Which Way Up Huashan?

The most expensive twenty minutes in Shaanxi and the one purchase that turns Huashan into a day trip: it lands you on the summit ridge, with the South Peak and the plank walk twenty minutes away. Do not go on a windy forecast — the car is the day, and there is no published refund for a cable car stopped after you are up. Do not arrive after 10:00 on a summer weekend, when the base queue is an hour or more. The traps: entry, shuttle and cable car are three tickets (buy all of them online together, because the entry window is shut at peak times), and 'up to 16:00' is the last uplift, not the last descent; the ridge paths are unlit, so start down by 17:00. For first-timers with one day and ordinary legs; anyone who wants the summit ridge without the climb.

Use it to come down, not up. The North Peak is the low end of the ridge, so going up this way means two hours of stairs before you reach the peaks people come for; West up, North down gives the summit without the climb. Its own product is the budget half-day: cable up and down and the North Peak itself, the ridge seen from below and the 'Sky Ladder' stairs — you will not see the plank walk. Do not ride it up late in the afternoon: if wind stops both cars while you are above, the walk down to Yuquan Temple is 3-4 hours of stairs. For everyone on the classic loop, as the way down; budget visitors who want a look at the peaks rather than the summit.

The route that fits the mountain into one day, and the one to do if your legs are good: on the ridge by 8:30, South Peak by 9:30, East Peak by 11:00, North Peak by 15:00, cable down and shuttle by 16:00. Do not do it in reverse (North up means two hours of 'Sky Ladder' stairs before the ridge), and do not let the plank-walk queue eat the descent, because the last cable down is 19:00 in season, the ridge is unlit and both cars stop in wind. Carry a litre of water and lunch from Xi'an: summit shops charge several times town prices and there are no refill points. Anyone unsure should do half of it (West Peak car up, South Peak, the same car down): half the loop, all the height. For fit visitors with a full day and hiking shoes; anyone who wants all five peaks in one go.

The other way up, and the one Chinese students grew up on: 4-6 hours of stairs in the dark for a sunrise from the East Peak terrace. It is official (the hiking gate is open 24 hours for booked visitors and the notices carry a night-climb safety paragraph), but it is not a day trip: you arrive in Huayin the evening before, book the night slot rather than a daytime one, and come down mid-morning by cable car. Do not do it in wind, rain or ice, and not if you are older, with children, or have a heart, breathing or joint condition; the scenic area says so in every notice. The traps: nothing is open on the route at night, so carry six hours of water and food; the cable cars do not run at night, so there is no shortcut up; and the sunrise clouds over one morning in three. For fit, kitted hikers on a night with no bed; anyone for whom the sunrise is the point.