The Great Flood
Follow a hiking trail that joins two river canyons, crossing at a pass in the Miyun mountains.
Booking info
Saturday, June 24
¥390 / ¥350 for members
Pay on the day of the hike. More about payments
If the village at the start of the hike won’t let us by we’ll do the hike backwards.
Dragon Boat Festival holiday—we might run into bad traffic on the way to and from the hike, and may get back fairly late.
We almost named this hike "The Goat’s Trail" after the many herds of goats we saw while scouting the route. Along the way we will pick a path up a bouldery canyon, follow rivers, climb a steep valley, walk through grassy meadows, and see a village that was abandoned after a particularly large flood and is now being resettled.
We'll start from the Bai Village in Miyun, and hike up a big canyon. In the past this water coming down the canyon must have been very powerful – the dry riverbed is wide in places, and there are a lot of big boulders and steep drops. A stream still runs down the middle of the riverbed through most of the year, and it would be quite hard to follow our trail after a big rainfall.
After thirty to forty minutes of walking we will leave the river and head uphill on a valley trail. From here until the pass through the saddle at the top of the mountain we'll be in prime goat-spotting territory, a popular place for the shepherds to bring their herds because of the thick grass and foliage in the valley.
Trail washout—a big rainfall in the summer of 2022 made a mess of this part of the trail. We found it passable, but slow going in a few places.
The climb is quite steep in places, and we will stop for a rest a few times on the way up. The trail is well-shaded by all the leaves of the trees, but it gets bushy and humid in summer.
Once we reach the saddle we'll head down the other side of the mountain to Duijiahe Village. This side of the mountain is quite different to the other side – it’s not as bushy, and looks more like pasture. There are still plenty of goats on this side, as well as a very small quarry. Several unsplit boulders remain in the quarry and we can see on them evidence of the technique used to break off slabs for building walls and houses.
The trail through the pasture leads to the riverside village of Duijiahe. Duijiahe was a small settlement, and was abandoned after the flood destroyed the road. For a long while it was inhabited by just one man and his dogs.
Repairs to the road were made in 2010, and it's now possible to drive a small van all the way up to the village. A much better state of affairs than before, when it was only possible to deliver supplies by donkey.
After a look around the village we'll follow the river downstream to our finishing point. As we walk we'll see evidence of the flood – washed-out roads and bridges, and eroded cliff sides. We'll also be able to see Great Wall towers on the cliffs and ridges, including the Round Tower from one of our other hikes. There is also a cliff where we sometimes see people abseiling down a waterfall.
COVID-19 and participation precautions
The brief version:
- Please DO NOT participate if you are sick or showing symptoms of fever and/or have an elevated temperature, or have been in close contact with someone who was/is.
- You MUST agree to the mitigation and prevention measures outlined here and that Beijing Hikers will not be held responsible if any participants become sick.
Please read in full here: Operating hikes under COVID-19 precautions
