UPDATE 2018/05/15: Changed the date to Sunday, May 10th instead or Sunday, May 3rd.

Head out to Yunmeng Gorge for a hike-and-swim combo – perfect for hot weather!

The sandy beaches and pools of water in Yunmeng Gorge make a perfect place to picnic and swim. We’ll walk up the gorge and find a good spot, and you can take a dip in the water or follow our guides for a longer hike up into the hills.

Limited space available, sign up early!

Head out to Yunmeng Gorge for a hike-and-swim combo – perfect for hot weather!

The sandy beaches and pools of water in Yunmeng Gorge make a perfect place to picnic and swim. We’ll walk up the gorge and find a good spot, and you can take a dip in the water or follow our guides for a longer hike up into the hills.

Limited space available, sign up early!

Early start! We’re leaving early to avoid the worst of the Dragonboat Festival holiday traffic. We may still get stuck in a traffic jam at some point. Bring a book to read, just in case, and we’d advise that you don’t make any fixed plans for the evening.

Head out to Yunmeng Gorge for a hike-and-swim combo – perfect for hot weather!

The sandy beaches and pools of water in Yunmeng Gorge make a perfect place to picnic and swim. We’ll walk up the gorge and find a good spot, and you can take a dip in the water or follow our guides for a longer hike up into the hills.

Limited space available, sign up early!

Shunyi Pinnacle Plaza pickup For this hike the meeting point is at the Starbucks at Pinnacle Plaza in Shunyi If you’re not based in Shunyi but still fancy a swim, you could meet us early at Lido. Contact us for info.

On this hike we’ll take a good look around the alleys and courtyards of Cuandixia, a 500-year old Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) village that is sometimes referred to as a living museum. . We’ll first take a walk in the hills near the village, then we’ll have a big lunch, and then we’ll take a tour of the alleys, lanes, paved stairs, and courtyard houses. It will be quite a long day, but well worth it! Lunch included.

A clear stream runs through Intelligence Valley, and the surrounding mountains form a microclimate that makes this a very nice walk. It’s a flat hike, and offers some shade while hiking alongside a stream and over rocks through the valley. Near the end of the hike we’ll take a break at the Dragon Pool, where people rent inflatable boats or sometimes swim. After we’ve finished walking, we’ll stop by our farmer friend’s guesthouse for a big lunch of homestyle Chinese food – cost included in the price of the hike.

Why is this hike called Intelligence Valley? Because – it’s said – that if you walk down the valley, you will become more intelligent! Try it out, and make sure you don’t walk backwards!

Liyuan Library: just before we get into Intelligence Valley we’ll walk past the Liyuan Library, an incongruously architectural building that’s been called “the world’s most beautiful library”. We’ll stop for a 30-minute visit.