Beijing Rockclimbing

The roof tops of the Lusongyuan Hotel

When I can, I like to tag some personal travel onto a work trip and I was able to do that when I was in Beijing recently.  Some meetings were planned in Beijing on a Monday and Tuesday so I planned to stay the weekend before to explore Beijing some more.  I found myself a little underwhelmed by Beijing after my last visit so this was my opportunity to readdress the ledger.  After a little research I was able to get in contact with the Beijing Rock Climbing Club who had a Club climbing trip planned for the Saturday to the crags at Miyun Baihe.  It is about 120 km north east of Beijing so I packed my climbing gear so I could tag along.

Peace and quiet in the courtyard

Katie was able to find me a well reviewed but cheap hotel in a Hutong District for Friday and Saturday before moving to the more sterile environment of the business hotel near our Beijing regional office.  The Lusonyuan Hotel was a real gem.  It had a beautiful courtyard and was clean, simple and a bargain at $60 U.S a night.  

Hutong lane ways in the afternoon sun

It was great wandering around the streets looking a guitars in a cluster of guitar stores and soaking up the atmosphere.  After a walk I caught up with friend in the glitzy Embassy precinct in Chaoyangmen District of Beijing.  It certainly had a different feel than the Hutong's

A guardhouse on the Great Wall

The next day I met up with Simon, an expat Scot, who is the force behind the Beijing Climbing Club at one of a Zillion Starbucks in Beijing!  The we were joined by three other expats from Poland, Canada and the U.S..  After introductions we loaded into the car for the two hour drive to the crags past sections of the Great Wall

(Other) Chris enjoying the clean granite

We arrived at B Gorge for our first day climbing.  The girls set off with two instructors to complete their lead climbing course while Chris, Simon and I set off to find some routes.

Old sections of the Wall across the White River

The setting was spectacular and you were able to follow the shade around the ravine to avoid the heat.  The Gorge was more of a ravine with many major and minor cliff lines. The backdrop even included un renovated sections of the Great Wall so I was able to tick the Great Wall sightseeing box as well as getting some climbing in.

(Other) Chris pulling through the overlaps

The foliage was lush the sky was blue and there was an unrenovated section of the Great Wall on the hills across the Valley.  The routes were on compact, slight organge granite with a relatively fine texture, not dissimilar to Wilyabrup near Margaret River.  It was a mixture of slab, crack and overlaps so there was plenty of variation as opposed to a number of granite crags that are predominantly slab fests.

Julie enjoying a bolted 'off width' and chimney.

The majority of the routes in the area were bolted with Petzl expansion bolts and a few glue in’s.  The some of the routes could have been considered to be over bolted and there were some routes that could be climbed using trad grear that had a bright and shiny line of bolts.  A 60 metre rope seemed long enough for most of the routes. Now it is easy to get carried away with trad ethic but, as has been pointed out to me in India, in the developing world it is far harder for people to buy a trad rack but sports rack is much cheaper to fund.  As a number of climbing companies sponsor climbing communities in the developing world by providing bolts, bolting trad lines makes routes accessible to a growing climbing market.

Something pumpy Jeff was working

Simon seemed to know everyone In B Gorge and they were mostly expats of which about half were of Chinese descent.  They were really friendly and welcoming, a great group of people.  I had wanted to climb for two day but the Club trip was only for one day and Simon was returning Saturday evening.

Lunch with some pleasant guitar

Simon spoke to a few people and found a me a climbing partner for Sunday and a ride back to Beijing. Importantly, Simon also called my Beijing Hotel to organize a late check out on Sunday so now the only problem was the lack of a change of clothes and some toiletries.

The courtyard at Delai's
dinner breakfast and a bed for $14USD

Ming is a keen climber and skier from the U.S. and ran a significant import business in Beijing.  He was staying the night at Delai’s, a climber’s guesthouse in the small village of Goukou with some of the other people we had met. Dinner at Delai’s was a superb spread of simple Chinese food and a few local beers.

The view from the room at Delai's

The crowd at the hostel was like a meeting of the U.N, with Chinese, Americans, Belgians, Dutch, French and Australians.  Like most climbing haunts, people were open and the conversation was easy.

Smores and toasted marshmallow.
Not what I expected for Chinese desert

A few people were camping so we wandered down by the river to enjoy some toasted marshmallows and solve the world’s problems. It was great being out under a starry sky. All the locals said that it was the best weather of the year so far warm but not hot days with a slight breeze to drive away the ever present Beijing air pollution.

The mill...

...'and grist for the mill'. Well millet actually

The next day I wandered around the village to find some great sights.  Millet being ground for porridge on a circular stone platform and a stone grinding wheel, noodles drying in the sun and precisely planted vegetable gardens.

....terraces as a backdrop

Noodles drying with ....

The hills around the village were terraced in between the rock outcrops and the steep hills served as a constant backdrop.

Village life on a Sunday morning

Simon back at B Gorge,it was hard to
 get a decent photo at Hidden Garden

Our second day started at a new area above the village which had been developed over the previous 6 months called the Secret Garden. There were some nice routes in a little hanging valley above the village.  As with B Gorgr, it was possible to chase the shade to avoid the heat of the sun which made for a comfortable days climbing.

Jeff working a route across B Gorge 

Unfortunately, what will stick in my memory was the approach of some of the people at the crag.  Top ropes were set on routes and not moved and others were not able to access the routes to lead climb. Worse was the human excrement that was deposited around the crag some of it directly below the start to climbs.  An otherwise magnificent location was reduced to a sewer.

A wider angle of the same shot
to give some perspective

After we became too frustrated with being unable to access the routes at The Secret Garden, Ming and I headed down to the banks of the Baize or the White River to an area that I think translated to Litle Monsters.  A friend of Ming's had some ropes on two trad routes and, after wading along the edges of the swollen Baize, we were able to jump on a couple of great crack routes.

Izzy putting her new lead skills to the test

It wasn't long before we were burnt out and then we started the drive back to Beijing.  The weekend wasa tremendous success, the weather, according to the locals, was the best for the year. The rock was superb and the surroundings ann the culture were inspiring.  I will certainly pack my climbing gear if I can and I would love to be able to spend more time the next time I visit!

Just to prove I was there.
The valley with the Baize or White River