Lily Village to Flower Wood
Hike the hills of Huairou, passing orchards, fields, reservoirs, and small villages. Shunyi Pinnacle Plaza pick up available
This hike is not currently scheduled
Holiday traffic: There’s a chance we’ll get stuck in bad traffic at some point during the drive, and we might be back to Beijing later than estimated. We’d recommend not making fixed plans for the evening, just in case!
Get a close-up look at small-time daily life in the Beijing countryside on a walk that passes by small settlements, cabbage and corn fields, chestnut orchards, and little Lily Village. This is an easy hike, suitable for sporty kids and casual hikers – a little bit of climbing, but mostly flat – a good introduction for beginner hikers.
We begin this hike at Lily Village, first taking a look at the town square to see if their little market is in action, and then head uphill on a dirt path through the villagers’ chestnut orchards. The trail is a slow climb that takes us up on to a ridgeline. We’re aiming for a big pine tree on the ridge, where we’ll find a shrine to the Tiger God.
The next part of the hike is the trickiest, following a slightly slippery and rocky trail down the other side of the hill. This trail gets a little bushy at times, so best to cover up with trousers and long sleeves for this hike.
On the way down we’ll have great views of the countryside, and if it’s clear enough we’ll be able to spy the Huanghuacheng Great Wall way off in the distance.
After getting to the bottom of the hill the trail is pretty much flat for the last four kilometers, a nice area for a slow stroll through the countryside. Dirt trails take us down a valley between taller hills, passing through chestnut orchards on the way to Flower Wood village.
Flower Wood village is a little larger than Lily Village, and is a good example of a modern settlement in the countryside, with tidy houses and concreted streets. Whenever we pass through we meet friendly villagers amazed that we like walking in the hills for fun!
We finish the hike by walking through Flower Wood village and out to the main road where we’ll find our bus.
Shunyi Pinnacle Plaza pickup
We had to cancel the Shunyi Pinnacle Plaza pickup because of the Car Convention—too many cars, too much traffic.
What to bring on this hike
- Lunch to eat
- Sun protection: long-sleeved shirt, hat
- A bottle of sports drink with salt content (Gatorade, Pocari Sweat)
- Good hiking boots
- (Click here to read our full What to Bring on a Hike list)
Reasons you might not like this hike
COVID-19 and participation precautions
The current precautions are minimal. Please read in full here: Operating hikes under COVID-19 precautions
