Wugongshan
Alpine Grassland Ridges Of Jiangxi, The Best Known Camping Mountain In Southern China · Pingxiang, Jiangxi
A mountain of open grassland ridges in western Jiangxi, unusual in a country where high ground is normally forest or bare rock. Above about fifteen hundred metres the trees give out and Wugongshan becomes rolling meadow, some hundred square kilometres of it, cropped short by wind and grazing and running away in smooth green waves toward the horizon - a landscape that looks more like the Scottish Highlands than the Yangtze basin. The effect draws hikers and campers from across southern China, and the classic trip is to ride the cable car up, walk the ridge line past the Jintan and Baihe peaks, and pitch a tent on the grass to watch the sun set and rise over a sea of cloud. Golden Summit, the high point at about 1,918 metres, carries a small Taoist altar, and the mountain has a long Taoist history, with hermits recorded here since the Jin dynasty. Weather changes fast, wind is constant, and the grassland offers no shelter at all; on a clear night, though, the stars are extraordinary.
Wugongshan Scenic Area, Pingxiang, Pingxiang, Jiangxi, China
Daily, roughly 7:30-17:30 for gates and cable cars (check); camping on the ridge is permitted in designated areas and cable cars stop in high wind.