❓Why isn’t it recommended? ✖️The location is extremely remote, and the mountainous roads are notoriously treacherous to navigate. ✖️The scenic area management is chaotic; for instance, waiting for the cable car on the B route can take a full hour. ✖️Apart from the main attraction of Baquan Gorge, there are hardly any noteworthy sights. Despite high expectations for the grandeur of Taihang Mountain, it ultimately turns out to be a rather stereotypical representation of the northern landscape, not much different from the hills near one’s hometown. ✖️The combination ticket price of 300 yuan, including transportation, is truly outrageous. To put it in perspective, visiting Baquan Gorge in Shanxi is akin to traveling to Beijing and skipping the Forbidden City to visit Shidu instead. ‼️If you still insist on visiting, ask yourself if you’re the type who says, “We’re already here, might as well make the most of it.” If not, you’ve already defeated 99.99% of the people who do. Skip the combo ticket and only purchase the entry ticket (90 yuan) + shuttle bus (20 yuan) + boat ticket (one-way 30 yuan, round-trip 60 yuan) = 170 yuan. The benefits of this approach are twofold: ✅You’ll avoid the boring sky elevator, aerial bus, and cable car, saving yourself from traversing 2 kilometers of steep mountain paths and countless other unnecessary climbs, all while rubbing shoulders with other tourists. ✅You’ll get to enjoy the highlight of Baquan Gorge – the serene green waters on the cruise ship – twice, whereas others only get to experience it once. ✅You won’t miss out on the Heart-shaped Cave, and you’ll still have the option to dabble in the waters nearby. ‼️If you adhere to the mindset of “We’re already here, might as well make the most of it,” it’s crucial to choose the B route. The A and B routes essentially differ in the order of attractions, with the A route being more crowded and requiring more waiting time due to the large number of visitors. Unless you arrive at the very start of the day, around 7:30 am, the B route offers a more relaxed experience. ‼️For early risers, you can afford to sleep in for an extra hour and arrive at 8:30 am. ‼️This is crucial because if you arrive at 7:30 am on the A route, you may have to wait for the aerial bus to fill up, adding another 20 minutes to your wait time. And once you reach the cable car, you may encounter further delays as the scenic area may cite “safety inspections” as a reason to keep the cable car closed, effectively forcing you to wait for up to an hour. In reality, this is merely a cost-saving measure to prevent the cable car from operating empty. For a scenic area charging 300 yuan for a combo ticket, such practices are indeed a mockery of the traditional virtues of thrift and frugality. Many visitors have complained about these issues, but their complaints seem to fall on deaf ears. @Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism
