Yes; cable cars and even 3 now! But I decided to walk up, but because I left from Jinan like an hour late I just walked up to halfway, and the final part i took the cable. Good, because it was already 5PM and getting darker when i finished at the top.

I visited early November 2015. It was luckily nice weather, with later on the day even some blue skies. Beautiful colored leaves. The mountain especially as magnificient views. The temples are worth the visit too but of course if you have seen many in China they are a bit more of the same. The day tour was pretty nice for sure and I can recommend if you go from Beijing to Shanghai to take 2-3 nights in Jinan. Jinan itself is also very nice with all the hot springs.

For those in Beijing, you can do the day trip from there too if you go by high speed about 6-7 AM in the morning. Also from XuZhou is possible with a 1 hour train ride.

Some photos on the link below.