Wudang Mountain National Geopark, Hubei, China

4oneupcanuck 5:00 PM Oct 25, 2010

Heavenly, scenic views make it one of the most beautiful places on earth
Wudang Mtn is probably not very well known to westerners and it's difficult to reach due to it's remote location and the fact that you would need a translator or go with a tour group that speaks your own language. The Wudang area is about 1 hour bus drive from the nearest city Shiyan which is also in the mountain area. There is actually several spread out temple complexes in the area leading up to ever higher altitudes so there is a great variety of tings to see on this one trip. Wudang Mtn is said to be the birth place of Wushu, the precursor to modern martial arts diciplines and you can watch a martial arts performance. The performance I saw was accompanied by music and fog for dramatic effect and contained some swordsmanship as well. There is also a chance to get up close and personal with monkeys in the "Carefree Valley". I would be careful though as some of them are a little aggressive and will try to grab your food. To reach the highest temples and the most spectacular views you have two choices: take the cable car (about $15 USD 1 way) or take the stairs. Although their are thousands of steps until you reach the top and it takes about 3 hours, it is by far the best way to experience the Mtn in all its glory and splendid beauty. It will be very difficult hike if your not in shape but you can take plenty of breaks if you need to. When we came near the top we passed through the clouds which shrouded the forest on the Mtn side in a spooky mist and it was very quiet and peaceful. We finally arrived at what we thought was the peak but as the clouds blew away it revealed the highest peak of the whole Mtn with a copper and gold-clad Taoist temple perched on the top. The way the clouds flow along the Mtn make it feel as if these buildings are floating on the clouds themselves. At this time the sun was beginning to set which cast a warm, dim light over the area. It was truly the most spectacular and beautiful scene my eyes had ever seen. That evening we could not access the highest peak because it was closed at 5pm and you had to pay extra (of course). So we were in a bad situation because we were too exhausted to head back down and there was only 1 hotel near the top. It was a very small place that cost about $40 and the food was expensive but we were just glad that there was even a hotel in such a remote location. Unfortunately the heat would not work, there was no hot water and the TV was broken and we all really needed a shower bad. Also, the bathrooms were very dirty and toilets didn't work. So it was not a very comfortable night however the following morning we didn't care because we finally got to the very peak of the Mtn and the highest temple. It seemed as if we were on top of the world and the sun was out in full force. We really felt this was a great adventure and the hard work of climbing the Mtn was definitely worth it. Now it wouldn't be fair if I did not mention the bad parts. Essentially, the Wudang tourist attraction itself is triple A but the facilities and service get an F. I know this is China and for the most part it's still a developing country so the facilities are not up to the standards in other places but owners really should make a better effort. That hotel had so many problems and was expensive for what you get in China. There are so many shops and locals where they hound you to buy cheap goods that are often a rip-off. Any bathroom facilities are extremely dirty and I mean it's really bad sometimes but I won't go into details. Another problem we had was that on our way back it was difficult to get on the tourist buses that shuttled people from site to site. Itwas no problem going up but coming down there was not enough buses. We had to wait a long time as 4 buses passed us because they were full. When the 5th bus came a local woman who had only waited 10 minutes tried pushing her way ahead of us. We told her she should go behind us and we have been waiting here much longer. An argument ensued and there was some pushing and shoving before she finally backed down but the argument continued on the bus. We were so frustrated and insulted that this local would treat tourists so badly. I was the only true "foreigner" there since my wife and her Dad are Chinese but that is no excuse to be so rude. The next bump in the road came when we were supposed to take our final bus back to the city. It was only making one trip back that day so we would have to wait several hours so we had to take a ride from a local who was offering rides because he probably knew how poor the tourist bus service is. So to wrap up my review I'll just say that if you don't know mandarin or have a friend, etc that can speak the language, find a full tour guide that will handle all the travel and accommodations for you. That will make the trip much more manageable because this site is one of the most beautiful places with original Chinese architecture dating back as far as 600 AD and it is rare to find original, unharmed ancient buildings in this country anymore and Wudang has some of the finest examples of ancient Chinese culture and architecture.

4ru2bz4me 5:00 PM Mar 5, 2014

Would have been excellent if not for the fog
I have always wanted to visit wudangshan (武当山) but is put off by the inaccessibility as it is not so straightforward to reach which also explained why it is still being kept as it is. When I came to know there is a new highway open late last year from Xian, we got our wonderful guide; Bryan to coordinate the trip. Driving time from Xian to Wudangshan takes around 4.5h single trip including stopping 2x for rest/break. I must admit cost to visit Wudangshan is expensive where we need to pay for everything - entrance fee to mountain, mandatory bus fare, individual attraction ticket, cable car, map etc etc etc it just goes on. Still; no regret to visit it and will consider to do so again when I can spare more time on the mountain. Hopefully the condition of the place is still kept as it is now. Due to time constraints, we covered only the 4 main attractions: 1) Nanyang Palace (南岩宫) - our first stop but unfortunately it was drizzling and very foggy so visibility is really bad where we can't see most of the buildings. I have wanted to see 龙头香 but it was a real shame that nothing can be seen. It is also interesting to note that out of 365 days, Wudangshan is misty for more than 250 days so it is also known as "雾挡山" or "fog-blocking-mountain" sound-alike to (武当山) when pronouncing in chinese 2) Purple Cloud Temple (紫霄宮) - our next stop which we were glad that it was not as foggy as nanyang palace. Many interesting temples that are still in original condition although some have been restored in 18th century considering that many of them were built in the 11th century, rebuilt/expanded in the 14th century 3) we stayed in a local hotel for the night where our wonderful guide negotiated for a very good price - RMB200/room and RMB40/person for dinner and RMB10/person for breakfast. Can't complain the facility but there was no proper heating so it was freezing in the room! 4) Taizi Po or Prince Temple (太子坡) - our next trip after checking out from hotel next day. Weather was kind with very good visibility. This is a very nice and serene site where we took lots of pictures and almost the whole place to ourselves as it was still early in the morning 5) Golden Hall or Jinding (金顶) - took a cable car up and still need to climb up for another 20 mins where the steps are quite steep. As this is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Wudangshan, there were already many devotes despite early in the morning. You can see that this historical temple is so genuinely old where you start to appreciate how difficult it was to build it during the ancient time over the Tianzhu Peak which is 1612m above sea level