MiaoFeng Mountain 妙峰山

Over the last week or so, Beijing has been blessed with a string of warm, sunny, clear-for-Beijing blue sky days. Sunday was one of those amazing days, so Brendon, Ally, and I headed out to find a reported hiking spot at MiaoFeng Shan. At 1291 meters, it is the nearest 1000-meter + mountain to Beijing. I have since learned the area is known for rose bushes and a temple at the top of the mountain.

At the last stop on the subway line, "Apple Park," we found neither anything resembling and apple nor a park, but there were plenty of ruddy-faced drivers with dodgy little mini-vans eager to take us for a ride. When they told us there was no bus to our destination, we figured they were just trying to trick us into accepting their services, but after about 25 minutes of waiting, some Chinese students confirmed we really did have no choice but to hire a driver.

We hopped into the rattling silver "bread van" of a guy who didn't harass us too much but confidently proclaimed he knew where to take us to climb the mountain at MiaoFeng Shan. The scenery was pretty along the way - although the roses weren't in bloom, the hills were covered in new blossoms of some light lavender-colored flowers - but we were surprised the driver took us to the top of the mountain to begin our "climb."

When we arrived, we found the peak of MiaoFeng Shan has suffered what seems to be the fate of all Chinese scenic spots: a gate, a parking lot, a hefty 30-RMB ($3.75) entrance fee, a bunch of hawkers selling incense sticks, and a loudspeaker. Brendon observed that modern China seems to believe anything and everything can be improved by paving.

The driver was bewildered when we turned our backs on the park and struck off toward a path on the untamed slope of another peak. A few moments of explaining that we didn't come to take our picture in front of the sign on the top of the mountain, but rather to exercise and enjoy the fresh air didn't seem to clear anything up for him, until another Chinese driver in the parking lot said the magic sentence, "Foreigners are like that." Ah. Of course.

In fact, the path we found had also fairly recently been paved, we think to bring equipment to a small construction project we saw at the top. There weren't many people around, however, and the view was wonderful, so we had a really good walk.

At the top of our peak, we ran into a young Chinese group hiking with huge backpacks. They told us they were only walking for a day, but they were carrying the large packs because they were "in training." One of my Chinese teachers explained it was probably military training: first-year university students all participate in one month of compulsory military training. My teacher remembered the training was basically all physical training, without a classroom or political component. After Tiananmen Square, the requirement was one full year of military training, but it has since been reduced to one month. The purpose of the program seems to be to promote patriotism, self-discipline, and defense education. A 2005 survey by the China Youth Daily reported 69% percent of students described it as a "worthy and unforgettable experience," while 20% described it as "useless, boring, and meaningless."

We didn't take many pictures, but you can follow the link below for a few. This one shows me with the patriotic and self-disciplined Brendon Schvetz.

4/22 Miao Feng Shan Hiking