Yungang Caves

Board the overnight train to Datong in Shanxi Province and spend the next day visiting the Yungang caves. While there, check out the other attractions in the area before heading back to Beijing at the end of day by soft sleeper.

Time: October 29

Cost: 920 yuan (US$113.50) including two overnight sleepers, local transportation, tickets, standard meals and tour guide.

To sign-up and more information, contact Lucy at lucy@highclub.cn or 86-10-85805080.

Mountain hike

The trail starts from the north of Black Mountain in between north Beijing's Changping and Huairou districts. It follows a farm trail through chestnut orchards up to a ridge. It is a perfect place to stop and admire the panoramic view with the Black mountain behind you and the Great Wall in front.

Further on, the trail leads to a village built inside a barracks originally built for soldiers guarding the Great Wall.

The structure is interesting and villagers have formed the width of the barracks wall into vegetable gardens.

The whole hike takes around three hours to cover the seven-kilometer track with an elevation of 300 meters.

The descent is a bit bushy so long trousers and sleeves are recommended.

Time: 8 AM to 5 PM, October 23

Cost: 200 yuan (US$25) for adults, 150 yuan (US$18.50) for under-12s. This covers round trip transport, water, snacks and beverages after the hike and a professional guide.

Meeting place: 8 AM in front of Starbucks at Lido Holiday Inn, Jiangtai Lu, Chaoyang District

To sign-up (at least one day before the hike) and for more information, contact Huijie at info@beijinghikers.com.

Taoist tourism

Wang Yi'e, chief editor of China Taoism, the academic monthly of the Chinese Taoism Association, will guide the tour at the White Cloud Monastery, (Baiyunguan), and explain the meanings of the complex statues of spirits and deities.

Baiyunguan is the largest and most popular Taoist site in Beijing, serving as an active place of worship, an ancestral shrine, a reliquary, and as headquarters for the Chinese Taoism Association. The existing temple buildings date back as far as 1706. Until its recent restoration, the site had been used as a barracks.

Time: 2:30 to 5:00 PM, October 22

Cost: 60 yuan (US$7.40)

Location: At the entrance of White Cloud Monastery, Baiyun Lu, Xicheng District

Tel: 86-10-84572772

(China Daily October 21, 2005)