How to Organize 2 Day Trip to Mount Wutai from Taiyuan

Wutai Mountain is located in the northeast of Shanxi Province in China. It is 230 kilometers away from Taiyuan, the provincial capital of Shanxi Province. Together with Emei Mountain in Sichuan, Jiuhua Mountain in Anhui, Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang, they are "four famous Buddhism Mountains" in China. If you believe in Buddhism, Wutai Mountain would be a great destination to experience Chinese Buddhist culture, as well as the beautiful nature there. In 2009, it is listed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO because of it attractive cultural landscape.

Wutai Mountain scenic area is 78 km away from the Wutai County. There are five peaks in the scenic area and on every peak stands different temples and pagodas. That is how it got its name “Wutai”. Obong said outside the station, but within five peaks within said station, station to station in the town of Wai-centric. Taihuai temple town for most concentrated, is a must-have for tourists. In addition, among the top five hill station and also the distribution of a small amount of outside temples and attractions.

Features of Wutai Mountain

Manjushri: Mount Wutai is the site of enlightenment for Manjusri. All temples around Wutai Mount worship Manjushri. Most of the monasteries has Manjusri Hall.

Temples on Wutai Mount: Temples on the mount was originally started to built since the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, has been almost two years of history. But it is now about 68 temple that is relatively preserved and there are religious activities certificates in the temple. Here has the largest and most concentrated temple group in China. These temples are mostly built on mountain and are well-proportioned. And the natural landscape on around the temple is quite beautiful.

Pagodas on Wutai Mount: Wutai is a Buddhist mountain, with numerous temples, as well as pagodas. There are hundreds of mountain towers built with brick, wooden, stone, copper, iron, silver, gilded, tower, glass, crystal. They are built in different shapes and styles.

There are three ways to get to Mount Wutai from Taiyuan: car rental, taking coach or taking train. Car rental can save time and is the fastest, but it is the most expensive; taking coach can save some money but takes more time. Taking train is the worst way. If you want to take coach, go to the Taiyuan East Bus Terminal.

Day 1: Bus from Taiyuan to Mount Wutai (250KM, 4.5 hours)

As early as 06:30 am, we took bus from Huayuan Hotel (near the Taiyuan Railway Station), traveling to one of the four famous Buddhist mountains in China. The price of bus here usually includes the Entrance tickets of the mountain 168 yuan per person and transfer fee of green car around the mountain area 50 yuan per person). At noon, we arrived at the center of Wutain Mountain scenic area - Taihuai town.

In the afternoon, we do sightseeing to some distinctive representation of Wutai temples, the Royal Palace of the Qing Dynasty, the temple of Tibetan Buddhist - Pusa Peak (including tickets 10 yuan / person, the tour takes 60 minutes), the largest and oldest Chinese Buddhist temple - Xiantong Temple (including tickets 10 yuan/person, the tour takes 90 minutes), the landmark of Wutai Mountain - "Big White Tower", Guanghua Temple (tour time 40 minutes), to experience the Buddhist culture there. After a long drive and touring for the whole afternoon, we are quite tired. We got back to our hotel in Taihuai Town, had a simple dinner. Then we went to bed early to have a good rest from the busy but happy day.
 
Day 2: Wutai Mountain to Taiyuan

We got up in the early as well. Then had breakfast in the hotel, our first stop in the day would be the most spiritual, the most popular - Wu Ye Temple (the tour takes about 40 minutes). Then headed to Manjushri temples on the top of Wutai Mountain, Dai Luo Ding (tickets 8 yuan per person, the tour takes about 90 minutes). After that, we went back to Taiyuan by bus. On the way, we took an extension short tour to Zunsheng Temple (about 60 minutes). When we got back to Taiyuan, it is already 6:30pm.

Although this tour was really tired, we really enjoyed the trip. And it was amazing to see so many temples and pagodas, as well as the beautiful mountains view around them. The temperature different in Wutai Mountain area is quite large, a coat is needed if you travel there, even in summer time.