Just 7km north of downtown, Baiyun Shan (White Cloud Mountain) is close enough to central Guangzhou to reach by city bus, but open enough to leave all the city's noise and bustle behind. Once covered with numerous monasteries, Baiyun's heavily reforested slopes now offer lush panoramas out over Guangzhou and the delta region. A park (¥15) encloses almost thirty square kilometres, and it's a good three-hour walk from the entrance off Luhu Lu to Moxing Ling (Star-touching Summit), past strategically placed tea houses and pavilions offering views and refreshments. There's also a cable car (¥20) from the entrance as far as the Cheng Precipice , a ledge roughly halfway to the top which earned its name when the Qin-dynasty minister Cheng Ki was ordered here by his emperor to find a herb of immortality. Having found the plant, Cheng nibbled a leaf only to see the remainder vanish; full of remorse, he flung himself off the mountain but was caught by a stork and taken to heaven. Sunset views from the precipice are spectacular. Baiyun Shan's entrance is a thirty-minute ride on bus #24 from the south side of Renmin Park, immediately northeast of the Jiefang Lu-Zhongshan Lu crossroads.