Three-Day, Two-Night Free Travel Guide to Jiuhua Mountain, Anhui: Under 1,000 RMB per Person

Amid the chaos and hustle of daily life, I was rushing around in a daze every day. Then one day, I suddenly wanted to temporarily escape it all—to go among green mountains and clear waters, to the side of ancient temples with chanting, and let my heart quiet down. With this thought, I decided to invite good friends and visit Jiuhua Mountain.

Jiuhua Mountain is one of the four great Buddhist mountains, the bodhimanda of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and also a UNESCO Global Geopark. The most convenient way to reach Jiuhua Mountain is to drive your own car up the mountain, first to the core scenic area, Jiuhua Street. Cars with seven seats or fewer can drive up 24 hours a day on non-weekend and non-holiday days. On weekends, holidays, or certain days like the first or fifteenth of the lunar month, or Buddhist festivals, there will be traffic controls preventing cars from driving up, so you need to park at the foot of the mountain and take the scenic area shuttle bus. The start and end times of traffic controls are decided temporarily by local traffic police; you can ask locals. We searched online for guides and came across a very sincere and practical one by Manager Wu, whose online name is 'Jiuhua Lingshan'. We contacted him, and he helped us arrange the itinerary and accommodation. We stayed one night at his mountain-top hotel, Ruijing Mountain Lodge, and one night at his foothill hotel, Ruixin Mountain Lodge.

On Wednesday evening, after we got in touch with Manager Wu, he sent us the location and arranged our tickets. He also told us what to wear and bring. On Thursday after breakfast, we set off unhurriedly. After more than four hours, we arrived at the foot of Jiuhua Mountain.

This is the gate of Jiuhua Mountain. The four characters '九华圣境' (Sacred Realm of Jiuhua) above were inscribed by Emperor Kangxi, but the archway was built only a few years ago. Manager Wu's Ruixin Mountain Lodge is right next to this archway. We had lunch there—two people, four dishes and one soup, costing 180 RMB. It felt a bit too much, so for later meals we ordered just three dishes.

On Thursday, there weren't many people. According to our itinerary, we drove directly up the mountain. Someone from the mountain-top hotel met us. After parking, we went to Huacheng Temple, the founding temple of Jiuhua Mountain. There were many pigeons in the square in front of Huacheng Temple. In the evening, I sat there alone for an hour. As Zhu Ziqing said, I could think of anything or nothing at all; the things I had to say or do could be ignored. I truly felt like a free person.

That afternoon, we also took the cable car up to Baisui Palace, paying homage to the mummified body of Master Wuxia from the Ming Dynasty. In the evening, we chatted with Manager Wu and enjoyed the cool air in the courtyard. The breeze was gentle, and we felt relaxed.

Early on Friday morning, we first paid homage to the Hall of the Golden Bodhisattva (Yueshen Baodian), where the physical body of Ksitigarbha is enshrined. There are about 500 to 600 steps, which made our legs sore.

Then we drove to the Phoenix Pine parking lot. According to the route map Manager Wu gave us, Route 3 goes to Tiantai Scenic Area, and Route 4 goes to Minyuan Scenic Area. Thinking that after taking the cable car to Tiantai, there were still over a thousand steps, we felt a bit intimidated. So we chose Minyuan Scenic Area.

The thousand-year-old Phoenix Pine and over ten nunneries—we strolled leisurely and felt that at that moment, our minds were truly at peace. The Minyuan nunnery cluster, with few tourists, stood among ancient nunneries with a murmuring stream beside them. Sitting by the stream and chatting, we felt that this must be the life of immortals. As for Tiantai Scenic Area at the top of the mountain, it was crowded, so we didn't go join the fun. There is a saying at Jiuhua Mountain: 'If you haven't been to Tiantai, you haven't truly been here.' But little do people know the second half: 'If you have been to Tiantai, you'll never come again.' My interpretation is that Tiantai is the highest peak of Jiuhua, and climbing it allows you to see all the smaller mountains at a glance. However, climbing Tiantai consumes too much energy, and you might not dare to come again. Or perhaps, since you've already reached the highest peak, there's nothing left to look forward to, and you lose the desire to come again. Our plan is to go to Tiantai next time when we visit Jiuhua Mountain.

We had lunch at Ruijing Mountain Lodge, checked out, and drove down to the Huatai Cable Car Station. The scenery on Huatai was beautiful, and walking the plank road was not too tiring. It was a pity that there was no glass walkway. After taking the cable car down from Huatai, we stayed at Ruixin Mountain Lodge at the foot of the mountain. This perfectly allowed us to avoid the crowds rushing up on Friday.

On Saturday morning, we visited the 99-meter-tall Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue scenic area at the foot of the mountain. The 'Flying Apsaras' performance at 10:30 was actually a musical fountain. The great Buddha was tall and majestic. After lunch, we drove back home.

Here is a list of expenses for your reference.

Thursday: Lunch 220 RMB, tickets 160+80 (I paid full price, my friend had a teacher's certificate for half price), Baisui Palace cable car one-way up 55×2, Ruijing Mountain Lodge accommodation 180 RMB, dinner 90 RMB.

Friday: Breakfast 26 RMB, lunch 120 RMB, parking fee 40 RMB, Huatai cable car 160×2, Ruixin Mountain Lodge accommodation 150 RMB, dinner 180 RMB.

Saturday: Breakfast 40 RMB, electric car inside the Great Buddha scenic area 30×2, lunch 80 RMB.

Excluding gas and tolls, the per-person cost was just over 900 RMB.

Here are a few reminders.

1. If driving to Jiuhua Mountain, first check whether you can drive up. If not, you need to buy a 50 RMB scenic shuttle bus ticket. My personal suggestion is to take the high-speed rail to Chizhou and then transfer to a shuttle bus up the mountain.

2. We stayed on the mountain on Thursday and at the foot on Friday. If we had stayed on the mountain on Friday, the room rate would have doubled. Weekend room rates at the foot are a bit cheaper. There are many temples and attractions on the mountain, so you need to stay at least one night on the mountain.

3. Pack light. The roads are all stone slabs, making suitcases difficult to push. My friend was worried about damaging the wheels and carried the suitcase the whole time, which was exhausting.

4. Don't bring snacks. We brought bread and chicken legs but didn't eat them. The tap water on Jiuhua Mountain is sweet and crisp, so there's no need to bring bottled water.

Travelogue: 1. Introduction 2. Itinerary and Highlights 3. Expense List 4. Reminders. Travel Information: Hotel Index, Guide Index, Airfare Index, Website Navigation, Travel Index, Cruise Index, Corporate Travel Index, Alliance Cooperation, Distribution Alliance, Friendship Links, Corporate Gift Card Procurement, Insurance Agency, Agency Cooperation, Hotel Franchise, Destination and Scenic Area Cooperation, More Alliance Cooperation, About Ctrip, About Ctrip Hotspots, Contact Us, Careers, User Agreement, Privacy Policy, Business License, Safety Center, Ctrip Content Center, Intellectual Property, Trip.com Group, Algorithm Disclosure.