Silver Pagoda Loop
Follow a trail through the Changping countryside, passing villages, quarries, and a local shrine on the way to the Silver Pagodas, a set of five well-preserved 600-year-old pagodas that are all that remains of a big Buddhist temple. Includes a post-hike lunch at a countryside restaurant.
This hike is not currently scheduled
We start off with a walk through a small village, stopping for a quick look at a 300-year-old performance stage and a temple. The houses in the village are mostly built from granite – likely sourced from a nearby quarry. After walking through the village we’ll follow a slowly ascending path through the countryside, passing an isolated shrine, fields, and concrete water reservoirs as we circle Silver Mountain.
The path takes us into a small village on the other side of the ridge, and we’ll follow dirt streets through its outskirts, walking past donkeys and old stone houses on the way to the chestnut orchards behind the village.
Around the hill behind the village we’ll find what’s called the “Valley of Mercy”, and this is where the path starts to get a lot steeper, heading past more quarries and following a hillside trail up to the top of Holly Mountain. The valley is not too merciful to the legs. It’s quite a good climb!
Towards the top we’ll find the Silver Pagoda park trail, and climb its steps to the viewing platform at the top. We can look down on the pagodas from there, and will have an unobstructed 360° view of the surrounding mountain peaks and countryside.
From the top we’ll follow the park trail down to the pagodas, passing the Bell Pavilion, the Waist-Turning Pagoda, the Preaching Platform, and other spots used by the monks and nuns when the temple was still active.
The temple site dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), with the pagodas built in the 1400’s. The silver bells of the pagodas used to ring in the breeze, and are the source of the name of this peaceful spot. The temples are long gone, burned during war.
After we’re done looking about the pagodas, we’ll follow a nice trail through the hills to finish the hike.
COVID-19 and participation precautions
The current precautions are minimal. Please read in full here: Operating hikes under COVID-19 precautions
