Meilin Mountain – The city hike

 

Meilin Mountain is a great hike option for those who do not want to travel too far out of the city, that’s because it located right in the city centre, sprawling across Nanshan and Futian districts.  The highlights of this hike are some great views of downtown Shenzhen (on a clear day), some great nature on display, multiple start and end points, and easy access from metro.

Some of the downsides are, the basic route is a little easy (3 hours or so), its usually quite popular especially on weekends, and of course as with all SZ hikes, lots of stairs!

The hike itself is not too difficult and is suitable for all ages and fitness levels.  There is a lot of up and down here with some steep stairs drops and inclines. From start to finish with be around 20,000 steps or so, not extreme but a good solid workout. You have the option of taking the dirt trail too if you did not want stairs, these run parallel to the stairs and if you ‘keep going up’ then you will reach the summit.  At the top of Meilin there is a nice pagoda where you can rest, and eat a snack or 2. Turn left at the pagoda to continue the hike

Complete guide to hiking in Shenzhen!

 

The great thing about this hike is that you can start and end in different locations.  The most common start point is at Meilin Reservoir.  This is a casual gradual uphill path, until you reach a set of stairs, this then begins to Meilin hike. This a very casual start and is usually the busiest part of the hike with many people buzzing around.

Another start point is at Meilin mountain park.  This immediately starts with steep stairs, which last 20 mins or so, then if you turn right at the cross roads, will lead to a long dirt path that winds around until the top.  This is located nearby Qiaoxiang metro exit C.  If you cross the road, you will see a Vanguard, keep walking ahead of the until you see an overpass bridge.  The park entrance is right there.

 

Around halfway through the hike there is an option to connect to Tanglang Mountain too.  This will add around 3 hours onto your hike and turns the level from easy into quite difficult. You could of course do the reverse too and start at Tanglang and end of Meilin.

Tanglang Mountain is another popular city hike, with its biggest appeal being the monkeys that roam the forest here.

Key Details

The hike has limited if any bathrooms, so be prepared for that.  There is also nowhere to buy water along the way so bring your own, or buy before you start.  There are many rest stops on route, so you can go at whatever pace you want. Not many sign posts along the way, but the path is pretty easy to work out.

 

Meilin mountain park entrance

Meilinshan Park, Meilin Rd, MeiLin, Futian District, Shenzhen  深圳市福田区梅亭路14号梅林山公园

Qiaoxiang metro exit C

Meilin Reservoir Start

Xiameilin metro station (line 9) exit C

Tanglang Start

塘朗山  Tanglang Mountain

Longzhu road North, Nanshan North East side, Shenzhen

深圳塘朗山郊野公园位于深圳市南山区东北部，龙珠大道以北，留仙大道以南，西起红花岭，东止于福田区与南山区交界

Taoyuancun metro (line 7) exit D

 

Meilin Reservoir walk