Fanjing Mountain makes National Geographic's Best Trips list

The Red Cloud Golden Summit, with an elevation of 2,572 meters, is one of three summits on Fanjing Mountain. [Photo by chinadaily.com.cn]

National Geographic recently released its 2019 Best Trips list, which included 24 places from around the world. Fanjing Mountain in Southwest China's Guizhou province was the only tourist destination in China to make the list.

As one of world's most famous travel magazines, National Geographicis seen as an authority on the subject. According to the introduction by National Geographic, Fanjing Mountain "rewards hikers with bizarre rock formations and above-the-clouds views of China's Wuling mountain range".

Fanjing Mountain was listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List this July, making it China's 53rd World Heritage Site and Guizhou's 4th World Natural Heritage Site. This means Guizhou has more World Natural Heritage Sites than any other province in China.

The Mushroom Rock is a famous landmark of Fanjing Mountain. [Photo by chinadaily.com.cn]

The name "Fanjing" is an abbreviation of Fantian Jingtu, which means "Brahma's pure land" in Chinese. As a sacred Buddhist site, Fanjing Mountain has numerous temples and is one of China's five famous Buddhist mountains.

Fanjing Mountain also became a 5A-level National Tourist Attraction this October (5A is the highest rating given to tourist attractions in China). With a forest coverage rate of 95 percent, an average temperature of 25 C in summer and a unique landscape made up of metamorphic rocks, Fanjing Mountain is one of the most attractive and unique natural sites in Guizhou.

Tourists can take buses to Fanjing Mountain from Tongren Fenghuang Airport and Tongren Railway Station in Tongren, Guizhou province.

Tourists can either climb or take sightseeing and cable cars up Fanjing Mountain. A one-way trip on the sightseeing car is 9.5 kilometers and takes about 17 minutes, while a one-way trip of the cable car takes about 15 minutes. A round-trip ticket is 20 yuan ($2.9) for the sightseeing car and 160 yuan for the cable car.