Explore Guangzhou: Baiyun Mountain 白云山

I’ve lived in Guangzhou a little over three months now and there’s so much I want to see and do here – that’s why I chose to move to Guangzhou, after all! It’s a giant city that has a lot to offer,and I’m finally crossing some of those things off.

So let’s explore Guangzhou.

In the northern part of Guangzhou there’s a special mountain called Baiyun [but if you ask any Chinese person, every mountain is special ;)]

There are many entrances and paths up this mountain, but for the sake of saving time and seeing more at the top, I took the cable car up for just 25RMB (this includes the entrance fee) from the south entrance. I was there on a Saturday around 9:30 am and it was perfect – there was no line and I hopped straight onto the car.

Chinese mountains are so funny to me because they feel more like a fair than a quiet hike in the great outdoors. You hardly hike on paths – instead you walk around on nice paved roads to see sites.

The top of this mountain had restaurants, shops, a 5k race going on with Ke$ha blasting, and even a McDonald’s.

Even with all this modernization, I love being here. This is now one of my favorite places in Guangzhou. You can take many paths around the top of the mountain and explore different views. You’ll catch site of many traditional Chinese temples and architecture, older Chinese folk practicing tai chi or enjoying Cantonese dim sum, and some nice cityscape views of GZ.

There are some places that require an additional entrance fee – I paid an extra 5 RMB to see the Moxing Summit and it was 100% worth it (also that’s less than $1 hahaha). Inside this area there’s also adorable little love locks and a walk way with cute little notes (I adore this!)

It was so nice to be outside seeing some beautiful sights, but I also just love being able to watch Chinese families and friends interact – they get really excited when they see special Chinese words or need to capture something on their selfie stick (just like me). My limited Chinese can pick up a little of what they’re saying, like when they comment “hen piaoliang” (very beautiful) or “Guo lai! Ni kan!” (Come here, look!)

It became more crowded in the early afternoon, and I decided to leave around that time. There was still so much I didn’t see, so I would definitely go back again. If you come visit me in GZ I’ll probably bring you here (I’m so sorry I didn’t take you guys here, Micah, please forgive me).

Until next time, I’ll be exploring Guangzhou.