Last week, the whole family, with the original intention of strengthening their health and enhancing their immunity, walked on foot on one of the roads of the Jingxi Ancient Road, that is, the section from Wang Ping to the Circle Gate. We took bus No. 929 from the apple garden subway station, took all the way to Wangping Village, got off at Wangping Village, crossed the bridge hole to the west, and then walked along the road in the direction of Nanjian Village.
After about 20 minutes of walking, we walked to a bend on the side of the road, where several cars were parked, many people carried plastic buckets down, and some people carried plastic buckets filled with spring water. Follow the dirt road and you'll be on foot.
People who met the spring water on the way said that this spring water can be drunk directly
The jingxi mountains, which are part of the Taihang Mountains, constitute the barrier to the west of Jingxi. The roads between the mountains are the arteries connecting Beijing with Shanxi and Mongolia. It is not clear which dynasty and which generation began, these mountain trails throughout the mountains connected Beijing, the Loess Plateau and the Mongolian Plateau, and became a channel for trade and cultural exchanges between various ethnic groups in various regions.
The Gyeongseo Ancient Road is not a single road, but a collective name for many ancient roads throughout the Jingshan District. What did these ancient trails do in the first place? The main uses are as follows:
The first is to transport coal and timber produced in the western mountainous areas to the capital. According to the Chronicle of Analysis, coal was popular in the capitals of the Yuan Dynasty for heating, so camels and horses who pulled coal to transport goods came in groups between Xishan and the capital.
The second is commerce. At that time, in addition to water transportation, there were also land routes, namely Shanhaiguan and Gubeikou, which were connected to the northeast; Juyongguan and Tianjin Pass, which were connected to Shanxi and Mongolia. It is said that when the Jingxi Ancient Road was bustling, thousands of camels and mules walked on the road every day, which showed the prosperity of that time.
The third is the incense path of burning incense and worshiping the Buddha. In the western mountains of Beijing, there are thousand-year-old temples, Tanzhu Temple and Jietan Temple, as well as the famous Miaofeng Mountain Temple Fair. In ancient times, the magnates and ordinary people in Beijing flocked to beijing and became the most lively event venue in Beijing. The more people walk, the more the road will be stepped out.
In summary, the Jingxi Ancient Road is like a tree full of branches, closely connecting Beijing with the outside world.
Waterfall in the Wangping section of the Gyeongseo Ancient Road
It seems that professional hikers call this section of huagou, and as for why it is called so, we do not know. Today, Beijing has abundant rainfall, so there are small bridges flowing water, streams babbling, and waterfalls in mountain streams one after another. Winter is so beautiful, I think summer must be more beautiful!
The small bridge in the Wangping section of the Jingxi Ancient Road flows with water
Walk on the ancient road
Our equipment is one trekking pole per person, each carrying a bag with two bottles of water and some food in each bag. A total of three bottles of functional sports drinks were brought, in addition to the large thermos cup with hot water, and there was a thermos cup with hot coffee, which can refresh the mind when tired. The whole family wore windproof and waterproof storm jackets and sneakers.
Before walking, I did a guide on an APP called "Six Feet", and some bloggers were very responsible, wrote detailed routes, and took photos at each key location point to give guidance, which provided great help to our "free travel" hiking families. This ancient trail is a simple type in the hike, but even so, considering the age of the parents, everything is safe first, and when you are tired, you should walk slowly, and do not blindly make brute force.
In fact, when we walk on the ancient road, from time to time we see different colors of ribbons tied to the branches on both sides of the road, and when we look closely, we find that this is a mark made by various outdoor sports groups, giving the people who pass by behind them the road guidance. These invisible helps are undoubtedly reassuring pills for us.
For the first half of the journey, the river is babbling
The reflection on the surface of the water is beautiful
Nice scenery along the way, stop and go, take photos. But looking at the photos sent by friends in the circle of friends, the visibility of the fog in the city is very low, but the place where we walked, the sun was shining, and the river was babbling. I felt that I was lucky and had a good weather.
West Mountain Range
After walking for two hours, we saw a round table by the river for passers-by to rest, where we had a picnic. Considering that the wild is still relatively cold in winter, I brought self-heating rice and tried to eat hot as much as possible. A box of capers, a box of fish-flavored shredded rice, and foods such as chocolate and bananas to replenish energy are also prepared.
When eating, look around, what used to be a village is now deserted. In fact, our trip felt like passing through several abandoned villages, presumably when it was prosperous, merchants and horse teams came and went, and there must have been many stations in the middle of the way for these merchants on the journey to rest and rectify.
Ancient smoke, busy trade routes, castle-building and countless legends are scattered or preserved on both sides of the ancient road, and the changes of the times and the footsteps of history are also drowned on this thousand-year-old road.
After eating, we took away the garbage, empty boxes and peels we had produced ourselves. Only by caring for the environment will nature give us beautiful scenery and let future generations continue to enjoy it.
Not long after lunch, there is another waterfall, and next to this waterfall is the first cliff ropeway.
Waterfall next to the cliff
The first cliff ropeway
My father and I thought it was fine, but my mother seemed a little scared, but she was brave and hard, and carefully climbed over. This ropeway looks very difficult, but in fact, it is good, the main short, pedaling points, coupled with iron chains and iron handrails into the stone, relatively safe. Parents walk and exercise in various parks and country parks near their homes all year round, with an average of more than 10,000 steps a day, so their physical fitness is relatively good.
Climb a stone road after the first cliff ropeway
In front of this stone staircase is the ropeway of the second cliff
Climbed over the first cliff, and it didn't take long to reach the second cliff. This one looks a little steeper than the one before. In the process of hiking, we met 4 middle-aged men, two men and two women, who returned to the second cliff and did not go any further.
The second cliff looks like it's 90 degrees, but it doesn't, and there's a feeling that a path has been carved out of the cliff. I had seen photos of hikers climbing with bare hands without chains on the Internet before, and I felt that they were really powerful. Thanks to the iron chains of the handrails now, I would not have dared to climb them. With the iron chains and the fact that there are many stones that can be stepped on in the middle, it is also very smooth to climb over.
Here to give a thumbs up to the second elder in his 60s, they also climbed over. However, here is still to remind the latecomers, must do what they can, physical discomfort, legs and feet are not good, or have fear of heights, do not force themselves. Physical fitness does not come at the expense of life, and safety is always the first priority.
Old father and old mother
Climb to the top of the old mother
Climb up and beckon after the mother
After crossing the cliff, there is a flat stone road behind it, which is relatively easy. I heard that this year there is a lot of rain, and this summer, the road ahead was flooded, and many hikers could not pass. By the time we passed, the water had receded. The visibility in the mountains is very good, I forgot where I was, and I could see the radar station at the top of the mountain in the distance.
Walking and walking, this paragraph feels a little tired
Try to walk
Keep going
Finally came to a sign that told us that on the left was Huangshigang Village and on the right was Tanwang Road. As planned, we walked a small road in The Village of Huangshigang, passed a chicken factory, and climbed all the way up. This road is not easy to walk, first, it feels dirty, wild, broken, desolate, bottomless in my heart, especially wrong. The second is that they are all trails up the mountain, with a lot of rubble and tired people. Fortunately, on this road, there are ribbon signs tied by outdoor athletes all the way, which proves that this road is right. So the three of us gritted our teeth, twisted into a strong force, and walked all the way up, and finally saw Theoguchi-an.
Mineguchi-an
The Seki Castle, built at the mouth of Mt. Fengkou'an, still exists today. On the west side of Sekijo is a flat area, which is the ruins of the Fengkou Temple hall and the Mawang Temple. Ma Wang is the god in charge of large livestock, and large livestock is the main means of transport in the mountainous area, so there are many Mawang temples in the mountainous areas of western Beijing. In order to ensure the supply of coal in the capital, the government specially stipulated that the coal transportation tax was exempted.
Not far from the Peak Mouth Temple is the Hoof Nest, the two of them are not in the same direction, and the direction of the Hoof Nest is all the way to Tanzhu Temple.
Hoof socket
How did the hoof nest on the ancient road come about? Will the stony roads really be trampled out of such hoof nests by livestock used for transport? With doubts, I inquired online, and professionals wrote: If it is only the trampling of mules and horses or donkeys, only hoof pits can be left on the dirt road, and it is difficult to wear out the dolomite limestone into obvious sliding grooves and deep pits. Perhaps many people do not know that all mules, horses, donkeys, and cattle that work long distances must be hung with iron palms to avoid excessive wear and tear on the hooves of livestock. Before the 1980s, horse-drawn carriages and pack animals were everywhere in the northern countryside, and even livestock that were just farming needed to be held. Among them, the cow hangs two double palms, while the donkey horse mule hangs a semi-circular iron palm. ”
With such an explanation, it is clear.
Another angle to shoot the hoof socket
After seeing the hoof nest, we returned to the path of the Peak Mouth Temple. Walking past, the road began to become a very wide stone road that spiraled downwards, this road is also called the ladder, I feel bad to walk, my feet are not comfortable, it is more difficult to walk than the ancient road.
Old father
Old mother
After walking for a long time, I finally came to the road down the mountain. Then walk past Lala Lake. At this time, if you continue along the road and reach the circle gate, it will take nearly three hours. Led by our father, we hiked across the ravine and passed through the ravine, saving more than an hour of time. In the ditch, we also saw a lot of ribbons tied by outdoor athletes, and it seemed that our choice was right.
Coming up from the ravine, I saw several hikers climbing another famous ladder, which was carved out of a large stone wall with no chains. Listen to the local villagers say that it is slippery. Since we were crossing the ravine, we didn't venture down this ladder.
Come down to see the ladder
Ladder
It takes 56 minutes to walk from this ladder to the circle door building, passing through Tianfuqiao Village on the way, and there is a place called "Guoyan Villa", there are homestays, conference rooms, outdoor expansion and so on, it seems that it should have been very lively, it is estimated that it is affected by the epidemic, and it feels very desolate at the moment. The street lights were on, the sky was slowly darkening, and we had been buried in the road, and we did not have a good look at the scenery on both sides. Finally, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, I walked to the circle door number building.
Along the way, we successfully completed the whole process from Wang Ping to the Circle Gate Arch. It wasn't an impromptu trip, as planned, all the points you wanted to see were seen and overall it was relaxing and enjoyable.