Take a Spiritual Hike to This Mountaintop Taoist Temple
With travel outside of Beijing still difficult (if not impossible for many), there’s an outbreak of cabin fever going around. However, if you look hard enough, there are plenty of lesser-visited spots to explore on the outskirts of Beijing that offer a little taste of the further afield that we’re all missing right now.
Yaji Mountain's twin peaks rising above the countryside
For example, in recent weeks, we noticed pictures of a mysterious mountain-top temple start cropping up on our WeChat moments, and our interest was piqued. It turns out this new Dianping favourite is Yaji Mountain (丫髻山 yājì shān), a Taoist holy site located on a mountain (really more of a hill: its peak is 368 meters above sea level) in Pinggu District, about 80km west of central Beijing. The mountain's Chinese name literally means "girl's hair bun," since the two peaks are said to resemble the hair buns that female children in ancient China would wear.
The two Taoist temples at the top were originally built in the Tang and Ming Dynasties, respectively, although they have since been rebuilt. The Ming Dynasty temple was a popular site of pilgrimage for the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors during the Qing Dynasty, hence the yellow tiles that decorate the roof — reserved for buildings frequented by the emperor. The temple on the western summit is dedicated to 碧霞元君 Bìxiá Yuánjūn (literally "goddess of the blue dawn"), the goddess of fertility and destiny in Taoism.
The temples themselves are fairly standard in architecture, but the mountain-top setting sets them apart
The climb to the temples is only around 2km, but it's mostly steep stone steps, so how long it takes to get up there will depend on how fit you are and how long you spend browsing the temples on the way — it took our moderately fit group just over an hour.
There is supposedly a shuttle bus that takes you two-thirds of the way up for RMB 50, although we weren't sure where to catch it. To get back down, you can either retrace your steps down the stairs or follow the paved road the shuttle bus takes (look for the sign saying 摆渡车站 bǎidù chēzhàn).
There are no restaurants at the scenic spot, so it's best to bring your own lunch, although there are shops selling water and ice creams on the climb up.
Starting the 800+ step claim to the top
The scenic area is fairly remote, but can be reached by public bus in around 2.5 hours: take bus number 852 from Dongzhimen to 官庄路口 Guānzhuāng Lùkǒu station, then change to bus number 郊82 (Jiāo82) to Yaji Mountain station (丫髻山站 yājì shān zhàn)*. However, for ease of travel, we recommend either hiring a private vehicle or traveling with a tour group — travel agencies such as Horizon Travel (WeChat ID: H18811052299T), FCN (WeChat ID: foreignerandchina), and Beijing Hikers (beijinghikers.com) all offer tours. We visited with Horizon Travel, which cost RMB 180 including private bus transfer and English-speaking guide. Entry to the scenic spot costs RMB 50 per person.
*bus routes correct at time of going to press
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Images: Robynne Tindall
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