"Miyun - Gateway to the Mountains" Miyun by mke1963

Miyun is actually a fairly nondescript town, 70km north-east of Beijing, and with little of obvious merit to warrant stopping there.

However, Miyun is the gateway to the eastern parts of the mountains that pass to the north of Beijing, from the deep, cool valleys of the rivers that feed Miyun Reservoir (where Beijing's drinking water comes from) to the high passes at Gubeikou and Simatai, where the Great Wall is spectacular.

The authorities in Miyun have spent a fortune on ladscaping the river that runs through the town, damming it up so that the wide river bed is always full of water. In the past, it was simply a wide gravelly river bed. Now, both sides are lined with landscaped gardens with some - ahem - interesting sculptures, including many of the cutsey animal sculptures found in parks all across China.
At the weekends, newly-weds can be seen posing for photographs in front of life-size deer and horses.
Small boats can be hired on the different levels, as the river is now really just a succession of lakes.
Just to the north of Miyun is the huge double dam wall of Miyun reservoir. It is not possible to get to anywhere near it for security reasons though.

To the north of Miyun, the S205 road runs deep into the mountains, and it s possible to see parts of the Great Wall. This is a 'weekend economy' area of Beijing, like the area around Huairou and Huanghuacheng, with many restaurants and cafes and the dreaded 'touristic facilities' that are so loved by municipal planners in China.
However, the scenery in this area overpowers any attempts by man to ruin it, and the road (being resurfaced and widened in September 2004) takes you deep into the real mountains, with spectacular views, isolated, friendly villages and great hikes.
You might come to Beijing for the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, but a day trip out here to Beijing's unknown mountainous hinterlands gets you into the real northern China.

• Pros:Remote, peaceful valleys and mountains
• Cons:Nothing really!
• In a nutshell:Great walking and camping country