How to get there:
There is a ticket office and gate at location N40.55088, E117.49186 (south entrance),
the admission is CNY 108, but people above 60 years of age are free,
thus only my driver had to pay.
Route description:
From the parking near the top, a pretty long staircase
heads uphill on the left
side of the buildings. Take this, you will get to a small viewing area where
the staircase turns right in
order to access the highest point. The walk way
ends directly in front of two nice looking rocks.
The top of these
rocks is the highest point, perhaps about 2 meter higher than the flat area just
before. The Chinese authorities have put up some signs (in Chinese) and a red
plastic "fence" indicating that the cliffs are off limits. They also have
a few cameras directed at this area. It is highly likely that this mountain had
higher ground before the construction was done.
An information sign at the
top explains that the elevation of the mountain
is 2118 m. This sign also explains several more facts about wildlife, plants and
the eco-system in the park.
Comments:
After a very successful month in Mongolia, I decided to take advantage of the new
system in China that allows up to 6 days of transit time between flights. I left
my hotel in Ulaan Baatar Wednesday morning (Septemeber 4th.) and took a 2 hour flight
to Beijing. The immigration was reasonably smooth, such people always ask questions
about hotels, so I was happy that I had already reserved a first night in the town of
Xinglong.
With the help of my Chinese friend Steven, a car with driver had been booked up front.
Thus, I quickly connected with Mr. Li, he would provide transport for my entire 5 day
visit. We next drove to Xinglong, this took a few hours, arriving there shortly after
1800.
Arriving at the hotel, they say I cannot stay here? They already charged CNY 270 for
the room to my credit card. What a bad way to run a hotel! My driver started looking for
an alternative. My reservation (confirmed) said: Xana - Deluxe Bed Room. free WIFI, free
parking. Hmmm. It turned out that this (and most other hotels) did not have a permit
to receive non-Chinese guests. It is hard to understand how professional hotel booking
agencies, like Agoda, can fail to follow these regulations. Anyway, we needed to look elsewhere
but the next hotel, one level up in price/standard had the same story.
The solution ended up being a room, actually a small single room apartment, in a big high rise
building. Mr. li would pay (someone?) directly, we just took the elevator to floor 7, found the
agreed room number and retrieved a door key under the door mat. The room was ok, however
the bed one of the "stiffest" I have ever slept in. It felt like concrete just covered with
a sheet.
Mr. Li showed up as agreed, precisely at 0700 and we drove to the Wuling Gate. It turned out
that they opened at 0830, so about 40 minutes to wait. Tickets were needed, Yuan 108 for
Mr. Li, while I was free due to my "advanced age". (The age limit is 60 years.)
We next drove the paved road with several switch back turns to the parking area on top. I was
worried that the highest point would be inaccessible, when observing a lot of
antennas and buildings, however, fortunately, a walk way had been established that by-passed
the buildings and actually led to the high point.
Arriving there less than 10 minutes after leaving the car, it still turned out that the very
highest cliff had been closed off by the Chinese. This, most likely just as a safety precaution.
I looked around, noticed the surveillance camera pointing directly at me, but still decided
to quickly cross the closed off area, make 2 steps onto the rocks, then touch the top "head over"
by my hand, before quickly returning to the "legal side" of the closure.
I had calibrated my Garmin GPS back down at the parking lot. The elevation
measured at the top was 2117m, in close agreement with the official
elevation of 2118 meter, most likely recorded at the top of the cliffs.
Mr. Li also arrived and we
both took some pictures of the views before returning back down
to our car.
Our next plan for the rest of the day, would be to drive across to the small village
at the foot of Xiaowutai Shan,
my next ultra goal, with a planned ascent ther following day.