About this journey
"I'm Xiao Jing, and our favorite place is the forest. Throughout the year, there are different treasures in the mountains: mushrooms in the rainy season, pinecones, pine nuts, and ferns in autumn and winter. Each season has its own flowers and plants. Our foraging group of girls always goes up the mountain, and no matter the season, we find new things. Join our mountain adventure!"
Hiking distance: 3 km total, elevation gain of about 200 meters.
If you love the wilderness, you are welcome to join our foraging group of girls to search for treasures in the mountains.
As the seasons change, you will see different plants along the way.
Departure time: afternoon, the trip takes about 3 hours. The route is easy, covering 3 km. Children aged 4 and above with good stamina can complete it.
If you enjoy walking in the forest and looking for seasonal treasures, this is perfect for you.
Xiao Jing: Over the past 5 years, I have spent more than half my time on Cangshan. The mountain smells wonderful, and the plants change with time. New wildflowers often surprise me, hidden by leaves just a few days before.
Experiencing these changes makes me feel closer to Cangshan, sometimes even as if I have become part of it.
This is a foraging-focused hiking route.
We will prepare a unique small notebook. You can place the plants you collect along the way into the notebook and take them home. We have chosen lightweight, absorbent handmade paper that is easy to carry during travel. We hope it will be a natural gift from Cangshan.
However, if you just want to go for a walk with us, learn about plants, and are not interested in making a notebook, after clicking to book, you can see the "Hiking and Foraging Only" option at 228 RMB per person.
Plants you may encounter along the way include: fragrant white pearl, fleabane, paper mulberry, lilyturf, horsetail, knotweed, golden buckwheat, ferns, various rhododendrons, rose mallow, elaegnus fruit, stone sea pepper, dicranopteris, cudweed, shepherd's purse, wild pea, Japanese teasel, firethorn, sandalwood, lemongrass, crofton weed, verbena, and more.
The entire route gains about 200 meters in elevation. It is not extremely easy, but everyone's stamina is different, and the definition of "easy" varies, so please judge for yourself. The youngest recorded age to complete this route is 3 years old, but that child had good stamina and was not fussy.
This route will take you through fields where you can see crops planted by villagers at different times (sometimes we change the route into the forest).
After crossing the fields, you reach a hillside with a broad view overlooking farmland, villages, and Erhai Lake. Going further up, you enter the real forest.
Pass by wild tea plants left unattended, lush large ferns, and search for pinecones and plump pine nuts fallen on a carpet of pine needles. Smell the aromatic plants in the wild that can be used to make essential oils.
In spring, rhododendrons of various colors gradually bloom. In May, wild berries slowly ripen, and you can occasionally pick and eat them when passing through the fields. Pinecones can be collected all year round.
Notebook:
Photos
