Lianhuatan Village is a small settlement on the southern edge of a basin in the line of mountains between Beijing city and Yanqing District.

The village sits in a flat area surrounded by fields, with the basin opening up in the north to the Guanting Plain.

Behind the village, to the south, are forested hills and valleys, with streams and trickles running down from the catchment of the higher mountains beyond.

We’ll be hiking up into those hills and valleys for a walk that explores the forests and streams in the area and to visit one of the local attractions, the huge ‘One Ribbon of Sky’ boulder. We might even be able to grab a coffee at the Cat Club Coffee Forest*.

* Possibly misremembering the name of the Cat Club Coffee Forest, but there’s a little hut by a stream where they sometimes set up a coffee machine, and there is definitely a forest, so …

The Cat Club Coffee Forest* is part of a development plan in the area. There have also been steps and tracks cut into the hills, and in general the hiking trails here are easy going.

The hike

After driving out through the mountains we start the hike on the road that leads up to the village.

A concreted farm track takes us through the fields and down into a valley hidden amidst taller hills. We’ll walk a little way down the valley, and then take a turn to follow a stream up into a pine forest.

The pine forest is cool and shady, and a soft track through the trees makes the hiking easy.

After a quick hop up some rocks we’ll arrive at the Cat Club Coffee Forest*. Again, we’ve possibly got the name wrong, but it’s a little camping area by a stream in a forest. There are some fancy shelters and a little hut where coffee and drinks are sold … sometimes. On our scouting trip we found the coffee hut staffed, but the gentleman on duty that day said that sometimes the shop people show up only if they feel like it.

From the forest we’ll continue on a good trail that goes up the hillside and over, with steps cut in the steeper parts.

The trail leads through lower hills to the ‘One Ribbon of Sky’ boulder, crossing the hill, going down the other side, and coming out of a valley just below the huge boulder.

The boulder is cracked down the middle, and when you’re in the middle of the cleft ‘one ribbon of sky’ is all you’ll see when you look up. It’s quite a sight! The gap between the two halves/pieces of the boulder is high – 4-5 metres, probably – but it is also skinny, with a width of 50-80cm for most of the path through.

We’ll hike up the steps to the observation deck, and then squeeze out through the gap in the rock.

To finish the hike we’ll follow a track down the valley a short way before looping around into that same valley we hiked down at the beginning of the hike. We’ll follow that valley all the way back to the start—an easy walk that’s mostly flat.

‘Little Loop’

If you were thinking that ‘Little Loop’ implies the existence of a Big Loop, then you are correct! We’ll be doing the Big Loop another day.