Bijiashan Park

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Since I'd been feeling a bit under the weather, a nice and easy relaxing stroll/hike was what I needed and Bijiashan Park fitted the bill nicely. It was a short hop on the subway and and about a ten minute or so walk from the subway to the park's (east?) entrance. I passed an abandoned apartment complex that was getting ready for demolition, I would have loved to have had a look around and get some photos, but it was all boarded up and there were a few security guards looking after the place. At the entrance there were lots of nicely shaded places for people to sit and relax. I had read that there was a small hill to hike which offered some views of the city, so I followed the signposts for that. I think it was the Shu Xiang Path that I walked along. The trail started off gently and there was a lot of tree cover making it nice and cool. The path wound its way around the base of the hill before the steeper steps started. I passed a few people on the trail, luckily it wasn't too busy. The trail split into two; one path had a pavilion a few steps away, but since there was a woman in their warbling her head off, I opted for the other, quieter path. Since it was a bit steeper, I stopped along the way, sitting on a wall, alternating watching a little lizard scuttle about and reading my book.

The trail wasn't too long and it came out at a clearing where it split again, this time for the two peaks of Bijiashan. I opted for the one on the right first. I think this was Bi Guan Peak. The steps were steeper here and I took another rest along the way. On the way up, I got a peak at the city through a gap in the trees. I was a bit surprised that the peak area was so big. There was a lot of seating and multiple viewpoints. The first viewpoint gave me some great views of the city's skyscrapers and the mountains behind them. From the next viewpoint, I got more of a close up view of the city below smaller apartment buildings in the foreground, roads choked with traffic, and high rises being constructed. There was a viewing platform just below, so I headed down to that to get even better views. There was a large oval shaped piece of construction happening, it looked like it could be a stadium, but it is probably another mall. The last viewpoint didn't have the best views as there was only some housing and it was obscured by the trees a bit.

I headed back down the stairs and along the path to the other peak, which I think was Bi Jun Peak. There was a road which I think was leading up to the peak, but I spotted a trail signposted so took that. It was quieter and there weren't too many steps. In fact, quite a few less than the previous peak. It was a bit smaller and more crowded at the top. There was only one viewpoint that offered some nice views of the city, but I preferred the other peak. I snapped a few photos before picking a set of stairs to head down. There were multiple routes up and down from the peak and none were signposted. I made it down the steps fairly quickly, the path was quiet and there wasn't much to see on the way down, just a couple of glimpses at the view. I saw a signpost for the lake in the park so headed in that direction. The lake was quite pretty and looked a lot like the one in Lianhua Park, in fact I was convinced that I must have stumbled into that park as it was close by. However I checked my map app and found that I was still in Bijiashan Park. I took a walk around the edge of the lake. I loved the low hanging tree branches that had twisted over the path making a canopy. After my walk around the lake, I decided to head to the exit as the park was busy. Finding the exit proved a lot more difficult that I anticipated. I missed the first exit as my map app didn't have me in the right location. I ended up in the adjacent park, Central Park. I found the exit from there, but was on the wrong side of the road and after a failed attempt at walking along it (there was construction and the path just petered out) and retracing my steps, I headed over the footbridge and eventually made it to the metro station.

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Comments

[RENanDREW]

Escape park
We've had our fair share of parks and gardens where we've struggled to find the exit. Not a fun activity when you've decided to leave and are then forced to keep walking for ages and ages (and it's even more irritating when the reason you're leaving is to find a toilet!) :( :)

[Zephyr]

Trapped
The exits really should be clearly signposted. And I agree it's even worse with the extra pressure of needing the bathroom or on a time crunch.