This is one of the hikes we were doing earlier in the year, when everywhere else was closed during the big lockdown. In the last week we’re seeing villages and some of the scenic areas close down again, which means this hike is making a little comeback!

This hike follows part of our old "Woodpecker Trail and the Pagoda on the Rock" trail, but with the village on the other side of Phoenix Ridge closed to visitors we're only able to do the part of the hike that stays inside the park area. The park area contains a network of paved trails that pass by old shrines, caves, and precariously-perched pagodas. We'll follow the park stairs up to the ridge to take a look at the "Flying Stone Pagoda" perched at 728m above sea level, and then come back down a different path across the slopes.

Super guide Millicent suggested this as a good hard Level 3+ hike (i.e. almost worth a Level 4 rating) with some extra views of frozen waterfalls in one of the valleys.

We mentioned it was an old hike of ours. How old? You can read a 2007 write up of Woodpecker Trail hike on china.org.cn, featuring a short interview with Huijie.