China’s first world-class hiking trail mapped out in Hunan’s Xuefeng Mountains
- The route is made up of existing rural paths and ancient walkways long forgotten by locals
- The team behind the venture hope to bring international adventurers – and their tourist dollars – to a little-seen but highly scenic corner of the country
Foreigners are still a novelty in the Xuefeng Mountains. Laden with firewood, the villagers who pass us react with curiosity and amusement at the sight of luyao (“donkey friends”) wandering through this remote part of rural western Hunan province, central China.
Donkey friends (independent backpackers) may become a more common sight, though, because China’s first world-class trail – generally accepted to mean one that is safe, well defined and easy to follow, well provisioned and that passes through areas of natural beauty – is being readied. The trail stretches for 100km across Hunan, from the mountains of Huxing to the wetlands of Simeng.
Landis and McCarron have visited Hunan – the province of Hu’s birth – several times to scout the route, covering some 500km by foot and mountain bike, and in the week I spend with them, it becomes apparent they have developed into minor celebrities, especially among the locals they are training to waymark and maintain the path.
Over team dinners eaten in restaurants along the trail, the pair are treated to spontaneous speeches and toasts raised to their hard work. In a hotel restaurant in the Shanbei Valley resort, one of the waymarking crew straddles a bewildered McCarron and kisses him on the cheek in drunken affection. On another night, baijiu fountains flow from bowls held by a row of folk-singing waitresses dressed in brightly coloured Huayao clothes and large circular hats. Raucous group photos are taken, snaps from the day’s work shared and admired.
