Baoguo is a city in East Sichuan.
Baoguo is the base town serving Emeishan National Park. It's crammed full of buses carting domestic Chinese tourists about. Prices are somewhat hiked because it is a tourist hub.
Walk.
At the end of Baoguo town is the welcoming square to Emeishan National Park. It includes a hand-hewn waterfall, some carvings in a cliff and a giant copper bell (First Mountain Pavilion).
The surrounding area is known as the 'Baoguo Temple Scenic Area', covering an area of 2 sqkm that includes:
Plenty of shops to stock up on cheap(er) snack food before your climb.
A bowl of noodle costs ¥10-12 (as of Mar 2019). There are enough eating options in the area (but not too many). Most restaurants along the main road would have one English speaking staff to talk to you. Some places don't have the patience (and manners) to deal with non-Mandarin speaking customers, just don't visit them anymore, there are enough good places around.
Up a couple of side streets towards the mountain from Teddy Bear Hotel there is the 'Food Street', seems to be the main place to eat for visitors. The menu looks similar between places, but the prices vary.
Steamed buns are good sustenance for your hike (and cheap)! (The ones wrapped in corn skin are the most flavoursome.)
There is a bar across the river from the rest of town.
Bus 5 ("gongchur ooo") and then bus 1 ("gongchur yao") to get to Emei bus station ("urrr may chur jan"). Alternatively, a taxi should be ¥15.