Two weekends ago, my friends and I escaped to Wulingshan National Forest Park (雾灵山国家级自然保护) in Hebei. Over a period of six hours, we hiked 19km – around 1,000m in elevation – to the top of the mountain and stayed at the only hotel on the summit. Along the way, we saw “strange trees,” circled sunny mountain roads, and saw a cartoonishly beautiful sunset.

We left on the express bus (980快) on a Saturday at 7.30am from Dongzhimen; though there was a queue, it moved very quickly as buses arrived back-to-back. Tickets cost RMB 15 without an IC card and only around RMB 5 with an IC card. After encountering some traffic on the airport expressway, we arrived in Miyun around 3.5 hours later.

We got off at a pre-arranged stop where a driver with a minivan was waiting for us. You can also disembark at the Miyun bus station, where there are plenty of black cars available. It cost us RMB 350 to get to the west gate of Wulingshan Park.

Part 1: Strange Trees
We paid admission at the west gate and finally started our hike. This trek is best-suited to older kids, and even then it would be a stretch to scale the entire 19km to the summit. Luckily, there are several parking lots along the way so that families can opt to start their hike closer to the top or hire one of the numerous black minivans when they’re tired.

The first stretch consisted of easy stone paths and stairs winding underneath a canopy of trees. Relatively swanky squat toilets are scattered throughout this section, so take advantage of them while you still can. We soon arrived at the impressive Longtan Waterfall, where we had lunch; kids will have fun spotting tiny shrimp in the cold, clear waters.

Take a moment to read the bilingual English and Chinese descriptions; some of the translations were downright baffling. One entitled “Strange Trees” sat in front of some perfectly normal-looking trees. “The unique ecological environment, created the tree growth shapes, all sorts of strange things, part of this strange trees – strange trees,” read the sign.

There’s a cable car towards the end of this section, which the tout with the loudspeaker near Longtan Waterfall will try to convince you to shell out RMB 50 for. Personally, I didn’t think it was worth it because it only covered a short distance; tired kids may beg to differ. Be warned that the alternative path is quite challenging in parts, with steep stairs and roots jutting out of dirt paths. I don’t recommend it for people with bad knees.

Part 2: Winding Roads
Once we cleared the difficult path, we arrived at another parking lot where we restocked on water and had a break. Take the stairs to the top level of the parking lot; it’s worth the panoramic views.

We then set off for the second leg of the hike, which led us on paved roads winding around the mountain. At first, cars threatened to run us off the road but they soon tapered off, leaving us to admire the purple wildflowers and tree-covered peaks.

After about an hour of hiking, we arrived at a plateau with a garish orange hotel that someone compared to The Shining. We could see a telecommunications tower in the distance that marked the summit of Wulingshan, where we’d be staying overnight. So close and yet so far!

Part 3: “The Best Sunset I’ve Ever Seen”
The last stretch was the longest, if not the hardest; it took us around two hours to reach the top. We soon cleared the tree line, which made us stop and admire the breathtaking views. Half of us took off our shoes for the last 30 minutes of the climb, feet aching with the exertion of walking nearly six hours uphill.

Just before reaching the top, we could see rays of sunlight reflecting off the Miyun Reservoir; from far away, it looked like a diamond in the distance. We started to feel the mountain chill as the wind picked up and the sun started its descent.

When we rounded the bend and finally reached Wulingshan Summit Hotel (雾灵山顶峰西山宾馆), it was with an overwhelming sense of relief and accomplishment. We put in an order for roast lamb leg (RMB 220) at the attached restaurant and hurried to the peak to catch the sunset. One of us declared it “one of the best – if not the best – sunset I’ve ever seen.”

We took celebratory photos next to the stone marker on the peak – 2,118m! – and settled in to watch the sun go down. The view was only slightly marred by the telecommunications tower, which lent the scene a futuristic feel.

We then rushed down again for an unobstructed view of the sunset, but missed the last rays by a matter of seconds. Upon heading back to the hotel, we were surprised to discover the moon already in the sky – huge, round, and milky white.

Part 5: Mao Coats and Lamb Legs
There was only one problem: three of us rather stupidly forgot to bring warm layers. Luckily, a hut near the hotel rented out Mao-style padded cotton coats for RMB 10 (RMB 50 deposit required). As you can imagine, we took loads of silly photos.

After the sunset, we gobbled up our dinner like ravenous wolves. Apart from the lamb leg, we ordered two plates of delicious wild vegetables called “dragon’s beard grass” (龙须草, longxu cao), hot pot vegetables, shredded potatoes, deer meat omelet, and more. The country-style dishes tasted delicious after a long day of hiking.

Our accommodations were surprisingly pleasant, with clean sheets, western-style toilets, warm blankets, and plenty of hot water. Between the eight of us, we booked one room with a double bed and two rooms with three beds each. The latter cost RMB 320 per night and the former cost RMB 480 per night on weekends – a bit steep, but not surprising given the season and the fact that they have a monopoly on the summit.

Two people from our group got up at 4am to watch the sun rise, but most of us opted to sleep like logs. “Take a video,” we told them. As far as we can tell from the pictures, it was a glorious affair.

The next morning, we decided to rent a minivan to get down the mountain; some of us were adversely affected by the altitude, and had developed colds and/or headaches during the night. Secretly, I was relieved. After some haggling, a driver drove us to the north gate of Wulingshan National Forest Park for RMB 50 per person.

Our original driver was waiting for us at the foot of the mountain and took us to the Miyun bus station for another RMB 350. We were back in Beijing by 2pm, with plenty of time to do other things and full of great memories from the trip.

In a Nutshell

• Where? Wulingshan National Forest Park in Chengde, Hebei
• What? Hiking, admiring the scenery, and staying overnight on a mountain peak
• Who? Ages 10 and above
•  How much? RMB 120 for admission to the park
• What to bring? Good hiking shoes, sunglasses, sunscreen, a wide-brimmed hat, comfortable clothes for hiking, warm layers and a windbreaker for the summit, and enough cash to cover food, transportation, and accommodations

Travel Tips:

• A simple Chinese breakfast of mantou, pickled vegetables, fermented tofu, and soup was included in the price of the hotel rooms. Chinese guests tend to eat very early, so get there before 8am if you can.
• It’s very cold at the peak (between 10-15°C at sundown), so make sure to bring warm clothes.
• Sunrise was around 4.20am in mid-July; check before going if you want to rise on time.
• The hotel staff don’t speak English, but were very friendly and accommodating; they can help you book a car from the summit to the foot of the mountain if needed, but you’ll have to do your own haggling.
• Don’t forget your passport for check-in.

Photos: Sijia Chen and courtesy of Wu Tong

To celebrate the World Water Day (March 22, 2015), Guanghui E, the president of the Young Volunteer Association of Hebei Normal University organized a Water Dragon event together with Thirst. The activity involved a large group of students and also teachers from all departments.

Water dragon is one of Thirst’s trademark activity. Thirst staff will draw the dragon well in advance. Then, with the help of volunteers guide the students into dragon formation. Once the Dragon is formed a photo is captured from a high vantage point. The Dragon event takes approximately an hour.

The water dragon represents the joint effort of Chinese Youth to demonstrate they care about China’s future and the water crisis. So far Thirst has successfully created 8 water dragons in schools in Dalian, Beijing and Shanghai, also received a Guinness World Record with the largest human dragon consisted of 1,973 participants and was achieved by Thirst and National Institute of Technology (NIT)- in Beijing- on 6 November 2013.

During the event students are interviewed (for our event video, and for their own student newspapers and media) and participate in activities.

Our Thirst education team had a very early start and traveled for 2 hours by train, from Beijing to Hebei province, in order to arrive at Hebei Normal University for 8am. On arrival they met with a lovely group of students who kindly helped to organize the Water Dragon participants and helped guide them around the university for the day.We had a test run of the human dragon at around 2pm, and successfully executed the final water dragon (consisting of around 300 Students) at 4PM – which looked incredible! We had a great time with the students and everyone really enjoyed themselves –congratulations, this was our first Water Dragon of 2015.

Zhangyu from the Thirst club team then delivered our ‘We Water Experience’ Presentation on the key issues surrounding the problem of water scarcity, Including; the hydrological cycle, the facts on water pollution, figures regarding our water footprint and the concept of‘Invisible Water’ (These are water consumption facts that we would not usually think about, i.e. it takes 4,500 litres of water to produce a 300 gram beef steak!). Students who were once confused or unaware about these concepts had their eyes opened to the facts on these issues, inspiring the audience to adopt water-wise habits into their daily lives.

As the co-organizer of the activity, we at Thirst would like to take this opportunity to personally thank everyone that was involved at Hebei Normal University for their outstanding efforts and overall support with this amazing project – You are all Water Heroes!

If you are interested in getting involved with our cause and perhaps organizing a water dragon event at your school, please contact us by email, we are eager to help. info@thirst4water.org.

Thirst is an NGO which is creating a water-wise generation of youth in China. We facilitate free ‘We Water Experience’ workshops and club activities at schools across the country. This program is sponsored by the Foundation for UNESCO and Inditex. Please contact us for more details. Visit http://thirst4water.org/en

What the locals call “the bright pearl of North China” is a mere 160km from Beijing in Hebei Province, making for an easy and pleasant weekend getaway. While peak season is in summer, when lotuses are in full bloom, the other seasons yield beautiful landscapes as well. Autumn weather is cool and crisp, and locals are busy catching fish and crabs. Winter causes the lake to freeze, providing a skating rink for children to take a spin on. When spring rolls around, the water clears up and the reeds turn a bright green.

It was in these marshlands that the Chinese hid from the Japanese at the height of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1940). The locals turned the invaders away, and their heroics are now the stuff of a comedic pantomime that exhibits some of the locals’ penchant for storytelling, as well as acrobatic and kung fu skills.

We visited Baiyangdian in a small group that traveled from Beijing via motorbike. Though our own trip back from Hebei was ill-fated, the stay itself at the lake resort was enjoyable and provided total immersion in the local culture.

We also learned a bit about the local environment. We were impressed by the sheer size of the wetlands, but the lake has suffered severely from climate change. Over the last four decades, the marshlands suffered a one third decrease. Last year, 100 million kilograms of fish were found dead in the lake.

We were accompanied by an English-speaking guide who contracted a local guide to show us around. He arranged everything, from boat rides to confirming hotel bookings (we were nearly turned away for being foreigners) and booking tables at the very busy restaurant on the island.

I wish that the English-speaking guide had been better about translating. However, the boat trip to the island and the pantomime performance that followed were just too noisy. So, we decided to sit back and enjoy the trip as much as possible without understanding everything that was going on.

The pantomime was a joy to watch for its satirical portrayal of the enemy and the well-loved local hero and his grandmother. But don’t expect high art; this is local theater at its best and near-torture at its worst.

Three young men came out on stilts, performing flips and cartwheels. But just as they whetted the audience’s appetite, they disappeared offstage, and the emcee said that they wouldn’t come back until they received money from the audience. As if on cue, two men emerged to place one RMB 100 bill and one RMB 50 bill on the ground. Staged? Probably.

Eventually, a third person came up with another red bill. The impasse continued for another three minutes with neither performers nor audience wanting to make the next move. It felt almost like haggling for a T-shirt at Yashow. Seeing this wasn’t going anywhere, the young men then did a few more tricks and ended up picking up the money with their mouths and walking away.

During the trip, we also meandered among the lotus ponds. The best time to admire and photograph the flowers was very early in the morning, but they were beautiful even late in the day. Clearly, other enthusiasts had the same idea as us; on Sunday morning at 5.30am, the lanes were already crawling with locals toting bulky photography gear.

There were several boats available around the 366sqkm marshlands. Most idyllic are the sampans navigated by fishermen. These seat a maximum of six passengers and stay mostly in the “slow lane” in the rightmost lane of the water. The slightly bigger pump boats take up to 12 people. Lastly, there are large ferries that can take around 50 people.

When they’re not catering to tourists, the fishermen dig up lotus roots to sell at the market and catch fish alongside cormorants. When it’s dark out, you can spot night fishermen with lanterns on the water.

Breakfast the next morning was another cultural first. Our hotel’s offerings were exclusively of the local variety, with hot steamed mantou, pickled vegetables, boiled eggs, and a very thin porridge. This was the first time we’d had a completely Chinese breakfast; we were surprised by how filling it was. If you have picky eaters, consider packing some biscuits or a box of cereal. There’s a small convenience store nearby if you need to pick up anything else.

Though there were crowded moments, it’s worth adding Baiyangdian to your list of short getaways out of Beijing. There was still plenty of room in the marshlands to recharge and have some quiet time. The bright pearl of northern China is a treasure worth discovering.

Lake Baiyangdian 白洋淀景区
RMB 20 entrance (adults and children over 1.3m). RMB 50 per person per day for pumpboat. All scenic spots must be visited on the boat. RMB 50 Lotus Garden. RMB 20 Fishermen’s Eden. RMB 20 Leisure Isle. RMB100 per person (including food and board) for Wangjiazhai Folk Custom Village. 

Daily 8am-6pm. Anxin County, Baoding, Hebei Province (0312-533 0211, 535 5258) 河北省保定市安新县

Photos by Dana Cosio-Mercado

Dana is the beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Beijing in 2011 (via Europe) with her husband, two sons and Rusty the dog. She enjoys writing, photography, theater, visual arts, and trying new food. In her free time, she can be found exploring the city and driving along the mountain roads of Huairou, Miyun and Pinggu.