Travel and Hiking

Houhe, hidden deep in Yanqing’s mountains northwest of Beijing, is a classic wild canyon hike loved by local outdoor enthusiasts. In winter, the most captivating feature of Houhe is its ice formations. The ice can reach a thickness of over one meter, with smooth, mirror-like surfaces that appear pure white or pale blue, creating a truly spectacular sight. The route follows a clear mountain stream through a narrow gorge, where hikers move between mountain, and the canyon. Free from commercial development, Houhe offers a raw and immersive outdoor experience, with changing scenery at every turn and a refreshing escape from the city. This hike is best suited for those who enjoy adventurous terrain, ice walking, and the feeling of exploring a truly natural landscape. The hiking trail is only in Winter time.

Hike Information:

l Date: Jan.24th (Saturday)

l Location: Yanqing

l Drive time: 2 hours each way

【The route type】Mountain trail + ice river

【The route description】At the beginning, we climb up the mountain. The route is moutain dirt path. Then we go down the mountain to reach the Houhe. It is rocky trail, few section is steep. Hiking poles can help you support well. When we arrive the Houhe, we are across the valley and walk on the ice. The crampon is necessary. Then, we will climb up again to go out from valley. The route is similar but more flat. Winter hiking in Houhe is an outdoor traverse route rather than a scenic leisure trail. Some sections require crossing mountain passes and demand a certain level of physical fitness.

l Distance: 12km

l Time to complete: 6hours

l Total ascent: 704m

l Total descent: 660m

l Peak: 829m

l Lowest point: 515m

Notice:

1. Take at least 2-3 bottles of water

2. Bring some lunch, and some snacks.

3. Hiking boots are recommended.

4. More details will be posted in the group the day before the hike.

Itinerary:

07.30: Departure from Dongzhimen (line2 exit B)

09.30: Arrive the village, beginning of hike.

16.00: Ending the hike.

18:00: Back to Beijing.

Activity Fee: 160RMB/person.

Activity Price includes:

1. Transportation with a driver

2. Hiking Leaders: Lengzhi; Nuanyang

3. One day outdoor insurance

4. Payment: transfer the fee by Wechat or Alipay when we confirm the event on Thursday.

Please note:

- Do not participate if you are sick or showing symptoms of ever or couching.

- Customer service: Mona (wechat id: mona_zhangli) If you have any suggestions orcomplaint, please feel free to leave messages.

- Photos will be used in the social media platform. If you don't want to show in the picture, let us know.

Cancellation:

1. Kindly reminder: You can cancel anytime till the deadline on Friday 18:00PM. As we have to fix capacties for the bus and pay the driver and the guides. After deadline, we will have charge you 80% activity fee. Or you find another person not yet registered to join the hike. If your cancellation is on Saturday morning or if you are late and missed the hike, please pay 100% activity fee. We repect your choice. When you register for this activity, you accept this cancelation policy.

2. Bad weather plan:We will message you 1-2 days before the hike to let you know about theweather condition. If there is a thunderstorm, heavy rain or strongwinds it will be dangerous to do the hike in the high mountains. So we will cancel it or change the dates.

Join us:

Scan the QR in below to note the name of event. Then add you into the group.

Step into the shadows of 1930s Beijing on this evening walk inspired by Paul French's best-selling book Midnight in Peking. Follow the story of Pamela Werner's unsolved murder, a mystery that gripped the city and revealed the darker undercurrents of its past. January 1937, the body of the young British woman was discovered at the base of the old city wall near the Fox Tower. Her death shocked both the foreign community and local Beijingers, sparking an investigation that drew together colonial intrigue, espionage, and the city's underworld. Her case was never solved.

Decades later, Paul French took a deep dive into old police reports, private letters, and diplomatic archives to piece together what may have really happened. The result was Midnight in Peking a haunting, bestselling book that reads like a noir thriller, but every word meant to reveal the truth.

Led by guides personally trained by Paul French, the walk takes you through alleys and landmarks once at the heart of the case. Along the way, you'll uncover forgotten corners of old Beijing and hear stories that bring its history to life.

This is a different kind of walk through Beijing, one that winds through forgotten corners of the city where history, crime, and colonial intrigue collide.

Runs the last Sunday of every month

Price: RMB 398 per person

Next tour: January, 2025

Follow us on Instagram: @wildchinatravel Book via WeChat or at WildChina website: https://wildchina.com/tour/midnight-in-peking-walking-tour/

Hike a loop around Xiangtun Village, hiking down by the frozen stream in ‘Big Cloud’ Canyon, passing through chestnut and walnut orchards, and taking a quick look at some of the Great Wall in the area.

We hike by Xiangtun Village on some of our longer walks, and the main attractions in the area are the Longquanyu Great Wall, and the ‘Big Cloud’ Canyon, a deep canyon with a small stream running down the middle.

Previously a farming area, the village is a small collection of courtyards and houses that are now mostly converted into guesthouses and small restaurants. The villagers still maintain their chestnut and walnut orchards, and when we’re not hiking up on the Great Wall or down in the canyon, we’ll be walking narrow dirt tracks through the orchards on the hills around the village.

For this visit we’ll start in the village and then hike down the canyon. We’ll hike up a short, steep, section of Great Wall, and finish the hike with an easy walk out through chestnut orchards.

Our walk ends in the village square, and we’ll organise some light snacks and drinks at a village restaurant. Nearby the restaurant, in the village square, you might also be able to shop for walnuts, chestnuts, and other village produce.

This outing is best for ages 6 and up. Younger kids could walk in places but would need to be carried for most of the hike.

Cost: ¥380 / ¥340 for members / ¥220 for kids 5+ / free for kids 3-4yo

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/1792/xiangtun-village-easy-loop/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

On this two-day trip to Yu County in Hebei Province you’ll walk the streets of well-preserved Yuxian Ancient Town, visiting the pavilions and pagodas, as well as visiting Jimingyi, the remnants of a Ming Dynasty postal relay center. And, on the first evening, we’ll take in a performance that includes dashuhua, a 300-year old local tradition that translates as ‘making a tree of flaming flowers’ and results in molten iron being flung against the city walls instead of a fireworks display!

During Chinese New Year Beijing empties out as people return to their hometowns to celebrate Spring Festival with their families. With everyone home in Yu County for the holiday it’s sure to be lively, and there will also be extra special shows and performances in the streets of the old towns we visit.

Trip overview

Day One: Drive to Yu County, check in to hotel, out for a walking tour of Nuanquan Town after lunch, dashuhua performance, dinner at the hotel.

Day Two: Breakfast at the hotel, walking tour of Yuxian Old Town including Yuhuang Pavilion, city walls, North Gate, and big pagoda; hike near White Horse Temple, lunch and a walking tour of Jimingyi Ancient Town, back to Beijing.

Cost: ¥2,300 / ¥2,090 for members / ¥1,870 for under 18s

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/433/yu-county-ancient-walled-towns-overnight/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

Walk from Gubeikou to Jinshanling, following stretches of restored and unrestored Great Wall and taking a detour through the pretty farmland that surrounds Hemp Village, finishing all the way over at the eastern end of Jinshanling.

The hike begins at the Gubeikou section of the Great Wall in Miyun County, very close to the border of the Beijing and Hebei provinces. Even though it’s designated as a park, this section of the Great Wall is largely unrestored. It’s not often visited either, probably because it is so far away from central Beijing.

We’ll start the walk with a short climb up to a tower on the Wall. There are a lot of towers on this stretch of the Wall – some in good condition, some tumbled down to foundations only. From the first tower we can see the Wall stretching off into the hills of northern Miyun. We’ll be following it the other way, towards Jinshanling, and Hebei Province.

Along the way to Jinshanling we’ll get a different view of the wall, walking a trail by the base of the Mongolia side, and making a few tricky ascents and descents on the way to the archway that will get us back on top. This section is the west side of the Jinshanling Great Wall.

We’ll be following the Jinshanling Great Wall from west to east, starting off on the unrestored section before heading down into the main restored area. We’ll follow the wall into the middle section of the Jinshanling Great Wall, and then up past both ‘Small’ and ‘Big’ Jinshan towers to reach Houchuankou Pass.

Cost: ¥510 / ¥460 for members

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/1037/gubeikou-to-jinshanling-great-wall-east-4/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

Explore an ancient interconnected series of cave dwellings in the hills of Yanqing County; visit the Longqingxia Ice Festival on the way home.

Tang Dynasty Cave Dwellings

Nobody is certain exactly who it was that established the cave dwellings, only that they were made during the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) and inhabited for approximately 200 years. The cave dwellings were carved from the sandstone cliff and are extensive and well-designed, connected by tunnels and stairways, and featuring heated “kang” beds, temples and meeting rooms, and animal shelters on the lower levels. Most of the rooms are three to four cubic meters in size, and some are high up on the cliff face.

It was hard for the cave-dwellers to survive on the produce of the valley, and they would often raid the nearby villages for food (and sometimes women). This annoyed the villagers, and after a while it became known that the hidden valley was inhabited by rebels and bandits. By this time, the Tang Dynasty had fallen to the Khitans who established the Liao Dynasty (907-1125AD). The valley was besieged by the army of the Liao, and all of the inhabitants (approximately 1,000) were killed.

Local legend has it that the caves were built in the body of a dragon, and that a curious rock on one of the paths is a meteorite fallen from the sky. In the 1960s some of the caves at the foot of the valley were used to store weapons and ammunition. In 1976 the caves were damaged by an earthquake. As a result, some of outer rooms are visible in cross-section.

We'll get an early dinner at a local restaurant after the hike, after which it should be dark enough to witness the full spectacle of the Longqingxia Ice Festival.

Longqingxia Ice Festival

The Longqingxia Ice Festival is sort of a mini-Harbin Ice
Festival – smaller in scale, but closer to Beijing … and we're pretty sure it's not going to be -40°C!

We're timing our visit for near the beginning of the Chinese New Year holiday, hopefully avoiding huge crowds but still getting a good look at the sculptures before the festival winds down.

We’ll organise our visit at Longqingxia as sort of free time – with two hours to look around, you can stick with the group or explore by yourself, and we’ll all meet up again back at the bus at the predetermined time.

Cost: ¥555 / ¥500 for members / ¥300 for kids

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/1212/longqingxia-ice-festival-and-tang-dynasty-caves-2/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

Moderately difficult hill walking in the mountains north of the Ming Tombs.

We start off at Longevity Village, the midpoint of our popular Silver Pagodas hike. We’ll be heading in the opposite direction to the pagodas, aiming to cross a notch in a ridge on the southern side of the village.

The first part of the hike is on mostly flat ground, first on the road that leads through Longevity Village, and then on a dirt trail that heads up into the hills, passing through all the terraced chestnut fields that are a major source of income for the villagers.

As we get closer to the point where we cross over the ridge, the trail starts to zig-zag as it climbs up the hillside, eventually rising to the saddle between two peaks—a good place for a rest!

From the saddle, we follow a largely disused trail down into the valley on the other side.

Near the bottom of the valley, we pass through a nice narrow ravine before arriving at the village on the other side of the hill. Just before the village we walk along a narrow lane between brick buildings that are some sort of small factory. Depending on the mood of the workers, and the state of the gate, we might need to skirt around the buildings instead of strolling through.

A sealed road leads down into the village where we begin a hike called Tomb Raiders, and, after a sharp turn at the village square and exercise machine yard, we’re back into the hills, following another valley trail up on to a ridge.

It’s a slightly tougher climb this time, getting rather steep near the top. There are quite a few false peaks on the way up, but these provide a good opportunity for a rest! If you don’t think it’s tough enough, there’s an option to take a short detour to the highest hill in the area, where there’s a rusted trig and great 360° views of the area, including many of the Ming Tombs.

We hike by and around a few of the closed Ming Tombs, but can’t go inside either of them. This hike is more about exercise than tomb-visiting.

Cost: ¥380 / ¥340 for members

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/345/longevity-village-to-the-ming-tombs/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

A moderately difficult hike that follows a line of wild wall up to a tall tower with 360° views of mountains, valleys, small villages, and a long line of wall heading high into the hills. Some sections extremely tricky underfoot.

We start the hike not far past Chenjiapu Village, taking a short walk up a concrete road before turning off on to a dirt track that leads up a valley towards the Great Wall.

The valley is narrow to begin with, and slowly opens up to give views of Great Wall and towers on a high ridgeline.

At the top of the valley we’ll find the Great Wall, with two mostly-intact towers sited to guard a pass at a dip in the mountains.

We’ll be headed north from the dip, following a rough line of ‘wild’ Great Wall through the two towers and up to the local “General’s Tower”.

At an elevation of 1,040m, the General’s Tower has superb views of all the Great Wall in the area.

To the east we’ll be able to spot the eastern side of the Stone Valley Great Wall and possibly parts of the Badaling Ancient Great Wall; to the south we’ll see the higher parts of this line Great Wall, and, if it’s a clear day, the High Tower on a faraway peak.

Cost: ¥420 / ¥380 for members

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/1920/chenjiapu-great-wall-4/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

Hike down 'Big Cloud' Valley, climb a short, steep stretch of the Longquanyu Great Wall, and then descend into Shuiquan Canyon for a fun walk up a boulder-filled river valley.

In winter, in the valleys and canyons in Yanqing District, the streams, rivers, and any little trickles of water freeze up into slabs of ice.

As more water runs over the slabs of ice, it too freezes, and the ice expands to cover hiking trails and, in some cases, the entire valley floor. Boulders and rocks are encased in ice, and tree trunks are enveloped.

'Big Cloud' Valley is shaded by high cliffs, and it holds a small stream that flows from a spring, year-round.

In winter, that small stream freezes and expands to make something like a mini-glacier.

Shuiquan Canyon is wider, and the boulders and pools of water are larger—the pools of water freeze, and we're able to pick a path over and around boulders as we hike up.

On this hike, we'll head down ‘Big Cloud’ Valley, and then hike a short, steep stretch of the Longquanyu Great Wall before descending into Shuiquan Canyon.

Cost: ¥380 / ¥340 for members

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/1484/big-cloud-valley-and-shuiquan-canyon-winter/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

We’ll be following the White River as it winds through a deep and wide canyon with numerous forks and steep rocky cliffs, making this an extremely picturesque hike that is easy to finish.

All up, there are around eight places the path crosses the river. In summer we need to take our shoes off to wade across, but in winter we’ll be able to walk across the thick ice.

At times, the trail leads us through trees, but for most of the walk we’ll follow the course of the river. It’s flat the whole way, and the only thing that might slow us down is slippery ice.

Sometimes, we cross over ice that has frozen clear, and we can see all the way down to the bottom of the river. It’s like walking on thick glass – a little unnerving, but very pretty!

Midway on the hike we’ll stop for a quick lunch in a nice spot with rocks and (hopefully!) a bit of sun.

From that spot we’ll walk on down the river, crossing a few more times on the way to the end.

Cost: ¥420 / ¥380 for members / ¥220 for kids

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/575/white-river-ice-hike-3/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com