Liene's Adventures

While October Golden Week in China was by far not the best time to travel due to crowds, it was, however, a long holiday period. And with 5 straight days off, I was eager to find at least something fun to do. When living in the USA, every year in September and October we used to make FALL FOLIAGE TRIPS in search of colorful leaves and crisp fall weather. So, why not continue the tradition here in China as well? A quick search online revealed a name 100-Mile Sky Road and I was intrigued…  

Situated at the intersection of the Yanshan Mountains and the Inner Mongolia Plateau, the average altitude of this road was over 1,800m (6,000ft). The interesting thing about Baili Road was the dramatic change in scenery along one drive. There were enormous open grasslands; dense birch and spruce forests, and mountain ridges and valleys below. And because of its high altitude, the temperature was much cooler than in Beijing. That meant – while we still had green trees and 20C (70F) degrees outside here in the capital, Yanshan Mountains were already at their peak fall weather. 

I created a short 3-day itinerary, and on a sunny Friday morning, off we went! While the Baili Tianlu scenic area was only around 300km (185mi) north of Beijing, the holiday traffic was unavoidable. And instead of the planned 3.5 hours, it took us nearly 5.5. To break up the drive, we made a stop at one of several service areas along the expressway. Without a doubt, they were quite crowded too.

Once we reached our hotel, it was much past the time that I had initially planned. And it was too late to start any major activities or sightseeing. With that in mind, we decided to just take it easy and spend the afternoon relaxing. I was quite excited to see first bright red leaves right by the hotel entrance. Seemed like fall was indeed here!

At the hotel check-in we were greeted by a very special receptionist. This little guy seemed to be in charge here. It was all the entertainment my boys needed! The cockatiel was very friendly and sat on their shoulders and even whistled “If you’re happy and you know it - clap your hands!” I do wonder how a Chinese bird learnt this American children’s song so well?!

Once we made it to our room, we had a great view outside our window overlooking the vast Bashang grassland Horse Town.

The town here was named for its deep equestrian roots. Datan Town was one of China's towns with the highest horse population - home to over 8,000 horses. Historically, this area was a royal pasture and military horse-breeding ground for dynasties like the Yuan and Qing. 

And what other activity could you possibly do in a Horse Town if not riding horses? We could watch horseback riders go back and forth across the fields right from our room. With horse rentals right across from the street, we decided to give it a go as well. While we did ride horses in INNER MONGOLIA just a few month prior, prices here in Horse Town were 4x cheaper. An hour-long ride cost only rmb50 (or rmb70 if the horse had to be led by a guide). As we had kids with us, we chose the guided ride. And it also just so happened to be an evening with a stunning sunset!

Unfortunately, just 10 minutes into the ride I noticed that my son’s horse was limping. It was sore on its front leg and did not feel well. I requested that we turn around and bring the hurt horse back to the stable. There was quite a bit back and forth between me and the guides with them trying to say that the horse was fine and we could keep going… But being a professional horse trainer with nearly 20 years of experience, I could not be fooled. I refused to go forward and abuse the horse, and the guides eventually had to walk us back. The part that upset me was that once we returned to the stabling area, the owner came up with a QR code for the payment but did not care to even see the hurt horse. Her only interest was the payment but not the horse. Considering that we had only completed 20 minutes of our 1-hour long ride, we agreed that we would come back the next day to complete our rides (hopefully on horses that were not limping). 

It was pitch black outside already, so nothing else was left to do. And it was getting quite chilly. So, we were quite happy to return to the hotel where my kids decided to do the clay figurine painting.

It was an activity that was included in our stay, and in the corner of the lobby there was a shelf with all sorts of inspirational “artwork” that visiting kids had completed over time.

Our day 2 of the trip was all devoted to visiting the Sky Road. Opened to the public in June 2023, the road had become a major driver for local tourism and a destination for those seeking nature. Unlucky for us, Saturday brought in a serious cold front and the temperature never reached much past 5 (40F) degrees that day. Besides, it was also predicted to be very overcast with occasional rain showers. Those were not ideal conditions for scenic driving, but those were the cards we were dealt with, so we were determined to make the best of it. 

Originally, I was quite concerned about driving directions and knowing where to turn, but I have to say that information signs pointing drivers in the right direction were literally at every intersection! They had really made sure people did not get lost on this 100-mile road!

We purchased a combined ticket at the South Entrance Gate and started our visit with a drive through Qiansongba National Forest Park. "Qiansongba" (Thousand Pines) was named for the tens of thousands of ancient spruce trees growing in its valleys. Its Yunshan (Spruce) Forest is the largest and best-preserved original spruce forest in North China, with an average tree age of around 280 years. While I had a longer hike planned here, the chilly and drizzly weather did not leave much choice but to just go for a short walk instead. 

Another notable feature of the forest were wetlands and birch groves. With their bright white trunks, they created quite spectacular scenery.

Unfortunately, we also noticed that most of the leaves had already fallen. It was much past the peak foliage season here, which likely occurred at least 2-3 weeks prior. By now, most of what we saw were brown dead leaves or trees with no leaves left. While somewhat disappointing, there was nothing we could do about it.

Once we completed the Qiansongba Forest loop, we finally headed up and up and up onto the 100-mile Sky Road. With most of the colorful leaves gone, we now switched our attention to the mountains and valleys, and whatever scenery presented itself around the next bend.

It was a very twisty and bendy road occasionally going up and down some very steep grades. However, the park employees had done a great job at building many pullouts and lookout platforms for visitors to stop, admire the scenery and take photos safely.

The whole route was split into 3 sections: South Gate to Exit 1; Exit 1 to Exit 2; and Exit 2 to North Gate. Those who were short on time or just did not want to complete the whole distance could drive just one of these sections. But as we had a whole day at our disposal, we completed the whole route from South to North. 

While the 1st section of the route was very mountainous with open grasslands, the 2nd section of the road was dotted with wind turbines. We even had to drive directly under some of them! 

And I just could not believe how fast the weather kept changing up here. We would get everything from black storm skies to sunny blue skies all within 10 minutes! That was crazy to me! And as if that wasn’t enough, at one point the temperature dropped to 2 degrees (34F) and it started snowing! There were snow flurries accumulating on the roadsides. My kids already started discussing snowboarding and skiing… While I started getting a little concerned about this type of weather up in the mountains, it passed as fast as it came. 

In the lower valleys we could still see a little bit more color. And if there was a patch of trees with some colorful leaves still clinging on, everyone stopped and gathered there to get their “fall Instagram shots”. 

In the valley grasslands we also noticed some horses. There seemed to be no fences or enclosures. They just roamed free. I’m sure they belonged to somebody, but today was their lucky day off, I guess. 

And just nearby, my attention stopped at a bush of bright red berries. With white birch trees in the background, it looked almost like a piece of art! 

And speaking of berries, one of our favorite drinks here became buckthorn juice. Bright orange and thick as a nectar, it had a pleasantly sweet taste. These drinks were sold in all local shops. And we saw buckthorn bushes growing all around! 

Slowly but surely, we had made our way into the 3rd section of the drive. This area was not quite as “wild”. The roadside fields here had been turned into farmlands with wheat and corn. The grains had now been collected, so all that’s left were stems of crops looking like golden carpet. 

Another prominent feature here in addition to the wind generators were solar panels. 

And our “wildlife count” here included horses, cows and sheep.

Overall, I would say that sections 1 and 2 were the prettiest and section 3 could be skipped if one was short on time. It was more of an insight into rural farm life of China than a scenic mountain drive. Although hawing nowhere else to be, we did enjoy driving it and took our time. 

I think this drive would also be very pretty in late spring and summer with green rolling hills and wildflowers all around. 

By the time we returned to the hotel, it was too late to go horseback riding, so we decided to postpone our ride to next morning. With our Roku refusing to connect and internet not working, it was a family book reading evening! Peaceful and quiet with wind howling outside our windows.

As we woke up the next morning and looked outside, there was snow on the cars! Not much, but enough to accumulate on the windshields of parked vehicles. And it was even colder than yesterday with temperature barely reaching above freezing. 

We had to check out of the hotel this morning, so if we wanted to complete our horseback ride, it was now or never! This time, the horses were healthy and sturdy, and we set off across the field. The kids covered their faces with hats because the wind was ruthless and nippy.

Small snow flurries danced all around us. The guide offered to take our family photo before turning around to go back to the barn.

We walked back to the hotel to warm up a little, pack our bags, grab hot coffees for the road and set off for our drive home. As we left Horse Town, mountains around us were covered with a thin, white blanket of snow and the car’s thermometer showed 2 (34F) degrees outside. 

Just 3.5 hours later as we approached Beijing proper, the thermometer had climbed to 24 (74F) degrees and we passed a section of the Great Wall atop lush green mountaintop. Amazing how just a 300km (186mi) distance could create such a vastly different landscape.

 

*An important point to add is that term “Horse Town” also doubles as a name for a large (ticketed) equestrian-themed outdoor tourist resort (in the middle of Datan Town / Horse Town). The resort is massive, spanning roughly 17,000 acres. It features the Royal Stables showcasing rare horse breeds, amusement rides, restaurants, and interactive street performances. The resort is also known for its various daily shows – from horse and riding demonstrations to battles and cultural performances. All horse and Silk Road themed. And while I was looking into visiting the resort, in the end, I decided against it - partially due to weather and partially due to the fact that we wanted our weekend to be nature-themed rather than running from one show to another, from one roller coaster ride to another… Maybe another time!