Travel and Hiking

Step into the shadows of 1930s Beijing on this evening walk inspired by Paul French’s best-selling book Midnight in Peking. Follow the story of Pamela Werner’s unsolved murder, a mystery that gripped the city and revealed the darker undercurrents of its past.

In January 1937, the body of the young British woman was discovered at the base of the old city wall near the Fox Tower. Her death shocked both the foreign community and local Beijingers, sparking an investigation that drew together colonial intrigue, espionage, and the city’s underworld. Her case was never solved.

Decades later, Paul French took a deep dive into old police reports, private letters, and diplomatic archives to piece together what may have really happened. The result was Midnight in Peking—a haunting, bestselling book that reads like a noir thriller, but every word meant to reveal the truth.

Led by guides personally trained by Paul French, the walk takes you through alleys and landmarks once at the heart of the case. Along the way, you’ll uncover forgotten corners of old Beijing and hear stories that bring its history to life.

This is a different kind of walk through Beijing—one that winds through forgotten corners of the city where history, crime, and colonial intrigue collide.

Runs the last Sunday of every month
Price: RMB 398 per person
️Next tour: November 30, 2025

Follow us on Instagram: @wildchinatravel

Book via WeChat or at WildChina’s website

Jinshanling & Panlongshan Great Wall Trail takes you through two incredible sections of the Wall, showcasing its magnificence and breathtaking surroundings. This is a new-old trail.

Jinshanling is in a mountainous area of Luanping County, Hebei Province, about 2.5 hours' drive from Beijing. This section of the wall connects the Simatai Great Wall in the east and Gubeikou (Panlongshan) Great Wall in the west. This part of the wall has been beautifully restored. The main highlight is the view of the wall and its watchtowers, which endlessly tower over the tops of the mountains. An entrance fee is required for the scenic areas.

Gubeikou Panloangshan is the essence of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. This section is built along the Yan Mountains, and the Chao River, where the town of Gubeikou is, divides it into two distinct parts. It was originallynamed "Beikou", which literally means "Northern Pass","Gu" (ancient) was only added by later generations. It protected ancient China from Mongol/Manchu invasion from the north. Here, the trail winds through on the original, broken bricks, surrounded by beautiful, rugged mountains and native pine trees.

Hike Information

l Date: Nov.8th (Saturday)

l Drive time: 2.5 hours on the way there; 2 hours on the way back

l Distance: 13km

l Time to complete: 5-6hours

l Total ascent: 421m

l Total descent: 306m

l Peak: 471m

l Lowest point: 197m

【The route type】Easy hill + dirt road + restored wall

【The route description】Most section of Jinshanling is restored path. Then we arrive the old section towards to Panlongshan, most of time we walk on the dirt road. No dangerous climbing up and down. But we climb ups and downs often. It is a nice trial to combine these two sections together. When you are hiking in a different angle, you could feel the endless wall.

Notice:

1. Take at least 2-3 bottles of water

2. Bring some lunch, and some snacks.

3. Wear hiking boots.

4. More details will be posted in the group one day early before hiking.

Itinerary:

07.30: Meeting Dongzhimen subway station ;

10.00: Beginning of the hike;

12.00: Lunch break;

17.00: Ending of the hike;

19.00 Arrive back Beijing.

Activity Fee: 170RMB/person.

Includes:

Activity Price includes:

1. Transportation with a driver.

2. The main Leader: Lengzhi.

3. One day outdoor insurance.

4. Payment: transfer the fee to Mona by Wechat or Alipay after we confirm the event.

Note:

Excludes:

Jinshanling ticket fee: 55.00/person

Panlongshan ticket fee: 33.00/person (If we won't meet the guard at the Nine-eye tower, then we don't need to pay it.)

Please note:

- Do not participate if you are sick or showing symptoms of ever or couching.

- Customer service: Mona (wechat id: mona_zhangli) If you have any suggestions orcomplaint, please feel free to leave messages.

- Photos will be used in the social media platform. If you don't want to show in the picture, let us know.

Cancellation:

1. Kindly reminder: You can cancel anytime till the deadline on Friday 18:00PM. As we have to fix capacties for the bus and the guides. After deadline, we will have charge you 80% activity fee. Or you find another person not yet registered to join the hike. If your cancellation is on Saturday morning or if you are late and missed the hike, please pay 100% activity fee. We repect your choice. When you register for this activity, you accept this cancelation policy.

2. Bad weather plan:We will message you 1-2 days before the hike to let you know about theweather condition. If there is a thunderstorm, heavy rain or strongwinds it will be dangerous to do the hike in the high mountains. Sowe will cancel it or change the dates.

Join us:

Scan the QR in below to note the name of event. Then add you into the group.

A tough Great Wall hike over tricky terrain in a remote area of northwest Beijing, with a lot of ups and downs on the way to the end.

Our Chenjiapu Great Wall hike is a shorter version of this trail – on this trip we’ll do the tougher, longer route.

The Switchback

Midway through this tough hike the wall doubles back on itself in a sharp switchback, and that’s why we named this area the Switchback Great Wall. The local name is a little different: the Hunchback Great Wall!

Cost: ¥420 / ¥380 for members

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/517/switchback-great-wall-reverse/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

Hike a long section of the Jingxi Ancient Road, making a quick detour to check out the ‘horse hoofprints’, indentations left in rock by horses and donkeys carrying coal for trade.

The hike

We start off near a village that sits at a crossroads on the Jingxi Ancient Road, a network of old trails and trading routes that cross over the mountains in the west of Beijing.

After a short drive into the hills behind the village we stay on the path of the trading route, making a slow climb up ‘Flower Valley’ into the hills.

Part of the way up into the hills we’ll come to a split in the trail, and we’ll either go the steep way – a chain-assisted clamber up a cliff – or take a more meandering route around. (On this visit we’re planning to do the chains route. See some photos below.)

After the chains sections the trail flattens out, and we’ll walk up into a long valley. Near the top of the valley is a semi-abandoned village, and we usually stop here for a lunch break.

After that lunch break we’ll continue up steep trails to a pass in the mountains. On the other side of the pass is a long trail that leads down to the outskirts of Beijing city, and it’s down this trail that coal from the mountains was carried down to Beijing. We’ll do a little detour to check out the ‘ancient horse hoofprints’ (or ‘horse hoofprint-like geological features’) left by the pack animals that transported the coal.

Instead of heading straight down, we’ll add on extra distance by following a firebreak track up by one of the higher peaks in the area. The firebreak track offers long views before heading into a forested area, and it’s easy walking after a climb at the beginning. We’ll pass ramshackle buildings and stop for a break before the long, tricky walk down to finish in the village far below.

Cost: ¥380 / ¥340 for members

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/1758/jingxi-ancient-road-and-horse-hoofprints-plus-2/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

A looping walk over tricky terrain and unrestored ‘wild’ Great Wall on the west side of Jiankou, peaking at the impressive Nine-Eyes Tower.

Nine-Eyes Tower is nearly 1,200m above sea level. In its original condition it had three levels, and the lower level had nine windows on each side. It would have been an impressive sight, and still is to some extent—it’s an unusually large tower, and repairs made in 2014 show the layout of its lower level.

Around the back of the tower there are large stone tablets with carved calligraphy to look at. A spur of the wall – said to date back to the Northern Qi period (550-557 AD) – continues to head north; we’ll head west on another stretch, following repaired wall to a spot with a view of the walled army barracks and temple that was paired with the tower.

On a clear day in this spot in the heart of the mountains it will be possible to see the towers of our Great Wall Spur and Chinese Knot hikes, and the Mutianyu Great Wall, with glimpses of other sections of the Great Wall that follow nearby mountain ridges. When it’s really clear, you can see all the way back to the skyscrapers of Beijing’s CBD.

Cost: ¥430 / ¥390 for members

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/468/nine-eyes-tower-2/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

On this hike you’ll see both repaired and unrepaired Great Wall, as well as lakes, mountains, and streams.

The Lakeside Great Wall is a park area that features repaired Great Wall that both rises above and dips down into the Xishuiyu Reservoir.

Out the back of the park area is the Longquanyu Great Wall, where you’ll hike along the last part of unrepaired Great Wall in the area as well as some that has been repaired more recently.

After exploring the unrepaired wall we’ll hike back into the park area and follow the lakeside trail back to the bus. (Optional—buy a ticket for the speedboat instead of walking.)

After the hike we’ll head to a nearby village restaurant for a big hot meal and cold drinks.

Cost: ¥470 / ¥420 for members / ¥240 for kids

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/1733/lakeside-great-wall-and-longquanyu-3/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

On this hike we’ll be following what we call an ‘incense trail’, an old pilgrims’ path between temples in the mountains west of Beijing city. We call it an incense trail because many of those pilgrims would have been carrying incense to burn as an offering in the temples. The paved sections of the pilgrim’s trail date back to the Qing Dynasty, and it’s likely the trail was in use well before then.

We’ll finish the day with a visit to the one of the oldest temples in Beijing—cost of tickets included in the price of the hike.

Cost: ¥390 / ¥350 for members

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/277/walk-down-the-incense-trail-to-dajue-temple/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

A moderately difficult hike that follows a line of wild wall up to a tall tower with 360° views of mountains, valleys, small villages, and a long line of wall heading high into the hills. Some sections extremely tricky underfoot.

Cost: ¥420 / ¥380 for members

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/1920/chenjiapu-great-wall-4/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com

Visit Fangshan District for a short hike up to a hillside lookout, a big lunch at a country restaurant, and a 1.5 hour tour underground at Stone Flowers Cave.

Stone Flowers Cave (AKA Shihua Dong) is a karst cave in Fangshan District, in Beijing’s southwest.

It’s a scenic area, which means colourful lighting and good paths for walking on.

The main cave system has seven levels, and goes deep underground. The top four levels are open, and we’ll visit them all on the full 2.5km underground loop walk, bottoming out on Level 4 at 150m underground.

The top level of the cave is dry; the lower levels have drips and trickles of water, and they say there’s an underground river all the way down on the seventh level. The temperature inside the caves is a constant 13–16°C.

Down in the caves we’ll see a whole lot of speleothems: stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowstone, ‘stone flowers’, ‘crystal flowers’, shields, rimstone pools, and cave popcorn.

Itinerary

08:00 - Driving to the hike
10:00 - Start hiking up to the lookout
12:00 - Back down from the lookout, drive over to the restaurant
12:30 - Lunch at the restaurant
13:30 - Walk over to the caves and organise entry
14:00 - Start the tour of Stone Flowers Cave
15:45 - Finished the tour, driving back
17:30 - Arrive at Lido, then on to Liangmaqiao

Cost: ¥480 / ¥430 for members / ¥240 for under 18s

See a full description, more photos, and book online at https://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/1823/stone-flowers-cave-visit/

Beijing Hikers—fun and friendly hikes and trips around Beijing and greater China, since 2001.

For more updates on hikes and trips follow our WeChat account BeijingHikers北京爱山 and keep an eye on www.beijinghikers.com

https://www.beijinghikers.com / info@beijinghikers.com