It's number-one on every serious outdoor enthusiast's list, of course, but visiting Everest from the China side is a rarity. Think you can handle the challenge? From Dingri on the Tibet-Nepal Friendship Highway, an eight-day trek will take experienced, well-provisioned climbers to the Mt. Everest base camp, at the foot of the Rongbuk Glacier.

Yaks hired at the village of Razam can carry gear on the four-day trek from Dingri to the ruins of Rongbuk monastery at 16,500 ft. Four miles further up, past hermit huts, the remains of a looted nunnery, and a series of glacial moraines, lies Base Camp 1. An ill-defined trail leads further up the mountain past the ice seracs of the Central Rongbuk Glacier to Base Camp 2, where most will stop.

Brave the world's most famous peak

Trip Facts
Difficulty rating: Moderate
When to go: June to September