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Mt Taishan (UNESCO), Shandong, China
April 2026 |
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Mt Taishan (1545m)
Shandong, China |
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Zhongtianmen Cable Station, Mt Tiashan
Shandong, China |
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| Tien Jie, Mt Taishan, Shandong, China |
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Jade Emperor Peak, Mt Taishan
Shandong, China |
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Mt Taishan Hiking Guide
Shandong, China |
Day 14 Saturday April 25 2026 (Taishan, Shandong) - today we have only one mission ie take a shuttle bus (CNY20 for senior) from Tianwai Village Tourist Center to Zhongtienmen Bus Station (30 minutes) & a cable car (CNY30 for senior) up to Nantienmen (10 minutes, vice versa) & focus our sightseeing (2 to 3 hours) visits in Nantienmen, Sky Street (Tien Jie) & Jade Emperor Peak & the upper Mt Tai (Taishan), a tall order for myself & my wife, both in our 70s !
Mt Tai (Taishan), Shandong, China - a 1545m high UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned as the most sacred of China's 5 Great Mountains; for 3,000 years, it was a site for imperial pilgrimages (72 emperors had paid tribute to Heaven & Earth in Taishan), boasting thousands of stone inscriptions, numerous temples & 7,200 stairs, it offers iconic sunrise views. Still upon my arrival at the base of Mt Taishan, I observed a number of hikers especially the younger ones took up the challenge to hike up (following the Hongmen trail, 9.5km long & 7,863 stone steps) to Jade Emperor Peak (the ancient imperial path) echoing when the going is tough, the tough gets going ! As both my wife & myself are in our 70s, we opted to take the shuttle bus & cable car (ropeway) to & fro, to accomplish the noble mission of visiting this popular UNESCO sites in Shandong, China !
1) City Comfort Inn Hotel, Longtan Road, Tianwai Village, Tai'an - my 2 nights stay, 500m to Tianwai Village Tourist Centre Bus Terminal.
2) My early morning walk nearby our hotel - my usual daily practice as I am an early riser, enjoying the fresh cool mountain air (12c) before meet up with my travel buddies for a group's breakfast !
3) Tian Di Arch, Tianwai Village, Taishan, Shandong - an iconic landmark located approx 30m from City Comfort Inn Hotel, Longtan Road, Taishan District.
4) Morning walk from our hotel to Shandong Lu Caigen Restaurant, approx 1.2km from our hotel, this restaurant is very popular in Tai'an serving a range of authentic Lu cuisine (breakfast, lunch & dinner).
5) Lu Caigen Restaurant - serves special authentic Lu cuisine for breakfast, lunch & dinner, came here for Lu style breakfast ie porridge, deep fried pan cakes, tit bits, dim sum bao, finger food etc, price was affordable & food was tasty ! Savoured 7-8 assorted breakfast items (including takeaway) total food bill CNY27 = Rm16), enjoyed the ambience here & antique style decorations !
6) The start of our shuttle bus ride (CNY20 one way for Senior) from Mount Tai Tianwai Village Tourist Centre to Zhongtianmen Cable Station (approx 30 minutes), free admission for seniors above 60s, observed a big crowd presence ie local visitors, day trippers, package tour tourists etc due to the Saturday weekend !
7) Arriving in Zhongtianmen Bus Station, Mt Taishan - a short walk (200m) to Zhongtianmen Cable Car Station; from here, you may choose to do the walk up via stone stairs following the imperial path uphill to the Jade Emperor Peak (3.5km take 2 to 3 hours depending on your physical health & strength !)
8) Queueing up to buy cable car tickets (CNY30 - Rm18 one way) - took more than an hour to reach the ticketing counters due to the sheer number of visitors lining up in 2 to 3 lanes ..... no fun at all but beggars have no choice & have to be patient & wait for the turn .....
9) Cable car ride from Zhongtianmen > Nantienmen (10 minutes) - beautiful views of Mt Taishan as the cable car started to move uphill ....
10) Arriving in Nantienmen Cable Car Station - one could either take a rest & leisure walk in Nantienmen & the Sky Street (Tien Jie) or continue to hike up to Jade Emperor Peak ......
11) The South Gate to Heaven (Natienmen) - this leads to the final steep climb, Nantienmen is the "gateway" to the summit area, this classical architecture building sits at the top of the mountain marking the end of a long & difficult journey from the earthly realm (physical) to the celestial realm (spiritual) ! Up here, ancient temples, homestay, food stalls dominate !
12) Sky Street (Tien Jie), Mt Tai - long stretch of flat, paved road with markets on sides selling food & drinks, the summit plateau is ideal to rest your feet before hiking up to the Jade Emperor Peak.
13) Mt Tai Stone Carving - bold Chinese words & characters well inscribed showering praises of Mt Taishan, it's greatness, beauty, historical fact etc
14) Jade Emperor Peak, Mt Taishan - it is the heart of Taoist worship for the supreme god & is topped by the Jade Emperor Temple, the view here is really breath-taking as the sun rises over a sea of mesmerising clouds if you arrive in the very early morning ! Visits to the interior of ancient temples were near impossible or tedious as the front entry was virtually blocked by a large crowd of visitors ! Interesting to see a massive crowd inching their way via narrow & steep stone steps to the Jade Emperor Peak & I was one of them but I believe slow & steady wins the race !
15) After spending about 15 minutes at the Jade Emperor Peak, it was time for me to hike down to meet up with my wife who was resting in a pavilion near the Sky Street (Tien Jie).
16) Another round of queue up (approx 45 minutes) at the Nantienmen Cable Car Station to buy cable car tickets (CNY30 for senior) for our downhill cable car ride to Zongtienmen Cable Car Station - if you are visiting Taishan during the Saturday weekend or public holiday ie the forthcoming Labour Day May 1 > 4. This mountain resort will be jam packed (inch by inch) like a can of sardines, using the 4 Chinese words to describe the massive crowd scenario ie Ren Shan Ren Hai (People Mountain People Sea ! ), Patience, Patience & Patience was the order of the day for my scenic Taishan visit ! But we were well rewarded seeing another round of Taishan mountain beauty awaiting us to admire & appreciate as the cable car moved downhill !
17) Arriving at the Zhongtienmen Cable Car Station after a 10 minutes cable car ride. Finally we were away from the madding crowd !
18) Walking up to the Zhongtienmen Bus Station to buy our bus tickets (CMY20 for senior) for a downhill ride to Mount Tai Tienwai Village Tourist Centre where we began this morning !
19) Welcome to Taishan again ! Before exiting, my wife posing a few pictures at the Tianwai Village Tian Di Square with a background shot of Mt Taishan before we took a short walk back to our hotel for a well earned rest ! I am not sure I am able to do another "rock & roll" or "up & down" walk from Zhongtienmen > Jade Emperor Peak if I ever show up again in Taishan in the coming years ! But I will heed the advice of a greeting sign "Welcome to Taishan again" if I still posses the will & determination (mental, physical & spiritual strength, now that I am 76) to do another walk up to the Mt Taishan following the imperial path a 3rd time !
20) My Good Old Days, solo visit to Taishan, Shandong (Sept 2010) - how time has flown, a lapse of 16 years ! I am blessed that I was able to re-visit Taishan together with my wife & accompanied her to walk up the various stone stairs from the Nantienmen cable car station to Sky Street & find a spot for her to rest her feet underneath a sheltered pavilion so that she could enjoy the cool Spring mountain air & admiring the beauty of Taishan mountain landscape at ease while I did the last stretch of hiking up to the Jade Emperor Peak one more time - well done, my dear wife !
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