2 Days Hiking Tour to Mt. Jiuhua

Located in Chizhou City of Anhui Province, Jiuhua Mountain is one of China's four holy Buddhist Mountains, where tower approximately ninety temples in exquisite China's Buddhist architecture style. The mountain scenic area offers unique hiking fun and is accessible with various convenient transportations.

If you take an airplane, you can fly to Nanjing, Hefei or Tunxi Airport and then take a direct long-distance bus to the mountain. The mountain is about 150 miles (240km) from Nanjing, 135 miles (220km) from Hefei and 75 miles (120km) from Mt. Huangshan.

By train, since the railway station of Mt. Jiuhua is still under construction, you should take a train to Tongling, Anqing, Tunxi or Nanjing first, and then take a bus to the mountain.

Bus is the most direct way to get to the mountain at present, and the buses are available from Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Suzhou.

The transportation inside the mountain resort is also very convenient, and the shuttle bus between sightseeing spots is free of charge by showing your entrance ticket. If you want to take a taxi inside the resort, CNY30 - 50 is enough to visit most sites.

The entrance fee of Jiuhua Mountain is different in peak season and slack season. It is CNY190 per person from Mar. 1 to Nov. 31, and CNY140 from Dec. 1 to the end of February the next year.

As a holy Buddhist mountain, Jiuhuashan enjoys parallel high reputation with three other Buddhist mountains, Mt. Wutai in Shanxi Province, Mt. Putuo in Zhejiang Province and Mt. Emei in Sichuan Province. As its nine main peaks look like the lotus blossoms, so the mountain is named Jiuhua, which means nine flowers. Temples are scattered in peaks and hills, with monks and nuns cultivating themselves in Buddhist doctrines. Buddhist statues and carvings can also be seen during your hiking tour in Mt. Jiuhua. Besides, there are mortal bodies preserved from Tang Dynasty, which remains as puzzle in life science. Some parts of the mortal body palace are open to visitors.

We would like to recommend a two days route of Mt. Jiuhua. Please refer to the following for details.

Day 1: In the morning, take the cable car to Baisui Temple, and then have a hiking trip to the Hall of 500 Arhats and Dongya Temple. In the afternoon, trek down the mountain to visit the Tonghui Temple and Dabei Palace. In the evening visit the Diyuan Temple to see the Buddhist activities.

Day 2: Take the cable car to Tian Tai, and follow the trekking trail to the Old Lectern, One Strip of Sky (Yixiantian), the Phoenix Pine Tree, the mortal body palace and the Dizang Temple.

And for hotel, Dongya Hotel (4 stars) is a good choice for this hiking tour intinerary. It is located in the central of Jiuhua Street inside the resort with beautiful environment and good service. The average room rate is CNY300 - 780 per night. The reservation telephone is +86-566 - 2820-488.