Rachel and I went to Emei Shan two weeks ago. If you want to hike to the top, 3 days is perfect. You can reach the top at the end of the 2nd day, but if you want to hike back down you’ll need another full day. Another option is to hike to the top and take a bus down to the bottom.
Busses leave every half a hour starting at 7:30am from Xi Nan Men Bus station and it takes about 2.5 hours to reach the mountain. No need for an advanced ticket purchase, but it doesn’t hurt. When the bus is full it will leave. It cost about 50 RMB one way.
Along the way you can stop off at different Monasteries and pay to stay the night. The rooms are very basic, but it’s somewhere to lay your head. Monks will begin to play music around 5:30am and a simple vegetarian breakfast is served from 6-6:30am. Dinner is at 6pm and lunch is served at 11am at all the Monasteries. Every 30-40 min you’ll also run into other food, drink and rest options along the path.
Any other questions?