After breathing in bad air for several days, I thought it’s proper to go out and explore the city. I joined a trip organized by Foreigner China Network (WeChat: foreignerandchina) to the iced waterfall attraction in Taoyuan Xiangu scenic area (桃源仙谷冰瀑) in Miyun District. on January 21. For a cheap price of RMB 100, I got a round trip bus ride, a bottle of water, and insurance for the one-day travel. Lunch wasn’t included so it was a good thing I brought bread and snacks, though FCN gave us some chocolates on the way to Taoyuan.
The trip to the area lasted more than 1.5 hours, with some 20 minutes at a petrol station. It’s not a long drive though, and while on the way I saw how Beijing infrastructure (paved roads, long bridges, and expressways) mixed with stunning yellow mountains, leafless forests, and humble abodes of locals.
A huge slab adorned with Chinese scriptures and a landmark greeted us as we walked to the entrance. There’s a small food stall that sold instant noodles (what a perfect treat during that freezing day!)
The first attraction to see is the frozen walkway near one of the three icefalls. The frozen walkway looked like a small part of the ice castle in Frozen. Inside, it’s quite narrow but I saw smooth icicles against hanging roots.
A 5-minute walk after it brought us to the next attraction: the biggest icefall in the area where mountaineers climb. Its base is littered with huge chunks of ice which seem to have fallen from the icefall itself. When the sun doesn’t directly light the base, the icefall looks dreamlike with deep blue hues.
On the right side of the base is a two-way entry to the mountain top. The difficult entrance covers more than 300 uneven steps while the not-so-easy one is a metal stairway connected to the side of the mountain. Up there we enjoyed clear skies and did a group-fie!
The main attraction is about 1.5km away from the mountain top. On the way there, we saw a small hut with an archery range, whose owner offered us a bow with 10 arrows for RMB 20. It’s quite fun though it’s so difficult to stretch the bowstring.
The way to the main attraction is not that difficult to hike, and it’s enjoyable especially the mountainside is really gorgeous. At the entrance of the icefall are a frozen spa-sized pond and mountainside stonework. The main part of this icefall is directly away from the sun, so it looks amazingly mystical. The way back was the same, and that time, we trid descending through the metal stairway near the top of the second icefall.
The whole hike is about 3.5km and is quite easy to do (with extra caution needed when climbing and descending the mountain near the second icefall) that kids will surely enjoy the fascinating scenery.
Travel essentials and notes:
- Wear warm clothes and bring gloves as the way to the attractions can be really cold.
- Bring packed lunch and/or instant noodles (you can get hot water from the small food stall).
- Mobile signal on the way to the main icefall can get spotty.
- Entrance ticket is RMB 45 for adults and RMB 23 for students/children.
- The travel information center was closed during my trip. Expect that it will still be closed for the CNY holiday.
How to go?
- It’s possible to bring a car to the scenic area, but we suggest contacting FCN for travel group trips. FCN will specify the meeting place on a group chat.
- It’s also possible to take the bus to the area, but I have not directly seen buses on the route. We’ll update the article once we get the full transport information.
This is an edited version of my article that originally appeared on beijing-kids.com. More of my stories here. Follow me on Instagram @coolkidandy
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