Shidu Nature Park
Shidu Nature Park
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About
Shidu is famous for its beautiful natural scenes, river activities, fresh air and cool temperature. If you are looking for a place to do rock climbing, kayaking, caving or hiking, this is the place for you!
Duration: More than 3 hours
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4.0
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Windixon
Toronto55 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2011 • Couples
Shi Du is a mountainous and rural area approximately 90 kms southwest of Beijing. The Juma River cuts through the area. Shi is number 10 in Chinese and Du means port or “Port where you get the ferry.” From my research, there were originally only 10 ports in Shi Du, hence the name. (Yes, that was profound.)

Several sources report that Juma was as a once raging river and boats were the only safe means to cross the river. In the modern era, the Juma River is gentle and disgustingly polluted in spots. I doubt it was more than four or five feet deep in the areas where we were on it. The ugliness of the Juma River is the only blight on what is otherwise a very beautiful area. Also, in an era where bridges span the river, “Du” can now be reinterpreted as a place where you can get a bridge to the other side of the river. As the area has started to attract tourists, there are now 17 Du (17 bridge crossings) in the area, with probably more in the planning stages.

Shi Du is often referred to as, “The Guilin of the North” because it has a lot of natural beauty and karst-like mountains that make it look like Guilin. My wife and I had the pleasure of visiting Gulin / Li River in 2010 and Shi Du / Juma River in 2011, and it is fair to say that, “Guilin of the North” is a very apt name. The Shi Du area is strikingly beautiful and a splendid place for nature lovers to spend a day or more. The Shi Du area probably gets less rain than Guilin /Yangshuo, and the plant life isn’t quite as lush or overwhelming as it is in Guilin, but in many ways, the two areas look and feel very similar.

The Summer Tourist Train:

My wife and I visited Qi Du (the seventh crossing). We arrived at the Shi Du area by a tourist train. Getting reliable transportation information about Shi Du is frustrating at best. For every site that said there was a summer tourist train, there was another that said it was discontinued. At least during July 2011, the train was operational.

The train that we took left the Beijing West station in the morning and a train makes a return trip back to Beijing. In July 2011, there were no afternoon or evening trains either way. Our one-way ticket was 14 RMB, which we purchased in the main Beijing [train] Station which has a fairly well marked Beijing West [train] Station ticket booth near the entrance/exit doors. Like all train trips, you can only buy your tickets 10 days in advance. There are many online references to other trains leaving for Shi Du, but you probably can only verify this by going to the station cited (which is a pain) or by visiting a good ticket agent.

The train to Shi Du was the oldest (and slowest) train I have ever been on in China because it took two hours to complete the 90 km distance. Nevertheless, the train was comfortable and relaxed – quite friendly because everybody was heading out on vacation. The train stopped in Shi Du (the 10th Du), where we had to jump about 1 metre onto the tracks, and I had to lift my wife up and over a 4 foot retaining wall and up an embankment.

After talking to a tout on the train, we decided to take a black taxi (non registered) from Du 10 to Du 7 which was our destination. I have heard so many nightmare stories about black taxis in China, but this one worked out well in spite of our ignorance. Like all rural areas in China, English is non-existent in Shi Du. We could have taken the bus to Du 7 as well. I would think that the bus (or private car) would be the most common choice for non-Mandarin speaking visitors arriving from Beijing. More on buses later.

The tout lead four of us to a well dressed man driving a VW Bora. The driver taxied four of us to Du 7 for 7.5 RMB each. It was a good twenty minute trip. It clearly never occurred to him that he COULD rip us off or at least ask for more money. A similar trip in much poorer Yangshuo/Guilin would be at least 50 RMB. Of course, we WERE ripped off. At the end of trip, our shared taxi from DU 7 to our bus (to Beijing) in Du 1 cost us 5 RMB each. With all this talk about taxis, don’t count on finding one. This was the only real taxi that we saw in the area.

The driver dropped us off at Du 7, which is home to Gushanzhai Village and by far the most popular tourist spot of the Shi Du area. An entrance ticket to the area costs ~90RMB which includes the suspension bridge, mountain access, a motorboat ride and a bamboo raft ride. If you have come for the mountains and scenery, my wife and I both fully recommend that you spend 40 RMB and just get mountain access. The suspension bridge is rickety and probably dangerous. You can see the wood cracking. There is a free and safe floating bridge that takes you over the river and to the mountain area. The bamboo raft ride was charming enough. You paddle the raft yourself within a defined area. However, the Juma river is very polluted. I was getting condoms and kinds of other debris floating up to the raft. The motor boat ride was short and driven by a psychopath, bent on tipping the boat. Save 50 RMB and just go to the mountain.

In Du 7, the mountain is the, “The thing,” and it was absolutely splendid and one of the best nature experiences I have had in China. You can really tell that some level of government has spent a small fortune as steps have been carved up the entire mountain. For mountain purists, this would probably be heresy, but the steps make the ~1.5 km ascent relatively easy. My wife and I are 40 and in good shape, but you don’t have to be a mega athlete to climb to the top. I think the designers have given a lot of thought about making the mountain safe for tourists, though there is some element of risk in terms of slips and falls. You won’t plummet to your death, but I am sure serious sprains and bruises do occur. There is also a 10 km loop trail through the valley, but few visitors actually do it. We took heed of advice of many Beijing reviewers that said you MUST do the loop with a local or you WILL get lost. At any rate, the hours of climbing were enough for us and a hike would require an extra day.

Du 7 is fairly (though not crushingly) busy at the bottom of the mountain, but crowds really thin as you climb. There are plenty of places to stay, eat and shop. Du 7 is a place of business. I didn’t see any local homes located right in the tourist area, but locals live in the general vicinity. We saw a number of small Chinese-style hotels that looked fairly modern. I don’t know what the washroom facilities were like in them. The public washrooms in the area were passable by Chinese standards and good for rural Chinese standards, but not wonderful. For those leery of rural food, there were a few shops selling Coke, Oreos and Potato Chips.

More On Shi Du:

PLEASE note that I am not remotely an expert on Shi Du or transportation to the area, so please use this information as the basis of future research for a trip. This information is gleaned in Chinese from various sites.

Du 1 to Du 6 is known for its scenery. Du 3 is reportedly a hot filming spot for Chinese films with rural scenery. Du 5 has Fairieland Mountain (my translation).

Du 8 has a beach park.

Between Du 9 and Du 10 there is a water park with bungee jumping. Du 10 has an anti-Japanese memorial and a mountain with a naturally carved Chinese character representing Buddha.

Transportation:

Bus 917 to Shi Du leaves Tianqiao Long Distance Bus Station (32 Beiwei Road near the Temple of Heaven). As mentioned before, we took the tourist train to Shi Du and the bus back to Beijing. Tianqiao is within the 2nd Ring Road, so it wasn’t a crazy walk to the subway and back to our hotel. Taxis are getting really hard to find in Beijing and there were few around the Tianqiao station.

I am nervous to report more than this because we did not take a bus to Shi Du. Beijingers do report that there is a bus that goes to every Du from 1 to 15. We certainly saw those buses. Du 7 had a clearly marked bus stops. However, I am not sure if you have to transfer buses when you arrive in Du 1 from Beijing. We took online advice to take our bus back from Du 1, which has a good size bus station (in the middle of nowhere) and buses that leave for Beijing every 15 minutes.

Enjoy. Next time we will spend 3 or more days there.
Written 16 September 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Birge T
2 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2017 • Friends
Visited Shidu 十渡 (meaning Ten Ferries) over last 2 days of August. First took Beijing subway Fangshan line to the last stop, Suzhuang. Then Didi taxi (80 rmb per 2 people) to Shidu area. The area is divided into 10 different "ferries", there are public buses traveling between those. We heard usually the bus comes once an hour. So we chose to use Didi taxi, each time some 10 rmb.
I'd say Jiudu 九渡 (9th ferry) is the most touristy (noisy, many sellers, dirty) having Bungee jumping, cable cars, and rafting options. Rafting was 60 rmb/1hr.
Then we headed to Qidu 七渡 (7th ferry) and stayed at 碧月山... hotel (some 400m away from the main road). I'd really recommend that place for its cleanliness and nice staff. Room for two was 180 rmb. Towels provided and clean, A/C working, shower decent etc. Their outdoor restaurant has a menu with pictures and food tastes great. Among other things, we ordered roasted fish (caught right there on their property), price 50 rmb/500 gr. Recommend!
Not too far from that hotel is Liudu 六渡 (6th ferry) and its Canyon, but that area requires at least half a day, probably more, and some climbing. We'd like to go back and do that some other time. Price for that area was 75 rmb/person.
We ended up relaxing in Wudu 五渡 (5th ferry) area by the river and mountains. The trash on the water and roads makes sad... But the scenery is amazing. It would be a great area for those who want to fish.
Overall, it's a nice getaway from Beijing, total some 3 hours from Haidian district. If you can ignore the garbage etc, there are plenty of places for beautiful scenery and different kind of activities (bungee jumping, horse riding, rafting, boats, cable cars...).
Written 31 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

RonBeijing
Beijing282 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2019
Took a day trip with the wife and mother in law for Mid-Autumn festival, it was a beautiful day weather wise and we enjoyed the fresh air and wonderful views f the mountains from the nature park, we walked on the glass bridge which was fun along with a visit to the mountain caves, overall an enjoyable day trip and recommended for a short get away from Beijing city life.
Written 13 September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Connor L
San Francisco, CA67 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2014 • Friends
Untouched, the area would be an incredible escape from the city for a weekend trip. Unfortunately, it has become a hotspot for the growing middle class to visit on warm weekends to take part in ridiculous amusement park activities. The worst of them all are Du #9/10. I highly recommend you avoid these if you ever make the trip. We went to Du 7 (Qi Du), which still had some awful water park style attractions, but once you walked past these the crowds dispersed and the scenery took control. It would be possible to hike around Du 7 for 2-3 hours if you have the time. Just be concious of the fact that the bus back to town departs from Du 10, so if you try to catch it from Du 7 you will probably find yourself standing for the entire journey. Get a taxi to the final bus stop, shouldn’t cost more than 20RMB. Du’s 1 – 6 looked relatively untouched, so I am sure it is possible to do some rough off the path trekking there if you want, we didn’t give it a try more out of confusion than a lack of desire to do so.

Getting there:

We took the 836 bus (8.8RMB with an IC card) from Tian Qiao bus station. I believe you can also take the 917 bus all the way, it departs from the same street (Beiwei Lu). Double check with the attendant first though. Characters for Shi Du are 十渡, look for them. Once there, you can get off at any of the Dus you want, the first stop is Du 1, last stop Du 10. Entry to Du 7 was 30RMB with a student ID card, so I assume it is double that for adult tickets.
Written 6 April 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

anw64681
Beijing, China2 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2013 • Friends
a colleague approached me with the idea of going to shi du on a day trip from beijing. she extolled the virtues of the landscape and its proximity to beijing. well, why not go for an adventure?!

famous last words.

we took the 917 bus from beijing with the understanding it would bring us right to the heart of shidu. luckily enough the bus attendant woke me up from my slumber to ask where we were headed. when we explained that we were going to shidu, she immediately told the driver to stop and let us off. apparently that 917 bus did not go to shidu, but another 917 bus would. okay? as such, we boarded the next 917 and were on our way!

the entry into shidu is quite marvelous. the karsts are beautiful, and it did not fail to impress while riding in on the bus. however, that's where the marvel ended. we stopped at the various dus, eventually ending at 9th du as per the recommendation of the bus driver. while we were hoping for some scenic views and hikes, we were met with bungee jumping, merry-go-rounds, bumper cars and blaring american pop music (flo rida's "low"--you know, the boots with the fur song--comes to mind). sadly, all the best views of the area were taken up with the new theme park.

in short, if you feel like checking out a kitschy chinese theme park, go for it! if you're looking for nature and hikes, best to go elsewhere!
Written 9 August 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

saqib y
Islamabad, Pakistan4 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2013 • Family
We went for two days tour to Shidu in 836 bus (from Yancun bus stop) followed by 2 hour travelling in subway to sunzhuang. We booked the room on telephone from website: http://www.shidu8.cn/n-800.html. The good thing was that we were free to choose other hotel if we didnt like it.. Although hotel was not extraordinary but being tired after a long journey we decided to stay there in 70 RMB per night. We found that the hotel owner is a different person and the person whom we called from website offered us tickets to donghu valley (95 RMB) and nearby rafting spot (50 RMB). We bargained and agreed on collective 130 RMB per person which we thought is quite reasonable as it is lesser than the price mentioned on those spots and also considering that they offered us complementary pick and drop also. After two hour rest we went to rafting which we enjoyed a lot. Next day driver dropped us to donghu valley which is a very beautiful place in "shiwu du" at about 20 minutes drive. Cable car is excellent and a variety of boating options. Another notable feature of that place is waterfalls which has unique scenery. After returning to hotel we take 836 bus which has its first stop right infront of that hotel. so overall we feel that the trip is very nice and there are still many places like "Qidu" which can be planned for next trip.
Written 20 June 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Laura W
11 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2015 • Couples
My boyfriend and I went for a day trip to Shi Du. We got the subway out to Suzhuang and then got a taxi from the bus stop. It was easy to get there. We fully embraced the kookiness of the tourist elements added to a place of natural beauty. We did the bungee jump (so much fun and cheap compared to Australia) and caught the cable car right to the top for some absolutely incredible views from the sky walk. We had loads of fun!
Written 21 August 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Zabanga
Gurugram (Gurgaon), India71 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2015 • Family
A nice getaway about 2.5 hours drive from beijing.
We mainly chose this destination for its drive and we're not disappointed. Shady is a fun place with bungee jumping and lots of water bodies along the river to splash around. The icing on the cake is the mountain formations, rocky and spectacular shapes. The place is beautiful....
Written 18 March 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

eddharj
Indonesia29 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2014 • Friends
I went to Shi Du in March 2014 and stayed one night in a hotel in Ba Du. The opportunities to spend (at least one night) in a hotel was that I could see the spectacular reflection of the sun ray to the bare cliffs when sunrise and sunset. At that time, I could see that spectacular reflection of sunset when I was in Shi Du, and spectacular reflection of sunrise when I was in Qi Du. It was like I saw the golden rock in the top of the mountain.

I had read this page before I went to Shi Du in March, and I want to thank Saqib here for answering my questions and the help. I really had a ball there. Yes I also used bus 836 from Tian Qiao, (just 8.8RMB with Yikatong) right to my hotel in Ba Du.
Written 3 June 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Michael C
Bangkok95 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2018 • Solo
Easiest, day trip by way of proximity from Beijing. Hop on bus 917, and it will take you straight there to the doorstep. Costs less than 20 Yuan with the Subway Card.
Written 6 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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SHIDU NATURE PARK (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos) - Tripadvisor

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