One of those mountains that, once you see it, is hard to forget.

About Fanjingshan:

There are 3 summits around the range: Golden Summit, Old Golden summit and Phoenix Golden Summit - but the true golden egg is the view of the temple.

Sitting on top of the middle summit - the temple sits stretched across 2 rock peaks and is well worth climbing. Note that that summit climb can get quite busy queue-wise for that central mountain as it's a very rocky line so I'd suggest doing it early if you see the line is short!

The hike to the top is not for the faint-hearted, with about 8,000 steps to the summit.. and that's after you've taken the cable-car a decent chunk of the way up the mountain already.

There is a secondary cable-car that can get you to the top next to the temple though it's operation is periodic so be ready to climb a fair amount of stairs!

The best time for photos - especially if you're hoping for a cloud inversion - would be early morning so that, combined with avoiding some of the crowds that'll arrive a little later, means it's better to try and get there as early as possible.

Getting to Fanjingshan:

I recommend staying in Tongren the night before and then taking an early taxi to get to the east gate at the base of the mountain just before sunrise.

It'll take about an hour to an hour and a half-ish get there.

You could also choose to stay at a hotel at the base of the mountain to make that early morning journey easier.

Important Note:

It is also important to check to make sure you descend the mountain from the same side you went up...

There is a hiking trail that will take you towards the West exit, though from there we could not get a transport link back to Tongren and ended up having to hitchike 3 cars to ge back into town... 10/10 do not recommend so make sure you stay on the same side.