Guangzhou is most famous for its white cloud and pearl sea. The white cloud refers to the White cloud mountain or Baiyun shan in Chinese that is situated 17 kilometers to the northern outskirt of Guangzhou. The mountain is not only reputed as one of the most famous spots in the past but also the present, and is one of the oldest mountains in Guangdong province. The mountain is the ending range of Dayu mountains in the south, which is also called the first mountain of Southern Yue. It has a rectangular shape stretching as far as 7 kilometers from south to north and 4 kilometers from east to west.
The name of the mountain originally came from a poem “white clouds float on the top of Baiyun mountain”. Each time the sun shines after the rain and during late spring, clouds encircle the mountain offering the best view. The mountain used to have thick clouds encircling its peak before it was heavily polluted.
Due to the vast urban development of Guangzhou, the mountain has become an unusual spot for the local people. Measuring up to 100 meters high, it offers secluded environment from the big city thus viewed as an ideal tranquil place to relax and a way to return from the metropolitan life to nature.
Occupying an area of 28 kilometers, the mountain is made up of 30 odd peaks, with Moxing Ridge standing as high as 382 meters as its peak, where you could overview the whole view of the city. Surrounded with natural hills and waters developed for more than 1000 years, the mountain offers a gorgeous scenery along with historical relics from the Tang dynasty. The charming beauty of the mountain has successfully attracted famous poets like Sushi, Yang Wanli, Wang Shizhen and others to visit and left some poems.
View from the peak of the mountain
Dragon stone stele dated back from Tang Dynasty
Ancient gates dated back from Tang Dynasty
Black stones engraved with Chinese writings 
Traditional Chinese architecture dated back from Tang dynasty
In good weather, traveling to the mountain is really rewarding because it is one of the prime attractions for nature lovers. It is well known for its green trees, clean spring water, singing birds, and fragrant flowers. The mountain consists of 6 parks, 30 peaks and myriad gullies. The six popular areas among the visitors include Bright Pearl Building Park, the San tailing Summit Park, the Bird Spring Valley Park (Mingchun Valley), the Santailing Park, the Luhu Park and the Fei'eling Park. There are also exhibition area, man-made lake, resting pavilion, laboratory, and greenhouse.
The mountain is easily accessible by buses. There are two ways you could do to reach the summit; first by climbing the mountain on foot, which is challenging for mountain trekkers, and second by taking a cable car, which is easier and faster especially for those unwilling to have a tiring journey. The charge of the cable car is about 40 Yuan. From inside the cable car, you could view the whole mountain filled with large trees, traditional Chinese buildings and people walking to reach the summit. There are 80 cable cars in total which can sit six people each. The starting station is at the east of Yuntai garden and the end is at the peak park with 198 meters in altitude and horizontal distance of 1.672 meters.
View taken from inside the cable car
I at the peak of the mountain
Beautiful wall painting
After a long tiring journey under the striking sun, we went to a restaurant for a lunch. However, the foods were expensive. 
Descending the mountain
Our feet started to grow weary as we descended the mountain. The area was so large that we often got lost and had to retake the same route for several times. We finally reached the base and took a short rest before going back to our dormitory. Different places attract different types of people. To me, Baiyun mountain gains its reputation as one of the most visited natural spots only because it is located in the midst of tall buildings, creating unusual scene. However, I personally do not see it as a very beautiful place since it only has green plantations. Moreover, I did not really understand the history of the ancient Chinese architectures scattered over the body of the mountain because there was very little explanation about them. I visited the place only to gain some insight of how the place looked like and to add to my travel journey a list of place I had visited. After all, the visit to the mountain will never be in vain for there is always something new I can learn wherever I travel.
Sources:
Personal experience and additional information from other online articles
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