Full Moon over the Silver Pagodas, 2015/8/29
Photos from our night time visit to the Silver Pagodas.
Were you on this trip? How did you like it? We'd love to hear from you.
• Send us feedback • Review it on TripAdvisor • Share this page on Facebook
Hiking at night is something you don’t get to do every … day? We keep an eye on the moon phases, and always try get out for a night hike when the full moon falls on a Friday or Saturday. It’s always a great feeling to walk by the light of the moon, and strolling around at night you get to see yet another side of Beijing’s countryside.
This time we thought we’d see what the views were like at night from the viewing platform atop the mountain behind the Silver Pagodas. To begin with, the views were not so good!
We started off walking through Longevity Village just around the time the villagers were cooking dinner.
Out the back of the village is the trail that leads up the back of the Silver Mountain, first passing through fields and orchards before getting really steep on the way up to the top.
We don’t always have great luck with the weather on our night hikes, and as we approached the peak the moon was still hidden behind the clouds. But just as we were starting to give up hope, the clouds parted and the moon came out. Phew! What kind of full moon hike would it be if we didn’t see the moon?
Our next stop was the Silver Pagodas, a quiet site that’s even quieter at full dark. After a quick look about, we walked on through the hills to finish with a stroll out the main street of another little village, finishing the evening with some snacks and drinks before heading back to Beijing.
Ready to start the walk down to Longevity Village.
We decided to walk down here instead of driving, worried that we were going to finish the hike before it got dark!
Down into the village.
Flowers by the road.
The name of the village is carved into the tablet.
Flowers in the village.
More flowers.
Almost sunset.
A grinding stone in the village. The donkey-prints in the mud show it’s been used recently.
The sun is disappearing.
The donkey has finished work for the day.
The practice of pollination.
A quick break before the big climb up to the peak. Still not quite dark!
Pink flowers.
Now it’s dark!
The patterns in this rock look like a big eye. The lines in the top show where parts of the rock were chipped off to make paving stones for the road to the old quarry.
The moon finally appeared.
Photo time on the lookout platform at the top of Silver Mountain.
The stairs down from the top were tricky without light.
A stupa at the pagodas.
One of the pagodas.
Time for a group photo.
Another shot of the full moon.
After the hike we set up our picnic table for snacks and drinks.
Beer and snacks by torch light.