Miyun Meander

It never occurred to me that a simple trip to Miyun District to write and take photographs about autumn fruit-picking might turn out to be one of my most delightful outings of the year. But by the time I'd settled on the No. 6454 train to return to the city, it had become a trip I would likely never forget.

The trip had been planned as a one-day excursion, but not being a morning person, I suggested to my colleague Rocky Li that we leave the night before and stay in a farmer's house in the countryside. After some queries, Rocky found a house in a courtyard in Miyun's Shitanglucun, a village located near the northwestern end of Miyun Reservoir, where we could stay. The farmer/proprietor assured us that the train was the best way to get there and that he would meet us when it arrived.

So on a Thursday afternoon in mid-September we bought two 9 yuan (US1.20) tickets on the No. 4449 train to Shitanglucun at a ticket booth outside the Beijing North Train Station (Beijing Bei Zhan) in Xizhimen, just east of the impressive Beijing Subway Line No. 13 station there.

I couldn't help but think that anywhere in the United States–my home country–the Beijing North Train Station would long ago have become a hot tourist attraction, perhaps even a "working" transportation museum of some kind with an old train outside for kids to climb on. It is certainly a quaint station. After our 4:30 p.m. departure in the rain, it was the same almost all along the way as our local train stopped at various old but serviceable stations with names like Qinghuayuan, Shahe, Changping and Beizhai before heading into the mountains and tunnels of Miyun.

As promised, Zhang Guomin, our host, met us at the darkened Shitanglucun Train Station (as he does with all his guests) at about 8 p.m. Fortunately, he'd brought a flashlight so we could make our way through the darkened station, out its backside and safely down a stone staircase into the village below. Other than the occasional yip of a spoiled house dog, the village was so quiet you could hear raindrops pattering on things metallic here and there during our short walk to Zhang's home.

After dropping our gear in our room, we waited in the metal-roofed outdoor dining area for the meal the family cooked for us, despite the late hour. We watched television as we waited and then dined in the courtyard garden, surrounded by roses, egg plants, red salvia, pepper plants and cabbage (baicai) plants. Later, overstuffed and settled in my bed, I fell asleep listening to a steady rain beat upon the metal roof outside our dry and cosy room.

Up early the following morning, I walked around the flower-festooned village. Many of the residences there were marked with Beijing Tourism Administration placards such as "Host Household for Folklore Tours" or "Demonstration for Ecology Tourism of the People's Militia." At least one was marked as a "Miyun Folk Custom Pub," alas, a pub I had no time to visit. At the north end of the village was a new, traditionally styled community centre and garden, primarily used as a meeting place for the village's elderly residents.

After a quick breakfast, Mr. Zhang took us up into the hills on trails overlooking Shitanglucun. We passed wild Chinese dates at trail side and waded through rain-soaked, waist-high grass getting to the mountainside orchards where lizi (chestnuts) are grown. We joined Zhang in collecting fallen lizi which had been in season since mid-September and would continue to drop until about the first of October. Zhang said some of the trees that spread over us were more than 200 years old.

Crossing the railroad tracks that bisect Shitanglucun and again passing through its train station, we took a break at the Zhang's home. Here he helped us hire a minivan (15 yuan or US$2) for a quick trip to Heilongtan, a scenic area in the high mountains at the far northwestern end of Miyun Reservoir that overlooks the Baihe (White River) that flows into the reservoir. The road is not numbered on maps, but heading northward from Miyun Town, it is the road that passes through Shichengzhen and winds its way north and westward past Heilongtan and other scenic spots before ending at G111 (National Highway 111) on the west. This has to be one among the most scenic drives in the world.

But our target for the day was the Tongtianpu waterfall that crashes into the Luoyantan pool at its base inside the Heilongtan area.

A steady rain and unexpectedly cool humid air meant there were few visitors to the area that day. It is somewhat remarkable for a tourist spot in Beijing, because it is so natural. It appeared that the park's planners had done about as much as possible to make the natural area accessible to the public, without destroying its natural appeal. The problems with providing public access to natural wonders raised by Edward Albee in his book Desert Solitaire came to mind.

After completing our mission to photograph the waterfall, we left the natural area, took a break from the steady rain and dined on fish at a restaurant near the park's front gate. Here again, we ate mostly alone, looking down on the Baihe Valley below and at old guard houses of the Lupiguan Great Wall in the distance.

After lunch, we crossed the Baihe in our hired van heading east to the Jiupinxiangli Caizhaiyuan (Jiupinxiang Pear-Picking Garden) on the slopes north of Miyun Reservoir and just south of a section of the Great Wall. Though the sign on the garden is not false–there were many varieties of pears in evidence (which should be ready to pick just about now)–there were also lizi, persimmons, pumpkins and other treasures that were just a few weeks away from maturity. About a dozen families make their living off the fruit of this valley, including the family of Guo Ruidong, a farmer who pointed out chestnut trees that were more than 300 years old and who explained the lizi culture to us.

Surprisingly, Guo said the lizi that he and his mother were gathering that day were bound for markets in Japan, which glaringly illustrated how even the most remote of Chinese farmers are being incorporated into the global food market.

Actually, there was too much to see in one day. Exiting the pear-picking garden, we encountered the Bai Yihua Martyr Cemetery Park on the other side of the road, a memorial to the anti-Japanese war hero Bai Yihua of the People's Liberation Army. But a visit to this site overlooking a valley would have to wait for another day.

Having scaled three large hills in mountainous areas, and with fading light and a steady rain, we made our way back to Shitanglucun, settled our account with Mr. Zhang and headed to the local train station for our departure. The return ticket to Beijing cost 8 yuan (US$1.06). Departing at about 4:30 p.m., we were able to see some of the scenery we'd missed in the rainy darkness on the way up to Shitanglucun.

The local colour provided by some elderly women singing songs from the Chinese Revolution at the other end of our hard-seat train car and their happiness with whatever it was that they'd been doing before they got on the train was "frosting on the cake" of an unexpectedly pleasant journey to Miyun District.

Early October is an excellent time to head to the mountains of Miyun to pick all kinds of fruit, but especially pears and apples, to climb mountains in its scenic areas and to sample fish dishes such as kaoyu (often barbecued trout) or any one of a variety of fish soups, both served with yecai (wild vegetables).

As we departed the mountains, we saw that the fall colour was beginning to reveal itself in the mountains' vines and sumac, but also in the water plants lining the area's streams.

If you are looking for something different in Beijing tourism, Miyun in October is the place where you want to be.

 

Note: BTM editor Rocky Li contributed to the story.

 

Note: Carry your favourite drinks and snacks with you on the 3.5-hour trip. Only basic services are available on the hard-seat only train. A small flashlight is very useful upon arrival. And, although taking the No. 4449 Train to Shitanglucun is the most convenient means, there are alternatives.

To Drive: Take Jingshun Lu to Shunyi Town, then continue to Huairou Town–Miyun Town–Xiwengzhen–Shitanglucun.

Bus: Take bus No. 987 or 980 to Miyun Town, then hire a taxi to Shitanglucun or hire a van in advance to meet you at Miyun Town.

 

Farmer's Home: Guomin Nongjiayuan

Address: Shitanglucun, Shichengzhen, Miyun District

Tel: +86 10 6102 5138

Mobile: +86 13716533723

Contact: Zhang Guomin, Wang Guiping

 

From Shitanglucun to the Heilongtan scenic area:

15 yuan for a single-trip

 

Heilongtan Natural Scenic Area

Address: Shichengzhen, Miyun District, Beijing

Tel: +86 10 6901 6268

WWW: www.bj-hlt.com

Tickets: 36 yuan per person

 

From Heilongtan to Jiupinxiangli Caizhaiyuan:

About 20 yuan for a single-trip (you negotiate this price)

 

Jiupinxiangli Caizhaiyuan:

Address: Hebeicun, Shichengzhen, Miyun District

Tel: +86 10 6102 5509

Contact: Guo Ruidong