Ren Dapeng (nickname: HaiGuai 海怪) and I were supported throughout this route with a team who supplied hot and cold food and liquids, as well as shot photos and videos for this mini-film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ffJh1G7dRQ&t=16s
We started early at 5am from the HaoZaiLai guesthouse at the foot of Donglingshan. By the time we reached the summit the sun was out and we began our journey back eastwards towards Xianghshan, on the suburbs of Beijing city.
The run went smoothly for us. Two main areas of caution are the river underneath Zhuwo Reservoir, which needs to be forded. Sometimes the water level is low, sometimes it is high. When we crossed on the afternoon of 8 April, the reservoir was releasing water and the water was high and dangerous. Another area of caution is where paths have been blocked off by local officials. On leaving Zhuwo village we had to clamber around and over a very high razor wire fence which had not been there in our previous reccies.
The long section between Henan Tai and Chanfang, which we tackled between 0000 and 0500 was by far the toughest for us, with 100km already in our legs and in the darkest and longest hours of the night. Things felt better after the sun came up however.
A really beautiful, rugged, tough and thoroughly rewarding route through all of Beijing's iconic mountains. We encourage people to try it out - and beat our time. Careful preparation and a support crew is needed, however. Early spring and Autumn are probably the only feasible time of the year to do the route, as winter would be extremely cold, especially on the high ridges near the beginning and during the night, and summer far too hot and not enough access to water supplies. Be safe. Prepare well.