Black Dragon Pond

To get here from Beijing, you must first take bus 980 bound for MìYún [ 密云 ] from DōngZhíMén Bus Station [ 东直门交通枢 ] outside Subway Line 2's Dongzhimen Station's Exit B. The slow bus (980 慢) takes about 2:20 and the fast one (980快) takes about 1:45 with traffic. The buses seem quite frequent and cost around 6 RMB (can just use your Beijing subway card-swipe when you get on and also when you get off). *Watch out that some taxi drivers might get on the bus as you enter the County of Miyun and try to yell/tap on foreigner's shoulders to tell you to get off as it's already Miyun (they just want to get you off the bus so they can make money to drive you)

stops for the fast bus

stops for the slow bus

Once you get to Miyun, in front of MìYún DàJùYuàn [ 密云大剧院 ], according to the guy who works there, you can get a bus any number above 60 to Black Dragon Pond [ 黑龙潭 = HēiLóngTán ] . It's like a bus depot. The schedule is written on a whiteboard outside this "office" type thing. It should take about 45 minutes since some of the roads are under construction. If you don't want to wait for a bus, you can get a taxi driver to take you there. They were trying to charge 10-20 RMB per head in a minivan type thing or 60-80 RMB per unmarked taxi. You'll pass by Miyun Reservoir on the way to Black Dragon Pond.

It costs 45 RMB to get in and takes about 4 hours to casually walk from start to the very end and back with plenty of breaks (I think about 3.5 km each way). You don't have to walk the whole way, of course. There are places to rent little raft boats in little ponds (does not look very exciting though). It was very crowded/loud during a Chinese official holiday (sometimes waiting in queue just to walk up), but there are some nice bits here and there, like natural pools, rocks, and waterfalls. However, don't expect too much as everything is made to look ugly and tacky like a lot of Chinese tourist attractions. There are some steep steps, but overall not too difficult. There are lots of places to buy water and snacks along the way, but it gets quite expensive as you go higher (like 15 RMB for 2 bottles of drinks). This place is nothing spectacular but a nice getaway from Beijing. There doesn't seem to be a lot to do in the town of Miyun, but you can get to other attractions from there.