On our last day in Dameisha, I took a walk in the Biling Hiking Trail, which is part of the Malian Mountain Country Park. I have done solo hiking in Xianggong Shan of Xingping, Guilin before. But this hiking experience is significant because I did have to find my way to and from the entrance and the exit points, and so it took some extra skills to experience my very first hike in Shenzhen.

The Biling Waterfall Trail

From the Interlaken OCT Hotel I walked about half an hour to reach the entrance of the Biling Hiking Trail, which is located across from the San Zhou Tian Reservoir on Bisanlu Road.

On my way to the trail entrance, I saw some pretty nice views of a reservoir.

The entrance of the trail lies up in a high altitude amidst the mountains. The trail will lead you through a very shaded walk downhill for a good full 2km. This long descent did strain my muscles.

It was hot and sometimes rainy, but this part of the mountain had a cluster of waterfalls. Therefore I heard the sound of flowing water throughout the hike. There were recurring appearance and evanescence of mists coming from the waterfalls. I felt amazing throughout the trail.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience being so closely in touch with the nature of Shenzhen. It being such an urbanized city, Shenzhen is certainly not well known for its hiking trails — hiking is put on the backburner as a tourist interest by the government or key opinion leaders. That might explain why I mostly saw local Chinese people on my way, and there were a whole lot of them.

On may way I might have seen some five to six waterfalls and the views were fantastic. Toward the end of my hike, the sun came out with a bright, illuminating blue sky.

Unless you are a very active hiker and are very serious about the exercise, I do not recommend going up the mountain from the Malian Shan Country Park. The ascent up the trail is rigorous with many stairs.

At the end of the trail, you will find yourself at the North Gate of the Malian Mountain Country Park. Walk about ten minutes to Parking Lot 1 and you will find public transportation that will take you back to the urban areas.

Some Other Potential Sightseeing Activities in Dameisha

Knight Valley (Daxiagu)

Right next to the Interlaken OCT is the Knight Valley (Daxiagu). There is a touristy “little train” that takes you to this area of the resort. The theme is ecological tourism, and surely Knight Valley is one big theme park.

There are five sections in the theme park and one of them is a water park. A few sections offer joy rides. Just by the sound of it, the Knight Valley is perhaps more suitable for families with children. The views should be quite good at that altitude, and I assume some nice photos can be taken of the nature there too.

The train runs every half hour beginning at 10am and the last train is at 5:30pm.

The Library of Yantian

Known locally as the “lighthouse library,” the Library of Yantian is a perfect instagrammable spot for the social media influencers. It is perhaps worth looking up, although I have been told by the staff at Interlaken OCT Hotel that prebooking is recommended. On this trip we did not have time to see it.

In this short getaway in Shenzhen I really only did two sightseeing activities, which were the Dameisha Beach and the Biling Hiking Trail. For what this area offers, I would say these two things were likely the most authentic experience. All other sightseeing spots are manmade, although clearly there is the effort to strike a balance between the natural endowment of the area and the human footprint, for better or for worse. I did have a pleasant time there.