Last week, with the original intention of strengthening health and enhancing immunity, the whole family walked one of the roads of the Ancient Beijing West Road, which was the section from Wang Ping to Quanmen. We took Bus No. 929 from near Pingguoyuan Subway Station, all the way to Wangping Village, got off, crossed the bridge hole west, and then walked along the road in the direction of Nanjian Village.

After walking for about 20 minutes, I reached a corner on the roadside. There were several cars parked there. Many people walked down with plastic buckets, and others walked up with plastic buckets filled with spring water. Follow the dirt road and you will enter the hiking journey.

The people who met the spring water on the way said that they could drink directly from the spring water

The mountains in western Beijing are part of the Taihang Mountains and form the barrier in western Beijing. The roads between the mountains are the arteries connecting Beijing with Shanxi and Mongolia. It is difficult to tell from which dynasty to which generation, these mountain trails spread over mountains connect Beijing, the Loess Plateau, and the Mongolian Plateau, and become channels for commerce and cultural exchanges between various regions and ethnic groups.

The Ancient Jingxi Road is not a road, but a collective name for many ancient roads throughout the Xishan District of Beijing. What were these ancient roads for in the first place? The main uses are as follows:

The first is to transport coal and wood produced in the western mountainous areas to the capital. According to records in the "Xijin Annals", coal was popular for heating in the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, so camels and horses carrying coal and goods traveled in droves between the Xishan Mountains and the capital.

The second is commerce. At that time, in addition to water transport, there were also land roads, including Shanhaiguan and Gubeikou, which were connected to the northeast; Juyong Pass, which was connected to Shanxi and Mongolia; and Tianjin Pass, which was connected to the Ancient Road of West Beijing. It is said that when the ancient road in western Beijing was bustling, thousands of camels, mules and horses walked on the road every day, which shows the prosperity at that time.

The third is the fragrant way of burning incense and worshipping Buddha. In Xishan District of Beijing, there are thousand-year-old temples Tanzhe Temple and Jietan Temple, as well as the famous Miaofengshan Temple Fair. In ancient times, dignitaries and ordinary people from the capital flocked to it, becoming the most lively venue for activities in Beijing. As many people walk, the road will be stepped on.

To sum up, the Ancient Beijing-West Road is like a big tree full of branches, closely connecting Beijing with the outside world.

Waterfall at the Wangping Section of the Ancient Road in Western Beijing

It seems that professional hikers call this section of flower ditch, but we don't know why it is called that. Beijing has abundant rainfall this year, so there are small bridges and flowing water, gurgling streams, and waterfalls in the mountain streams one after another. Winter is so beautiful, so summer must be even more beautiful!

Waterfall at the Wangping Section of the Ancient Road in Western Beijing

The small bridge and flowing water in the Wangping section of the Ancient Road in West Beijing

Walking on the ancient road

Our equipment is a climbing pole for each person, and each person carries a bag. Each bag contains two bottles of water and some food. I brought a total of three bottles of functional sports drinks. In addition, there was a large thermos cup with hot water, and there was also a thermos cup with hot coffee to refresh my mind when you were tired. The whole family was wearing wind-proof and water-proof jackets and sneakers.

Before walking, I made a guide on an APP called "Six Legs". Some bloggers were very responsible, wrote detailed routes, and took photos at each key location to give guidance. This gave us this kind of "free travel" hiking families have provided great help. This ancient road is a simple type among hiking routes. However, considering the age of your parents, safety comes first. When you are tired, walk slowly and don't blindly use brute force.

In fact, when we walked on the ancient road, we saw ribbons of different colors tied to the branches on both sides of the road from time to time. When we looked carefully, we found that these were signs made by various outdoor sports groups to give people passing by behind guidance on the road. This help undoubtedly gave us reassurance.

For the first half of the journey, the river was gurgling all the way

The reflection on the water is very beautiful

The scenery along the way is good, so I stop and stop and take photos. But looking at the photos posted by friends in the circle of friends, the visibility in the city is very low, but where we walk, the sun is shining and the river is gurgling. I felt that I was lucky and had a good weather.

Xishan Mountains

After walking for two hours, we saw a round table by the river for passers-by to rest, and we had a picnic here. Considering that it is still relatively cold in the wild in winter, I brought self-heating rice and tried to eat it warm. A box of sour bean rice with minced pork, a box of fish-flavored shredded pork rice, and foods such as chocolates and bananas to replenish energy were also prepared.

While eating, look around the environment. It used to be a village, but now it is abandoned. In fact, we felt like we had passed through several deserted villages on this trip. Presumably, when we were prosperous, merchants and horse horses came and went here, and there must be many stations halfway through for the merchants on these journeys to rest and reorganize.

Ancient beacon fires, busy commercial roads, building cities and guarding borders, and countless legendary stories are scattered on both sides of the ancient road. The changes of the times and the footsteps of history are also submerged in this thousand-year-old road.

After the meal, we took away our own garbage, empty boxes and peels. Only by caring for the environment can nature give us beautiful scenery for future generations to continue to enjoy.

Not long after lunch, there was another waterfall. Next to this waterfall was the first cliff cableway.

Waterfall by the cliff

The first cliff cableway

My father and I felt fine, but my mother seemed a little scared, but she still bravely, worked hard, and climbed over carefully. This cableway looks difficult, but it's actually okay. It's mainly short and has many treading points. Coupled with the iron chain and iron handrails driven into the stones, it's relatively safe. Parents walk and exercise in various parks and country parks near home all year round, with an average of more than 10,000 steps a day, so their physical fitness is relatively good.

In front of this stone step is the cableway on the second cliff

After climbing the first cliff, I didn't walk long enough to reach the second cliff. This one looks steeper than the one in front. While hiking, we met four middle-aged people, two men and two women. They returned home at the second cliff and stopped walking forward.

The second cliff seems to be 90 degrees, but in fact it is not. It feels as if a road has been carved on the cliff. I previously saw photos on the Internet of hikers climbing with bare hands without chains, and I felt that they were really amazing. Now thanks to handrails and iron chains, otherwise I wouldn't dare climb. With the iron chain and the many stones that could be stepped on in the middle, he climbed over it smoothly.

Here, I want to give praise to the two elderly people in their 60s, and they also climbed over. However, we still need to remind those who come after us to do what they can. If you are unwell, have poor legs and feet, or have fear of heights, don't force yourself. Physical fitness does not come at the expense of life, and safety will always come first.

Old father and old mother

The old mother who was climbing to the top

Mother waving after climbing up

After crossing the cliff, there is a flat stone road behind it, which is relatively easy. I heard that there is abundant rain this year. This summer, a section of the road ahead was flooded, and many hikers couldn't get through it. By the time we passed by, the water had receded.

The visibility in the mountains is very good. I have forgotten where it is, but you can see the radar station on the top of the mountain in the distance.

Walking and walking, I feel a little tired this time

strive to be

keep moving

Finally we reached a sign telling us that Huangshigang Village on the left and Tanwang Road on the right. According to the plan, we took a small road in Huangshigang Village, passed a chicken factory, and climbed up all the way. This road is not easy to walk. First, it feels dirty, wild, dilapidated, and desolate. I have no confidence and am very afraid of taking the wrong road. Second, they are all trails up the mountain, with many gravel and tiring people. Fortunately, there are ribbon signs tied by outdoor athletes along this road, proving that this road is right. So the three of us gritted our teeth, worked together, and walked all the way up, and finally saw Fengkou Nunnery.

Fengkou 'an

The Guancheng built at the mouth of Anshan Pass in Fengkou still exists today. On the west side of Guancheng is a flat land, home to the Fengkou Temple Site and the Mawang Temple Site. Ma Wang is the god in charge of large livestock, and large livestock are the main means of transportation in mountainous areas. Therefore, Ma Wang temples have been built in many places in Xishan District of Beijing. Fengkou Anguan City was originally a tax collector on the ancient road. In order to ensure the coal supply in the capital, the government specially stipulated that coal transportation tax should be exempted.

Not far from Fengkou Nunnery is Hoo Wo. They are not in the same direction. If you go further in the direction of Hoo Wo, you will find Tanzhe Temple. We met a young man in red here. He said that his hiking route was: Juanmen-Tanzhe Temple-Fengkou Nunnery-Juanmen. How amazing!

hoof nest

hoof nest

How did the hooves on the ancient road come from? Can such hooves really be trampled on by livestock used to transport them on stone roads? With doubts, I checked the Internet, and a professional wrote: "If only the horny skin of mules, horses or donkeys stomped on it, it would only leave hoof pits on the soil road, and it would be difficult to wear out the dolomite limestone. Obvious sliding grooves and deep pits. Perhaps many people don't know that all mules, horses, donkeys, and cows working for long distances must be hung with iron palms to avoid excessive wear on the hooves of livestock. Before the 1980s, there were carriages and pack animals everywhere in the northern countryside, and even just farming livestock needed to be taken care of. Among them, the ox hangs with two pairs of palms, while the donkey, horse and mule hangs with semicircular iron palms."

With this explanation, it became clear.

Hoof pits taken from another angle

After seeing the hooves, we returned to the road at Fengkou Nunnery. Walking over, the road began to turn into a very wide stone road that spiraled downward. This road is also called a ladder. I felt difficult to walk on, it hurt my feet, uncomfortable, and more difficult to walk than the ancient road.

old father

old mother

After walking for a long time, we finally reached the road at the foot of the mountain. Keep walking and pass Lala Lake. At this time, if you continue to walk along the road and reach the circle gate, it will take nearly three hours. Under the leadership of our father, we walked across the ravine and passed through the ravine, saving more than an hour. We also saw many ribbons tied by outdoor athletes in the ditch. It seems that our choice was right.

Coming up from the ravine, I saw several hikers climbing another famous ladder. This was a large stone wall with stone steps cut out without chains. I heard from the local villagers that it is slippery. Since we crossed through the ravine, we didn't risk climbing this ladder down.

The ladder you see when you come down

ladder

It takes 56 minutes to walk from this ladder to the circle door building. On the way, you pass Tianfuqiao Village. There is also a place called "Guoyan Villa". It has B & Bs, conference rooms, outdoor development and so on. It seems that it used to be very lively. It is probably Affected by the epidemic, I feel very desolate now. The street lights turned on and the sky slowly darkened. We had been immersed in our journey without taking a good look at the scenery on both sides. Finally, I walked to the bus stop in front of the circle door building at around 5 p.m.

Along the way, we successfully completed the entire journey from Wang Ping to the Quanhao Building. This was not an impromptu trip. According to the plan, I saw everything I wanted to see. Overall, it was relaxing and enjoyable.