One of the "Ten Mountains of Kunming", this hike is located north of Yanzong Hai (on the way to Yiliang and the Stone Forest). It's a steep but well-maintained trail to a grassy summit, with beautiful 360 degree views down to Yanzong Hai and Dianchi Lake.
Rating
Difficulty
Distance
Elevation Gain
Strenuous--> Very Strenuous
⭐⭐⭐⭐
10.2 km
6.35 miles
+- 1,016 meters +- 3,336 feet
Trail Type
Narrow to Wide Dirt; Loop
Trail Description
This is one of the more difficult trails to get to, but it is one of the easier ones to follow once on hiking. You have to get yourself to Muxi Village 木希村 (see below), which is north of Yangzong Hai a few kilometres past the airport as the crow flies.
Once you have arrived in the village, find this traditional looking stage with a parking lot in front of it and park there (this is where the GPX begins). This is about 1 km from where the trail actually begins, so after parking snake your way through the charming little village towards the mountain. You should come out onto a concrete road like this clearly heading towards the forest.
The wooden road becomes gravel until you reach a fork with two signs detailing some conservation/forest restoration work happening in the area. This is where you will come down, so you can start here if you want, but if you want to follow our route take a right here and follow the dirt road for another .8 km or so.
Follow this road until it takes a left up another dirt road, and then take an immediate left at the two stone tablets (pictured right). This is "officially" where the trail starts.
From this point the trail is pretty straight-forward and easy to follow all the way to the summit! It starts off a fairly steep tunnel of trees with a small stream cut running down the middle. It can get pretty buggy and humid in here.
The trail seems surprisingly well-maintained through this section; there were human-made leaf piles throughout most of it, and small steps cut into the clay to help if it is slippery (pictured left).
At about 3.2 kilometers from the start of the route (the parking lot), and about 1.3 km after the start of the climb, the trail opens up above the forest to a beautiful flat section with lovely views of the surrounding countryside an the lake below.
The trail continues flat for about half a kilometer before turning steeply uphill towards the summit. The classic Yunnan Karst out-croppings with fine red clay define this part of the trail. This section is a bit of a slog, but after 600 meters you will come up onto a grassy saddle that, if it isn't windy and you have your own water, would make a nice campsite. Take a right (North) at the saddle and continue on about 500 meters to the summit.
There are a couple of nice meadows beneath the summit that are less windy and would be suitable for camping (again, no water though). Curiously, the last 100 meters of trail is roughly built concrete steps. Follow these to the top; there is a small building housing a shrine, surrounding by small gravestones. Please be respectful while enjoying the views.
Views of Yangzong Hai (left) and Dianchi (right) on a clear day.
Once you're ready to return, head back down to the saddle and continue walking south instead of going back down the trail you came up. Skirt the left edge of the smaller summit on the other side of the saddle, and follow the small trail through the pleasant fields of karst and grass. The trail is overgrown in some parts here, but still easy to follow.
After about .75 km on this trail (from the saddle), there is a fork with a trail heading up back to the west. This leads up to a beautiful little meadow (above) that would be a great lunch/camping spot. It seems like it's possible to continue following the ridge of the mountain towards the south--we didn't explore this area, but it looks promising based on the map. If you're just in for a day-hike, keep following the GPX back to the fork and keep heading down the main trail.
After another half-a-kilometer, the trail descends back into the forest, and follows a much more effectively switch-backed trail (above) for another 2 kilometers down to the road/intersection with the two signs. If you would prefer a slightly less steep trail on the way up, you can do the loop in reverse, but I prefer so save the knees with a less steep descent. Once back on the road, just follow it back to the carpark!
Getting to the Trail Head
The trailhead is located at Muxi Village (木希村) North of Yangzong Hai (阳宗海). Unfortunately there's no real way to get there on public transportation, so the easiest way is to drive. A Didi from Green Lake (翠湖) will cost around 200 one way (but getting one back might be a pain so talk to the driver about the return trip), and from Yiliang (宜良) Bus Station its about 70-90. If you can't drive, we recommend hiring a car/van and splitting the cost amongst all the passengers. Here are the trailhead locations：
Baidu Maps: https://j.map.baidu.com/a4/KQB
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/5XHNZWp8D6sSeh5V7
GPS Coordinates: 25° 0'37.00"N; 103° 1'42.11"E (25.010278, 103.028364)