Key Staff

Gary Pinnegar

Gary Pinnegar

Founder
Gary is one of the founders of Beijing Hikers. He is British, and lived in China for more than ten years. During his stay in China Gary became a very well known hairdresser and opened several popular salons. In 1991 Gary, Huilin, and two other friends travelled from Beijing to England by bicycle, following the northern Silk Road through the west of China, Pakistan, and Turkey. It took them just over a year to get to London, with many adventures along the way. After the cycle trip Gary and Huilin came back to Beijing, and started to explore the mountain trails of Beijing by bicycle and on foot, finding many interesting places to go hiking.

 
Huilin Pinnegar

Huilin Pinnegar

Founder
Huilin is one of the founders of Beijing Hikers. She was born in China, and she met Gary in Beijing in 1989. Huilin used to be a art designer. After she came back from the tough bicycle journey from London she became a Chinese teacher at the International School of Beijing (ISB). With Gary, she explored the mountains of Beijing during the weekends, finding more and more interesting trails, and very friendly local people. After hearing about the trails and the stories from the mountains some of the ISB staff started joining the weekend expeditions, and that was the beginning of the Beijing Hikers club.

 
Sun Huijie

Sun Huijie

Organiser / Hike Leader
Huijie is the current organiser and hike leader. Huijie is a born and bred Beijing native. Prior to taking over the operation of the hiking club she was a 3D designer, and graduated from the Art and Design Academy of Qinghua University, specialising in fine-art and photography. Huijie has been the main organiser of Beijing Hikers since 2003, and has become a very experienced hiking guide after a tough training from Gary and Huilin. In 2006 Huijie organised a successful photo exhibition, featuring her own photography alongside contributions from members of the hiking club, and she plans to continue to organise exhibitions of photography of the countryside and culture of China. 

 
Yang Yanjing

Yang Yanjing

Hike Leader / Route Development
Yanjing is in charge of leading hikes and finding worthwhile additions to our already extensive repertoire of hiking routes. He has eleven years of experience hiking around Beijing and greater China, and has extensive knowledge of many beautiful-but-obscure hiking destinations. As well as ‘regular’ hiking, Yanjing has successfully completed many tough routes, including making a summit of the Haba Snow Mountain in Yunnan, and crossing the Luobupo Desert in Xinjiang (2009).

 
Paul White

Paul White

Hiking Consultant
Paul is a consultant for Beijing Hikers. Paul has been living in China for 22 years, and is a translator for the Beijing Foreign Language Publishing House. He has been hiking for a long time, and has very rich experience and knowledge of hiking around Beijing, as well as a good knowledge of Chinese culture. Paul started joining the hiking group in 2001 and he comes along on just about every weekend trip. He helped Huilin publish the book "Hiking around Beijing" in 2003. 

 
Millicent Thapa

Millicent Thapa

Hiking Guide / Business Development
Millicent (or Mill), originally from Chicago, joined Beijing Hikers after having spent 16 years living in Bolivia, Korea, Nepal, and China. An alumnus of Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership school, Mill has led numerous trips of a cultural nature across China. She has also hiked and trekked in Asia, Africa, and Central America and is certified in Advanced Wilderness First Aid. Mill can communicate in at least five languages, and her easygoing personality makes her very popular among hikers.

 
Betsy Taylor

Betsy Taylor

Naturalist
Betsy has always been fascinated by all aspects of nature and geology, an interest that has led to a career as a Naturalist. She has spent many years helping people of all ages sort out the puzzle of nature, and how it perpetually seeks to stay in balance. Betsy splits her time between Beijing and the Brookside Nature Center in Montgomery County, Maryland USA, and when in Beijing she will be accompanying us on certain hikes to help us learn more about what we see while we walk. Betsy says that hiking is a perfect way to experience nature’s wonders, and that part of the adventure in each hike is to see what pops up to investigate and explain.

 
Hayden Opie

Hayden Opie

Website Manager
Hayden is the website manager for Beijing Hikers. He is from New Zealand, and has lived in Beijing since 2004. He loves hiking around Beijing with Beijing Hikers, and sometimes, at last resort, is allowed to be the leader or tail-person on the hikes.

 
Great Wall in Yanqing County

A stretch of Great Wall in Yanqing County, Beijing.

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Weather - what's the forecast?
Current Conditions
Fair

Fair, -4°C

Sunrise: 7:18 am
Sunset: 5:36 pm
Humidity: 42%

Forecast Conditions

Sun, 5 Feb 2012
Partly Cloudy, high of 6°C, low of -7°C

Mon, 6 Feb 2012
Sunny/Wind, high of -3°C, low of -10°C

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