Cool Valley lives up to its name: cut deep into the mountain and blanketed with green trees and tall grass, the hike up is cool, but humid, and filled with a humming chorus of chirping cicadas. At the top, vendors sell tiger-shaped pillows filled with horsebeans (can dou) alongside a tea stand fitted with a TV in anticipation of karaoke-loving customers. The valley, babbling with brooks and pools of ever increasing clarity, sports the usual carved characters etched into the walls. A rusty iron staircase scales the rock face, and what once looked to be a series of deafening waterfalls has now been tamed with a rather dodgy looking dam.
Bus: Take bus 987 from Dongzhimen to Heilong Tan, then change to a minibus heading for Cool Valley.
Car: Take Jingmi Expressway to Miyun, follow the Miyun Reservoir west road and proceed another 15 km past Black Dragon Pool.
Approx distance: 110km
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