A classical route (called 北上西下, Bei Shang Xi Xia) for climbing Mt. Hua in one day takes you across the North, East, South, and West peaks, descending the mountain on the West peak cable car. Depending on your climbing speed, this will take you somewhere between 7 and 10 hours; there are some very steep ascents, so take that into account. Start early but don’t worry as the cable car runs until well after 6PM, and you have some opportunity to take shortcuts along the way. If you do end up running out of time, there is accommodation located near the major peaks.

You start at Yuquanyuan (玉泉院) at the top of Yuquan Road (玉泉路), in front of the temple. Enter the temple and follow the climbing signs to find the ticket office behind the temple. Your ascent now starts on a comfortable cobbled road, growing gradually steeper, until it’s mostly stairs. You reach the junction to the North peak after about 3–4 hours. It’s only a few minutes to the peak, so go and see it, then proceed onwards and follow the signs towards the other peaks. After crossing the pass, which might take another hour, you now have a choice of going straight to the West peak (which might shave some two hours off your trip) or taking the circuit over the East and South peaks, which is of course recommended. Simply take your pick and follow the excellent signage.