Dr. Mark Nan Tu

Located in the HuaiRou district, YouGuShengTan is by the side of the National highway of 111 some 70km from downtown Beijing. YouGuShengTan is a valley with dense forest. There is a creek that follows the valley. One can walk a few kilometers in by following the trail in the valley to reach a near 100 meter water fall. YouGu in Chinese means a quite and secret valley. ShengTan means the divine pond.

I visited YouGuShengTan in December 2006. Because of the cold winter, there were no visitors in the park. The water in the creek was frozen leaving the ice sheet reflecting the glow of the sunshine. Winter is not a pleasant season to hit the national forest as the tree leaves were dropped.

I went to visit the YouGuShengTan today. I took the JingCheng express way to reach HuaiRou. There were very few cars on the road. After exiting the JingCheng express road, I took the National highway 111. Before long, I was on the entrance to YouGuShengTan.

The entrance fee is a steep 30RMB. I believe that this is a privately operated scenic spot as the entrance fee is higher compared with those charged by the nationally designated parks. Since I arrived at about 4pm in the afternoon, there were fewer visitors. The trail in the bottom of the valley was well maintained and clean. The forest was dense which reminded me of that forest in the Guangdong province (southern China). The water in the creek was low. But the reservoir at the end of the valley was filled with water.

The trail was a very easy walk. The only difficult part was the 100 meter climb to the top of the water fall. There was a reservoir which held all the water there. Because of this, there was no water exit and no water fall. The water was tranquil. The shadow of the mountain, blue sky and the white cloud reflected in the water. A very peaceful and relaxing picture.

I felt that this valley is best suitable for the lovers for the following reasons:
1: The trail is easy and well maintained.
2: It is less visited
3: The forest is dense and the deep valley gives visitor a somewhat secret sense.
4: There are many rest areas along the trail, perfect place to sit and talk.

I returned back from the reservoir as it was getting dark. According to the map, there were at least a few kilometers more to walk. The tail was supposed to reach the peak of a mountain. I could only imagine the view from the top. I took out the GPS and it showed: 116:41:08 E 40:31:35N and 581 meters above sea level. Time: 2008 May 31st 17:17:35pm

On the way back to Beijing, I stopped at the HeFangKou Guan which was a guarding station of the Great wall. From the viewing platform, I could see the ruins of the Wall winding through treacherous mountain, disappearing into the distance.

I saw many fruit stand along the newly build road in HuaiRou. I stopped the car and planned to buy some watermelon. I found out that the price is actually higher than the supermarket just across the street from my apartment. The complain of a customer over the weight of her melon put an end to my buying impulse.