Mount Emei

峨眉山景区（报国寺游客中心）

A golden Buddha 3,077m up, floating over a sea of clouds

⚠ Summit capped at 8,000/day; book

Hours

Summit cable car roughly 6am–6pm in summer (earlier first runs in peak season); shuttle times per the booking page

Tickets

Entry ¥160 in peak season (16 Jan–14 Dec), ¥110 off-season, valid 2 days; mountain bus return ¥90 and summit cable car ¥65 up / ¥55 down extra

Address

Start at the Baoguo Temple visitor centre in Emeishan City; the Golden Summit sits at 3,077m

One of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains. At the Golden Summit a ten-headed gilded Samantabhadra sits on elephants, rising above the clouds. On a clear day you look down on a sea of cloud with the snow peaks of Gongga far off; in fog, reviewers say, you can barely see the statue in front of you. The usual route is the shuttle bus from Baoguo Temple up to Leidongping, then a cable car; the monkey-haunted Qingyin Pavilion and Wannian Temple are on the lower slopes. It's chilly up top even in midsummer.