Weekender: Retreat from the Rat Race at The Brickyard

Weekender: Retreat from the Rat Race at The Brickyard

Robynne Tindall, Contributing Editor | Dec 8, 2015 10:00 am | Add a comment | 2981 reads

It can be hard to find the motivation to get out and do anything other than hibernate on your couch bingeing on Netflix during the Beijing winter. However, a recent staycation at The Brickyard Retreat showed me that sometimes all it takes is a little motivation to get off your ass, wrap up, and get out there. With its location in Beigou Village near the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, The Brickyard is the perfect base for a weekend of exploring the wall and the surrounding countryside. Pick a weekend when you can reliably predict one of Beijing's clear blue wintry days and get ready for some stunning views.

The partners who founded The Brickyard and its sister properties have been heavily involved in the local community around Mutianyu for two decades. They opened their first property, The Schoolhouse, in 2005 in Mutianyu's abandoned primary school buildings. They came across the site of The Brickyard in 2006, when it was still being used as a smoke-belching factory producing the glazed tiles you see gracing the roofs of temples and imperial buildings. The team behind The Schoolhouse/Brickyard are committed to working with, and using resources from, the local community, and as such The Brickyard preserves much of the original structure of the former tile factory, and the interior incorporates elements such as shards of the colorful glazed tiles and slate floor tiles from Huairou. As much as possible of their food is sourced either locally around Beijing or from further afield in China – honey from Tianfuyuan village down the road, home-grown vegetables, coffee from Yunnan – and just 10 percent of the produce they use is imported.

The Stay
My first thought on entering my superior queen room (from RMB 1,280 per night) was, "wow, this is so much warmer than my apartment." Those that fear a winter trip to the Great Wall will be chilly can check their fears at the door. Rooms are homey rather than luxurious – this is an eco retreat after all – although we found the simple design to be quite stunning. This retreat-vibe means that rooms are phone and TV free, although there is free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel.

A couple of things to note (not necessarily criticisms, I should add, but still worth noting): In the superior queen and deluxe queen rooms, the toilet/shower area is divided from the bedroom by just a chest-height brick wall, no door – perhaps not the best thing for that first weekend away with a new lover. Additionally, the double height picture windows are curtain-free, which means you'll probably be up with the dawn, although they have thoughtfully provided eye shades for those who want to sleep late.

The Food
Meals are taken in The Lodge, a cozy hall with accompanying fireplace. Breakfast, which is included in the room price, is more than adequate, including both Chinese options such as congee and tea eggs and western options such as scrambled eggs or yogurt and muesli. I would have liked to see a bit more fruit on offer, but considering their commitment to local sourcing and the fact that it was November when I visited, the lack of fruit is understandable.

The Lodge also offers simple meals at lunch and dinner (you will most likely end up eating dinner here as there aren't exactly a wealth of options nearby, particularly in winter). The food is unlikely to blow you away, but the comfort food options such as pasta or fried rice will fill you up after a day hiking on the wall. Drinks are surprisingly reasonably priced – wash down your meal with a very serviceable glass of red wine for just RMB 33.

The Experience
As you'll see below, unfortunately the weather was uncooperative on my visit, but I nevertheless decided to venture out for a quick hike in the morning. Hikers will be pleased to know that The Brickyard not only have maps of Beigou Village and the surrounding area marked with simple hiking trails, they have also started offering pictorial guides to some of the more popular hikes, accessed via QR code. I tried out Hike 8, a not too challenging route that takes you up through the village and onto the Great Wall via a deserted watch tower - a great way to avoid the crowds over at the main section of Mutianyu. Hiking advice aside, staff were generally very helpful and spoke a good level of English.

The Brickyard is currently promoting an overnight packages, including private transfers from/to Beijing for two people, a superior queen room, dinner, and breakfast for two in the Lodge for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

Disclaimer: I was a guest of The Brickyard Retreat. The photographs of the property were provided by them because when I visited the weather looked like this: