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Mainland China
From Huangshan's granite pillars to Zhangjiajie's floating sandstone peaks and the sacred summit above Yubeng.
Explore trails
Illustrative image, not a photograph
AnhuiModerate
Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)
A UNESCO World Heritage granite range of wind-sculpted pines, sea-of-cloud viewpoints and stone stairways cut straight into the rock
Permit required1-2 days is typical, though a single very long day is possible with an early cableway start
Illustrative image, not a photograph
HunanModerate
Zhangjiajie (Wulingyuan)
Thousands of quartz-sandstone pillars rising straight out of subtropical forest, the landscape said to have inspired the floating mountains of Avatar
Permit required2-3 days to take in Yuanjiajie, Tianzi Mountain and Yangjiajie without rushing, though the highlights can be covered in a single long day using the cable cars and Bailong Elevator
Illustrative image, not a photograph
SichuanHard
Mount Emei (Emeishan)
A sacred Buddhist mountain and UNESCO World Heritage site, climbed via a stone-step pilgrim trail past monasteries to a 3,079-metre summit above the clouds
Permit required2-3 days for the full stone-step ascent from the base, or a single day if riding the Golden Summit cableway up from Leidongping
Illustrative image, not a photograph
YunnanHard
Yubeng Village (Meili Snow Mountain)
A Tibetan village reachable only on foot or by mule, set at 3,100 metres beneath the sacred, unclimbed summit of Kawagarbo
Permit required3 days for the classic loop from Xidang through Yubeng village to the Sacred Waterfall or Glacier Lake and back