Hua Mountain, one of China’s 5 great mountains, is considered one of the most dangerous hikes in the world. It’s a steep climb to scrap pieces of wood nailed to the side of the mountain, 7,000 ft high! It’s estimated that around 100 people have fallen thousands of feet to their death on this hike. It’s quite the journey to get here but if you’re a thrill seeker it’s definitely worth it.
Choosing Your Path
There are 5 peaks, roughly in the shape of a kite with a tail. South, East, West and Central Peaks are the 4 points of the kite with the North Peak being the tail/ lowest point. A cable car goes up to the West Peak and North Peak. There are basically 2 routes to choose from.
When you get to the entrance, there are several options for tickets depending on what route you decide to take. It’s a $20 entrance fee plus the price of shuttle bus or cable car. I recommend taking the cable car, The ride is breathtaking and otherworldly on a clear day.
Routes
Route 1- Hiking mostly uphill: take the cable car to North Peak (lowest peak), hike to the other peaks and finish at West Peak for the cable car down (about 7 hours). Decide if you want to hike clockwise or counter clockwise. Theres also an option to skip the first cable car and hike an additional 3 hours uphill to North Peak.
Route 2- Hiking mostly downhill: take a cable car to West Peak (high point), hike to the other peaks and finish at North Peak for the cable car down (about 5 hours). Again, decide if you want to hike clockwise or counter clockwise. Theres an option to skip the cable car down at North Peak and continue hiking 1.5 hours.
I chose Route 1. From the Visitors Center it was a $3 shuttle bus to the base of the North Peak cable car. The 10 minute cable car up was $11.60. From the top of North Peak I trekked through the Dragons backbone/ green dragon ridge/Jinsuo Pass, to Central Peak, clockwise to East Peak, did the Plank Walk in the Sky, South Heavenly Gate, South Peak and ended at West Peak cable car to go down ($20 USD). That took me a good 7 hours.
Death Defying Plank Walk
A good portion of the 7 hour trek has sheer drops on each side of the narrow path. All the trails at Hua Shan are very steep and in some areas, actual steps are carved into rock- like a ladder. One section that’s particularly dangerous, and helped rank it as the most dangerous hike in the world, is the Plank Walk in the Sky. You can find this at South Heavenly Gate. I waited in line for 2 hours to walk this portion, and it cost an additional $4.30 USD.
This section of the hike was on scrap pieces of wood nailed to the side of the mountain, thousands of feet high. Who knows the last time they were inspected. Some other parts of the journey were had ledges carved into rock. This felt safer than the wood planks.
At the start of this section, they distribute a mandatory shoulder harness. It goes around your shoulders like a backpack and clips together in the front. From the front, there are 2 tether lines that clip to a small wire that’s bolted to the mountain. The climbing gear was clearly outdated and weathered. The carabiners that kept me connected were rusted and didn’t close all the way, unless forced shut.
The reason for 2 tethers is when you get to the end of a line, you unclip 1 and re attach it on the next wire. This way theres always at least 1 tether attached at all times. I knew this from previous experience but they didn’t explain it to anyone. I saw so many people unclip both of their lines at the same time! So they were balancing on a small ledge 7,000 feet high, and not connected to anything! At one point, the man next to me saw I was only unclipping 1 tether at a time. In an attempt to be ‘helpful,’ I caught him unclipping my safety line when my 1st tether wasn’t attached. No wonder there are so many deaths here each year. Random people trying to detach me from my safety line might have been the scariest part of the hike.
The actual plank walk portion took about an hour. I think it would have only taken 20 minutes round trip, but they were taking safety precautions because there was a death the week before. Many of the deaths are from people unclipping both tether lines to pass each other. They’ve now banned this and had everyone walk together at a slow pace.
When I finished, I saw a line of people at a green screen. Anyone who was scared to do the plank walk could pay money for a photoshopped picture. 
Getting Here
In a nutshell, after flying to Xi’an airport, you need to take a taxi to Xi’an city, take a 30 min metro to the train station, take a train 75 miles east of Xi’an, take shuttle bus to Hua Shan entrance, then a different shuttle bus to the base of a cable car and a cable car up to just the start of the hike. It’s a bit of a trek to get here to say the least.
‘Shan’ means mountain in Mandarin, so Hua Shan = Hua Mountain.
First you need to get to to Xi’an North Rail Station, which is the last stop on the metro line. The metro costs around $1 and there are kiosks to buy a ticket with English as an option.
Know that once you get to the X’an North Rail Station, no one speaks English and there are no English signs. From here you can take a 30-45 min train or 2 hour bus. 
It was fairly easy to buy a train ticket. I waited in line and simply said “Hua Shan” and they understood that. I bought a high speed train ticket for $8 USD.
IMPORTANT- you need your passport to buy a train ticket.
Next, the train ticket was obviously in Mandarin and their numbers are characters. Since I couldn’t read which platform to go to, I showed my ticket to a conductor and he pointed me in the right direction.
I took bullet train #2002 in the direction of Zheng You Dong. It took 35 min to arrive at the Hua Shan stop. From Hua Shan train stop, it’s a 5 minute drive to the entrance of the park. Outside the train station there are free green shuttle buses that will take you there.
Where to Stay
I’m a solo traveler and often stay in hostels. Considering China is, Ill say not the cleanest place, this Chinese hostel was above my expectations. It’s called Xi’an See Tang Hostel near the South Gate of the city. It’s $7.5/ night for a 4 person dorm, very clean and there was even a rooftop garden and cafe. If you don’t want to stay in Xi’an, there are hotels and hostels at Hua Shan. 
Other Tips
The cable cars only accept cash or WeChat pay.
Everything takes longer than you think so make sure to get there early.
Check the closing time for the cable cars going down so you’re not stranded in the dark.
Depending on what time of year, it can be extremely hot and humid. Make sure you bring enough water and food. If you run out, theres venders on the mountain for an inflated price.
There are bathrooms along the hike but BYO toilet paper.
It’s very helpful to download maps.me or google maps to make sure you’re going in the right direction.
I’ll post soon about more useful tips on traveling in China.