Huashan is the mountain people show you in vertigo-inducing videos: narrow plank paths bolted to a cliff face, chains bolted to rock, staircases cut so steep you climb them like a ladder. It sits two hours from Xi'an by high-speed train, which makes it one of the best day trips in western China if you know what you are signing up for.

Getting there

Trains from Xi'an North station to Huashan North take 30 to 40 minutes and cost between 54 and 110 yuan depending on the train. They run frequently from early morning. From Huashan North, a taxi or the free shuttle to the visitor center takes about 20 minutes. Buy train tickets on Trip.com or at the station, and aim for a departure before 8am if you want a full day on the mountain.

At the visitor center you buy the mountain entry ticket, 160 yuan in high season, plus cable car tickets. A shuttle bus takes you from the center to whichever cable car base you choose.

Two ways up, and which one to pick

The West Peak cable car is the longest and most spectacular ride, sweeping over the mountain's huge granite walls. The North Peak cable car is shorter and cheaper. The classic hard route walks up the "Self-Industry" path from the valley floor, three to four hours of stairs, which I would only recommend if you specifically want a workout and start by 7am.

Most day trippers should ride up the West Peak cable car, walk the circuit across the five peaks, and descend by the North Peak cable car. That gives you the whole ridge line without repeating ground. The full circuit across all five peaks takes five to seven hours at a normal pace, including stops and queues.

The peaks in order

• West Peak, 2,082 meters: where the cable car arrives, and home to one of the most photographed cliff-edge shrines.
• South Peak, 2,154 meters: the highest point, and the site of the famous plank walk.
• East Peak, 2,096 meters: the sunrise viewpoint, with a hotel at the top for people who stay overnight.
• Center and North Peaks: quieter, with temples and the long descent cable car.

The plank walk, honestly

Yes, it is real. You clip into a safety harness and walk along wooden planks fixed to the vertical south face, with nothing but air past your boots. It costs 30 yuan, cash or phone payment, and the queue can run an hour or more by late morning. Go before 10am or after 3pm to shorten it.

What surprised me: it is over quickly. The whole loop, out along the planks, around a small rock platform, back again, takes about 20 minutes. The harness system is genuinely safe, the staff check your clips twice, and thousands of people do it daily. The fear is psychological, and that is exactly the point. If the full exposed version is too much, the nearby Changkong alternatives like the "thousand-foot precipice" staircases give you similar vertigo with solid stone underfoot.

What to bring

• Gloves. You grip iron chains for hours, and you can buy cheap cloth gloves at every kiosk if you forget.
• Two liters of water per person in summer. Prices climb with altitude, roughly doubling by the peaks.
• A windbreaker even in July. It is cold and windy at 2,000 meters, and afternoon fog can swallow the views entirely.
• Cash or WeChat Pay for the plank walk and cable cars. Cards rarely work.

Timing the day

Take a 7am train, reach the visitor center by 8:30, ride the West Peak cable car by 9:15, and you will walk the ridge before the big tour groups arrive. Plan to be back at the cable car by 4:30pm. The last trains back to Xi'an leave around 9pm, which gives you a buffer, but I would not cut it closer than that. If fog rolls in, as it often does after lunch, the mountain turns into a white void, and you will be glad you saw the views in the morning.

Weekends and Chinese public holidays are a different sport. On Golden Week the queues alone can eat three hours. If your dates are flexible, go Tuesday to Thursday. My one-line verdict: Huashan is worth the day from Xi'an, more so than a second visit to anything inside the city, provided you are comfortable with heights and reasonably fit. The plank walk is optional. The stairs are not.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.