A relaxed outing featuring strolls in two mountain villages in Beijing’s west mountains—one village with courtyards and temples, the other with walls and large Great Wall towers.
Lingshui Village
Lingshui Village is also known as “Scholar’s Village”, because of the relatively large number of residents who passed the Imperial Exams.
The village is a compact collection of courtyards—some large, some small, some newly-repaired, and some falling down due to neglect. There are temples on the north, south, east, and west edges of the village, and a tall mountain looms over the west side.
We’ll do a walking tour of the village, starting with Wenchang Temple and Kuichang Lou and looping around to visit Immortal Mother Temple, Fire Dragon Temple and some of the other interesting locations, including several trees that are 1000 years old.
Yanhe River Fort
Thick walls encircle a village that was a Ming Dynasty fort, sited on the bank of a river that flows through to Beijing city.
The fort garrisoned soldiers who guarded the passes that lead through the mountains to Beijing, with the ancient path by the river being one of the easy ways through to Beijing from Hebei.
The walls were built in 1578, and the fort was used from the Ming Dynasty into the Qing Dynasty.
Yanhekou ‘Two Towers’ Great Wall
Not far from the fort are the ‘Two Towers’, and we’ll climb up to take a look at both of them.
The towers are sited at the end of a narrow gorge that held one of the ancient paths through the mountains, and their size makes them appear absolutely dominant. The two towers are both fully intact, and appear to have had only minor repairs done. Stairs in each of the towers lead up to the roof, and some of the original mantles and drains show special touches with carved designs.
Cost: ¥450 / ¥405 for members / ¥240 for kids
See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/2155/lingshui-scholars-village-and-yanhe-river-fort/
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