Sacred Mountains

The first of the four Buddhist sacred mountains, with 47 working monasteries including two rare Tang timber halls.

The most dangerous of the sacred five: granite spires, chain-assisted ridges and the notorious plank walk bolted to a vertical face.

The Chan Buddhist monastery that gave the world kung fu, with a Pagoda Forest of 240 monk tombs. Heavily commercialised.

An island sacred to Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion — monasteries, beaches and a 33-metre seaside statue.

A cloud-wrapped summer hill station of European villas, waterfalls, and 1,500 years of poetry about not seeing the mountain for the mist.

Granite pillars and cliff-edge boardwalks in a Daoist range, less crowded and nearly as beautiful as Huangshan.

The birthplace of religious Daoism, with red Danxia cliffs and 2,600-year-old hanging coffins winched into caves.

Four peaks to 6,250 m four hours from Chengdu, with three trekking valleys and the best alpine scenery in eastern Tibet.

Three sacred snow peaks above turquoise lakes at 4,600 m — the 'last Shangri-La', and a serious altitude commitment.

A glacier tongue descending to 2,850 m below the 7,556 m Gongga Shan, with hot springs at its foot.

Kawagarbo, 6,740 m, sacred and never climbed — a wall of thirteen peaks seen from Feilai Si at dawn.

A 2,336 m quartzite pillar with two temples on top, reached by 8,888 steps or a cable car, above a cloud sea.

Sacred to four religions and never climbed. The 52 km kora takes three days over a 5,630 m pass.

The Daoist counterpart to Shaolin and the home of tai chi, with Ming palace-temples strung up to a bronze hall on the summit.

The southern peak of the Daoist five, wooded and temple-strewn, and much gentler than Hua or Tai.

The Buddhist sacred mountain of Ksitigarbha, with 90 working temples and several mummified monks on display.

A Daoist granite range rising straight out of the Yellow Sea beside Qingdao, with temples and spring water famous enough to name a beer.