, entry for which costs 100 RMB. If you go into the Shaolin Temple scenic area via the main entrance, you reach the Shaolin Temple after 15 mins walk, and the bottom of Mount Song in another 10 mins, where you can take the cable car up or walk. A single ride on the cable car costs 50 RMB, return costs 80 RMB. Once you get to the top, there is a hiking route which takes you along the top of the mountain, then all the way down, finishing in Sanhuangzhai (三皇寨). The signs all say it takes 3-4 hours, but I did it in just under 2.5 hours. Bear in mind that this is a completely different point of the mountain to the Shaolin Temple. I have found on some websites that there is a bus from there to Dengfeng, but there was no sign of it when I went. I had to take an illegal taxi. Instead, what I would recommend is that you do it the other way round, starting at Sanhuangzhai, walking up and then taking the cable car down to the Shaolin Temple. Do bear in mind that there are a LOT of steps if you are walking up, so it is only for those who are fit. I don't think the scenery on the way up the mountain is actually fantastic, I'm just recommending it this way for practicality based on the transport available, and because it will be quieter this way. The scenery once you reach the top of the mountain is fantastic, so it will be worth the hike! How to get there from Luoyang (NB - I would only recommend doing it this way if you can speak some Chinese): I went to the Shaolin Temple Scenic Area from Luoyang, where there are buses from the Luoyang Jinyuan Coach Station (洛阳锦远汽车站）at 5am and 8am for 19 RMB one way. Ask for the Shaolin Temple (少林寺，shaolinsi). This is the coach station NEXT TO the Luoyang train station - don't get it confused for the Luoyang Coach Station (洛阳汽车站), which is diagonally opposite the train station. Ensure you buy the ticket from the official ticket windows, ignoring the unofficial "travel agencies" that try to pester you outside the station. If you are going for the 5am bus, you might need to buy the ticket a day in advance, as I'm not sure the ticket windows are open that early in the morning. The coach station is a bit chaotic, so you might need to ask a few times before you find the right bus. The right one to get is the coach which says 洛阳＝少林寺 in red bold letters on the front. The bus takes about 2 hours to get there and you can buy tickets for the return bus back to Luoyang on the way there. Return buses are at 3:30 and 4:30. If you want to see both the Shaolin Temple and Mount Song, then definitely go for the 4:30 one. The driver just told me that he would be somewhere outside the main entrance, so I'd advise getting there early in case you can't find it. There is a phone number on the ticket that you can ring if you can't find it. On the way there, the bus driver might offer to take you to some smaller places too, which I went to, but it is not worth it. You need as much time as you can get for Mount Song and the Shaolin Temple. So just ask him to drop you off at the entrance to the Shaolin Temple. Itinerary that I would recommend if starting and finishing in Luoyang: 1. Bus at 8am from Luoyang Jinyuan Coach station, arriving at the Shaolin Temple about 10am. 2. Catch a taxi to Sanhuangzhai, which is the bottom of the mountain, arriving 10:30am. 3. Hike the mountain to where the cable cars are, arriving about 14:30. Just follow the signs to the Shaolin Temple. 4. Catch the cable car down to near the Shaolin Temple, then walk 10 minutes to see the Kungfu martial arts show at 15:00. 5. Visit the Shaolin Temple and the Pagoda forest. 6. Catch the bus back to Luoyang at 16:30 from the car park outside the main entrance to the Shaolin Scenic Area (bear in mind it takes about 15 mins to walk to the car park from the Shaolin Temple). NB - The itinerary above would be if you did the hike fairly quickly. If you want to spend more time on it, I recommend staying the night in Dengfeng, which can be reached cheaply by taxi from the Shaolin Temple.