A day trip out of the Beijing smog coupled with a river cruise
In 2010 whilst I was studying in Beijing, I was asked to go on a coach trip with the Aussie Embassy staff. The destination was Longqing Gorge and I must say it was one of my favourite places to visit. It’s a little bit kitschy (not surprising for lots of places in China are – but that’s what I love about the place)…and it’s truly beautiful with stunning scenery and a huge bonus…it’s a little bit cooler than Beijing because of its elevation. The gorge is located at the mouth of the Yanqing Old City River which is about eighty-five kilometres from Beijing. We departed on a beautiful day in the middle of summer and arrived an hour or so later. There were fabulous views of the Badaling section of the Great Wall along the way and I was lucky to take a few snaps out of the bus window and some when we arrived.This area is famous for its gorge but the first sight you see when you arrive is the Longqing Dam. It’s inset between hills and is around seventy metres high. To get to the top of the dam you can either use the escalator inside the body of an artificial dragon; yep thats right…inside the body of a dragon. Or you can walk up some steep steps, after which you can walk along the top of the valley …I chose the easy option and entered the dragon’s mouth to access the escalator to reach the ferry behind the dam. From the dam, you can take a small cruise boat for a short ride through the gorge. The scenery is spectacular. It is a combination of rivers and steep cliffs and bare limestone mountains in many different shapes. Truly beautiful!! The boat stops at several places and you can get off and do a bit of hiking..I didn’t!! I stayed on the boat for the whole ride, as we did a small hike from the top of the cable car station which to me was more than enough.
One sight we did see from the boat was a small house on the top of one mountain, with a cable from the house to the other mountain. And amazingly enough there was a man on a bike riding high up in the gorge on this cable – my heart was beating fast just watching him!!We then took a toboggan ride to reach the exit. There is also an option to go bungee jumping near the dam, not for me!!
In winter the gorge hosts an ice lantern festival with ice lanterns, ice carvings and snow sculptures. Unfortunately I never got around to visiting in winter but friends did and said it was great [similar but on a much smaller scale to China’s well known Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, which I did get to, up near the Russian border).
(two photos from: http://www.thebeijinger.com)
A trip that was well worth a day out – I really enjoyed the magnificent scenery and gorge..just stunning!!
joliesattic said:
Love the ice castle! Somewhere in the US, I understand they have a whole town made of ice with a bar and hotel and everything and each year it melts and it is rebuilt.
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Gary Lum said:
The scenery looks amazing. I’m still not sure I want to visit China. Every time I go to a south-east Asian country the locals assume because I look Chinese that I can speak Chinese.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Wow sounds great. I know Sweden has a hotel too but a whole town sounds incredible.
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Little Miss Traveller said:
Such stunning scenery, I’d love to take a ride through the gorge on that cable car, too and how marvellous you could see the Great Wall as you travelled along.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
You know what Gary my friend has the same issue. She was born in HK so speaks Cantonese and has been learning Mandarin and when we worked together in Beijing, the Chinese would get cross when she wasn’t fluent in Mandarin. But I do hope you get to Mainland one day.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Yep… was wonderful. Thanks Marion always for reading my posts. I really appreciate it. It’s lovely to read your comments.
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Gary Lum said:
Maybe, but I can’t even speak Cantonese even though I could as a kid. I know I could go and learn but I’m just not inclined to at the moment.
It is tempting, especially places like Beijing and Shanghai.
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Amy said:
What a awesome trip you had! Fabulous photos, Sue.
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CrazyChineseFamily said:
I could not watch that guy riding the bicycle! Just seeing videos of people on high buildings or similar makes me feel very very uneasy
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joliesattic said:
Well, I got to thinking about it and wondered if maybe I had spoken out of turn but I think it’s in Colorado where they had it, but it was many years ago and I’m not sure it is still being done. I think my friend went to the one in Sweden
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joliesattic said:
I want to say it was around Leadville Colorado? Not sure.
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Amy said:
Magnificent gorge! That guy was so brave!!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you Amy. I do love this place.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
I know it’s incredible isn’t it. Like you I presume – get butterflies in my stomach.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you for further information.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Or crazy!!! Ha ha. Thanks Amy.
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Amy said:
That too! 🙂
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vinneve said:
Wow nice there!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thanks Vinneve. Always love to hear from you.
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mavimet said:
Wow – what an amazing place to visit – beautiful!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you. China has so many wonderful places to visit.
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tayonthemove said:
Wow, beautiful scenery!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you for stopping by.
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Karina Pinella said:
I love your photos.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
That’s such a lovely compliment. Thank you. I really like your short poetry too.
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