Lushan

There is a cable car going straight to Lushan.

It costs ¥120 go and back per people but takes only 20 minutes (and avoid illness of the road).

To arrive to the cable car station there is the bus 57 from Jiujiang (九江) train station（cost ¥3).

Lushan train station is really close to the cable car.

Direct buses to Lushan from Nanchang can be found in front of the Nanchang train station; the trip is about 2½ hours and costs around ¥55. Regular shuttle vans from Jiujiang Bus Station (1km or so north of Jiujiang station) take about 1½ hours and cost ¥15. The bus will stop at the entrance gate where all passengers proceed to pay the entrance fee and pass through the entrance gate before getting back on the bus.

From Lushan, it is possible to take a bus back to the Lushan train station (¥20), with about five buses per day, the last one departing at 16:00. Alternatively, buses to Nanchang are ¥55 and will bring you to a gas station in Nanchang; you will need to take a taxi to reach either train station. These buses run five times a day, with two in the morning, one at 10:20, one at 15:00 and the last one at 16:00. Finally, buses to Jiujiang arrive at the bus station and you should take a taxi to the train station for further travel.

The most convenient train station is Jiujiang (九江), NOT Lushan station. From here it will be easy to find people to share a taxi up to the park entrance (approx ¥80 for a taxi) or buses to Lushan (about 1 hour, ¥15) leave every 30-60 minutes from around 08:00 to 16:00 from the intercity bus station about 1km north, on Xunnan Avenue, behind the train station. If you do get to Lushan Railway Station in error, it is possible to transfer to Jiujiang Intercity bus station by minivan. Check in front.

Now there is an alternative entry point which is more complicated, requires some navigation, some breaking of rules and maybe some simple Chinese written place names in advance (for the foreigner without Chinese), but which will save the entry fee for the mountain which is about ¥130 + ¥50 and offer a special experience. Take a bus from Jiujiang Intercity Bus Station to Haihui. This bus travels south east on a concrete highway which swings south west. After about 27 km on your right hand side looms the fantastic peaks of Lushan, named Five Old Men. The bus driver must know that you want to get off to walk to the 3 Step Waterfall, which is in the precinct of Haihui. It means you will dropped on the side of the road, so take the side turning toward the mountains, past a village, past a dam, and on up the concrete road. When the first park entry check point is spotted, go back a bit and walk up the track beside the creek, and then along a water pipe (balance required over the gullies) until you are well passed this pay point. Continue back on the road until the road arrives at a small village and the footpath bridges the creek at a weir and continues upstream on the other side. There will be increasing numbers of coach delivered tourists around. About 300 metres up this track is another paypoint, about ¥50, which can be bypassed by a very silent and strenuous climb over the huge rocks in the creek bed. You can go back and progress up the other side of the creek until you have to get into the creek bed and deal with the huge rocks. Either that or pay the ¥50. The stone path now climbs through the valley, up, ever up through a spectacular gorge to the Three Step Waterfall, where suddenly it's like Disneyland in the mountains with duck shaped watercraft in the bottom pond to the waterfall, kiosks and masses of people, who have descended by foot to this spectacular spot from the top cable car station high above. Continue up the path, until you see the paypoint for visitors to the mountain proper, fee approx ¥130. Go back about 100 metres down to a right turn junction in the path in a SE direction. This stone path contours around to underneath the top fall of the Three Step Waterfall. There is an old path that actually goes under the waterfall; take it. Climb over the man made impediments of barbed wire and stakes, and continue on a narrow path of indeterminate age, but which is now closed to all but you. This path is in derelict condition, and safety barriers are largely missing, so your party should be comfortable with overgrown passage and exposure to great heights. However it's a great walk with marvellous views and environment and definitely secluded from the masses. This overgrown path, sometimes hard to recognise, follows over the heads of the "Five Old Men" the 4000' plus summits originally visible from the road, now far below. After a couple of hours this path joins the main park system, where one finds one's way finally to a road and therefore transport to the centre of Guling. In the writers experience there was a cab waiting, for the 15-minute drive past the colonial era villas. The whole journey is well worth the effort (for those of you on this wavelength).