Wutaishan National Park

Mount Wǔtái (五台山 Wǔtái Shān), is one of the four Sacred Buddhist mountains of China, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Shanxi Province in China.

Understand
"Wǔtái Shān" means Five Plateau Mountain. It is a popular pilgrimage destination for Buddhists, who regard it as the domain of the Bodhisattva Manjusri - an emanation of wisdom. Plentiful vegetarian food (素－sù). The weather is cool - wear long trousers in the evening in summer. The town of Táihuái at the center of the park offers many accommodation options.

Maybe worth a 3-day visit - 1 day for Táihuái town temples, 1 day for a plateau or five, and one day for some out-of-town temples.

Get in
Wǔtái Shān is in northeastern Shanxi, near the border with Hebei. It is about half way between Taiyuan and Datong, the two largest cities in the province. These two cities have the two nearest airports, and Wǔtái Shān can be reached by bus from each of these cities in 4–5 hours. The occasional train also stops at Shahe Town (labeled as Wǔtái Shān Station), about a one hour taxi or minibus ride from Wǔtái Shān.

Full price entry ticket is ¥168 (it doesn’t say - but students etc get half price, ie ¥84). On top of this you have to pay a compulsory ¥50 ‘green coach’ fee for travel within the park (no discounts). So, full ticket price plus bus ticket is ¥218.

Bus
A bus from Tàiyuán East Bus Station to Táihuái Village (in the centre of Wǔtái Shān) costs ¥78 and takes 5 hours.

From Dàtóng, 2 buses per day in summer leave at 08:30 and 14:10 from Dàtóng South Bus Station (新南站 Xīnnánzhàn) for Táihuái in the centre of Wǔtái Shān. ¥75. 4 hours.

By plane

 * Taiyuan is the nearest airport, which operates flights to/from Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai.

By train

 * The train station called is not in Wǔtái Shān, but in Shahe, about 50 km (an hour) away from Wǔtái Shān.  The train stations that service this route are small and obtaining tickets may be difficult.  Major train stations in the vicinity of Wǔtái Shān are Taiyuan and Datong; buses and taxis run from either city.  Access to Wǔtái Shān is easiest from Xinzhou, the closest city of intermediate size.

Get around

 * Green coach/bus. The ¥50 ticket for this is compulsory and supplied on arrival with the general entrance ticket.  On the ticket it says it is valid for 3 days, which seems very short if like most people you arrive in Táihuái in the evening after 6pm, some sources say it is valid for the duration of your stay - others add that they never saw anyone’s ticket being checked on the buses - everyone is assumed to have one.  The green coach-bus runs every 5 minutes or so through town and some way out until about 18:30-19:00.  For some of the further out points (eg Báiyún Temple in the south) you have to change on to smaller, brownish mini-buses.
 * Minibuses to the Five Plateaus (五台顶 Wǔtáidǐng) start at 7:00AM from the foot of Dàiluó Peak in the centre of Táihuái Village. About ¥70 for one plateau, or ¥350 for an 8½-hour trip to see all five with a 30 minute stop at each. See details below.

See
Although most monasteries are free, larger ones charge up to ¥10 entrance, some of these offer half-price student discount.



Temple etiquette When stepping over the plank of wood at the foot of each door it is best to enter and exit on the right, and use your right foot first. “游客止步”and”闲人免进” both mean “no entry to tourists”. “禁止拍照” and "请勿拍摄“ mean “no photos”. For religious sites without such signs, it is strongly recommended to obtain consent from resident monks or managerial staff before you shoot, to avoid possible offence.

Beware of monks at shops offering to tell your fortune. Beware of monks at a small temple below Zhenhai Temple.

Eat
Various small restaurants. ¥10 for buffet breakfast at small restaurant is a common offer. On the street, yóutiáo at ¥2, and dòuhuā ¥3 are cheaper breakfast options. For lunch, noodles (刀削面 dāoxiāomiàn) a Shanxi specialty for ¥10 per person including sauce. Also fried noodles, soup noodles etc. for around ¥10 per serving. More regular rice dishes for ¥15-20 per person up. 台蘑 táimó (a mushroom) is the local delicacy. In practice this term seems to be applied to various different mushrooms. Comments vary from: “It’s just a mushroom with little real nutritional value” to “There is one type that is much tastier - but even locals pay ¥800 a kilo - or tourists pay 288 in restaurants for a small portion. This type really is much tastier - buying it is a way of offering a gift to your friends.” Try it in stews, or made into a sauce with 刀削面 (cheapest option - ¥10 - this won’t be the tastiest type). More typically ¥40+ for tourists with chicken/tofu, etc. (2011).

In theory, there is free food at monasteries (but you would leave a donation?). Rules such as separate areas for men and women, standing until the master has sat, not allowed to waste food, no talking (you indicate with chopsticks how much you want, and how dense congee you want).

Sleep
Lodging is concentrated in Táihuái Village in the centre of Wǔtái Shān.

Many rooms usually available, however rooms are scarcer on (Friday and) Saturday nights, and prices also rise at full and new moon, but otherwise there is an oversupply in the market and prices drop sharply.

Budget
There are temples offering guestrooms at ¥20 per person upwards, (Xiǎntōng Temple Tǎyuàn Temple and Kuangren Temple), but temples in the central area may refuse lodgings to foreigners (being fluent in Chinese does not seem to help, though being a devout Buddhist might).

At the bus station 招待所 zhāodàisuǒ there was a room for ¥50 ensuite, western toilet, kettle, TV with 24-hr hot water (but hard beds, no soap or towels) on a Sunday night in August 2011 (not full/new moon). The bus station is in the south of the village.



Mid-range
Most traveller's lodges range from ¥50 to ¥100 for a room for 2 persons.

20 mins walk north of bus station on the right of the river (or 2 bus stops) Jīnshān hotel (金山宾馆) with solar hot water looked good (near Miào Jí Xiáng 妙吉祥 health vegetarian restaurant bus stop and ABC Yinxin hotel) as did the nearby Cíyuán Inn 慈缘客栈 kèzhàn (modern rooms) which is slightly further down on Míngqīng street 明清街 (that runs parallel to the river) － both ¥100 for much nicer rooms. Around here there are various 宾馆 with more comfortable rooms at ¥80-100 during the week. Never believe rack rates - For example, after explaining the rack rates (eg ¥288) you ask if they can offer a deal, see the room, they will pull out a calculator and offer much cheaper (e.g. ¥100), then when you walk away to explore other options saying you might be back, it will drop to ¥80. Maybe on a Saturday full-moon night you will hardly get any discount, however. Further north still are cheaper options if you are willing to live with some lively Chinese tourists.



Go next
Last bus leaves from Táihuái Village for Tàiyuán at 1530hrs.