Guizhou Woman Climbs China's Five Sacred Mountains in Five Days

A woman from Guizhou Province has climbed all five of China's sacred mountains in five days, hiking by day and catching overnight sleeper trains to the next peak, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.

The woman, surnamed Peng, left Guizhou on September 23. She climbed Mount Huashan on September 24, Mount Hengshan in Shanxi Province on September 25, Mount Taishan on September 26, Mount Songshan on September 27, and finished on Mount Hengshan in Hunan Province on September 28.

Known together as the Five Great Mountains, or Wuyue, the peaks are spread across five provinces and have been sites of imperial worship and pilgrimage for centuries.

Peng said she came across the "Travel the Five Great Mountains, Understand China" campaign online and was drawn by its finisher's medal. The five provinces launched the joint tourism campaign in 2024. Her trip fell around the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in late September, which she said also marked her 10,000th day alive, and she wanted something special to remember it by.

The challenge comes in two versions. Peng chose the physical one, which requires hikers to walk up each mountain along an official route logged on an outdoor app, checking in at three points on every peak. The descent is optional.

She walked down Mount Taishan, Mount Songshan and the Mount Hengshan in Shanxi, and took a vehicle down Mount Huashan and the Mount Hengshan in Hunan.

Peng logged 20,000 to 30,000 steps a day. Mount Huashan took her the longest to climb, while the southern Mount Hengshan in Hunan was the longest walk, at more than 39,000 steps and over 14 kilometers. The challenge route there is longer and harder than the usual tourist path.

She said she felt only a little tired at the end of each day and recovered after a night's sleep, without soreness or other discomfort.

The whole trip cost her less than 4,000 yuan (US$560). Peng said she had never done long, back-to-back hikes before and was nervous when she set out, but strangers helped her along the way.

"I met very kind people all the way," she said. She added that the challenge is demanding and urged others not to follow the trend blindly, but to judge their own fitness and put safety first.