On Day 5 of our China trip, we would visit Great Ladder Cliff of Yellow River (黄河大梯子崖). This was the best sight of our 16-day long trip from Beijing to Xi’An. If I have to use one word to describe the experience – “Spectacular!” That was what I said repeatedly when I first set my foot at the sight entrance.
Here, we would climb the “No. 1 Ladder Growing from the Cliff by the Yellow River”.
Now, if you like a chronological story flow, check out these posts first:
Don’t miss:
- Day 1: From Singapore to Beijing’s Temple of Heaven
- Day 2: Step back in time at Pingyao Ancient City (UNESCO Gem)!
- Day 3: Hanfu & Photoshoot Experience in Pingyao Ancient City
- Day 4 (AM): Yellow River Waterfall: Travel Hiccups & Most Stressful Day
- Day 4 (PM): Hidden Gems at Mount Yun
Ready to continue the story? Today, we would depart Jishan County and make our way to Hejin – a county level city in Shanxi province. Let Day 5’s adventure begin!
Starting the Day: Breakfast at Jishan Hotel
Our hotel in Jishan (稷山) had the most budget-vibe of the trip and we didn’t expect much from its breakfast.
Indeed, the buffet spread was small, but we were pleasantly surprised with some unique options, such as freshly ground soy milk that was rich and smooth. The live “noodle station” serving up dumpling soup and beef noodle was equally good. The soup broth was flavorful, packed with a rich taste of beef.
Stomach-filled, time to hail a ride to Hejin city (see location on Google map and Baidu).
Journey on: From Jishan to Hejin
(9.40am)
This taxi ride was the worst we’ve experienced (¥35). Sitting apart for the 30-minutes ride was something we could bear with as the driver’s boot was completely filled-up (with lots of alcohol). This left us with no choice but to place our luggage at the back seat.
So my partner was sitting in front, beside the driver, while I was behind.
>> RELATED: Second-worst taxi ride in China Trip (Beijing to Xi’An Trip)
But what followed was absolutely nerve-wrecking!
Not only did the driver speed, he did so while overtaking cars by swerving into oncoming lanes. And he did that not once, but ALL the time. We truly felt that our lives were in danger.
He was also constantly on his phone, texting, speaking or checking messages. It appeared that he was using office hours to earn some money on the side.
What was less dangerous, but equally annoying was him coughing non-stop within the enclosed car. Hence, the ride felt unsafe, unhygienic and stuffy since he didn’t turn on the aircon.
This was the first time in my life I’ve felt compelled to leave a negative feedback in DiDi app – more to protect future passengers from potential dangers.
Check in at H Hotel (Hejin City)
(10.20am)
H Hotel in Hejin City (河津) was the second-most “atas” hotel experience of this trip, after Orange Hotel in Linfen.
The “Smart Business Double Room” was spacious, modern and “smart”. For example, you can activate curtains with the click of buttons, or get the virtual assistant (Xiao Du) to help you with weather report or play a song.
I found myself calling and speaking with “Xiao Du” all the time! She has a nice voice. :)
Errand: Buying Bus Tickets to Xi’An
We took a quick run to Hejin Passenger Transportation Station (see location) to buy bus tickets to Xi’An meant for use the following day. Reason for not using the high-speed train for this leg of the journey was due to logistics and timing issue. Hejin doesn’t connect directly with Xi’An and requires quite a few connections. So bus was the more direct route.
Done with the ticket purchase, we took a 30-min taxi ride (¥50) to the key highlight of the day – Great Ladder Cliff of the Yellow River (see location).
Great Ladder Cliff of The Yellow River
(12.30pm)
Spectacular! Spectacular!
Those were the words that came out as soon as I stepped out of the taxi. Woah….a massive cliff right before my eyes, with a waterfall trickling down from the top.
To be honest, I didn’t expect this place to wow me in such a way. Seeing the Great Ladder Cliff in person was a completely differently (and far better) experience than viewing photos and Douyin videos – those didn’t do it justice.
Simple Lunch at Great Ladder Cliff
Due to the morning errands, we had to make do with simple lunch at the attraction.
For my order, it was hard to go very wrong – sour and spicy vermicelli. But his order of Rou Jia Mo (肉夹馍) – a “Chinese burger” – was not worth the calories.
Admission Tickets to Great Ladder Cliff
After lunch, the immediate thing to do was to buy admission tickets to Great Ladder Cliff. We opted for “General Admission + Glass Plank Road” bundle, priced at ¥118 per person.
Do remember to snap photos of the route map (on a wall banner) near the entrance. There were various routes, each with different durations.
For us, we decided not to be ambitious and would cover the loop on the right, which should take about 2-3 hours to complete.
First Few Sights at Great Ladder Cliff
Starting our exploration, there were a few formations to explore, such as The Beauty Alley. If you can squeeze through it, you are a beauty! :)
Climbing “Wall-Mounted Ancient Ladder” was scary
(1.20pm)
Being an avid hiker and having climbed quite a number of mountains, I didn’t expect the climb up the manually excavated ladder (龙门天梯) to be worrying. This cliff ladder was dug during the Northern Wei Dynasty and has 365 stone steps (see location).
With ancient technology or lack of, you can understand why each step is small, narrow and uneven (or missing). Many of the steps were steep – requiring large vertical strides.
As the ladder twisted and spiraled up the cliff, I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease – there’s a real sense of danger from slipping, tripping, or even falling off the steep ladder. It must be even harder for those with larger feet.
Both me and my partners agreed that we would pay to take an elevator down the cliff later.
That said, I don’t want to scare you off from visiting this beautiful place. As long as you wear a good pair of shoes and ascend slowly and carefully, it probably isn’t as dangerous as it felt. Plus the views along the climb (of yellow river) were memorable.
And if you are really worried, then ascend the Great Ladder Cliff via the elevator.
Did you know? China has made their scenic mountainous sights easy to access. Many can be reached entirely or partially with elevators.
View atop Great Ladder Cliff (Yellow River)
Standing at the top of the ancient ladder, we were rewarded with a great view of the Yellow River.
Still recall the deep regrets of missing Yellow River Hukou Waterfall? Well, being here partially soothed our “broken hearts”. LOL!
Where we were was also a good spot to catch the narrowest part of the Yellow River. And not to forget that place is the origin of the Chinese legend “Carp leaping over the dragon’s gate” (鲤鱼跳龙门).
Mini Sights at Great Ladder of Yellow River
The end of the Great Ladder climb was just the beginning of more exploration and climb. This place was huge and offered various routes to explore.
As we ascended further up the cliff, we passed by some mini sights including scenic pavilions that offered breathtaking views of the Yellow River.
Peach Blossom Valley Loop (Great Ladder Cliff)
Then we took a path towards the Peach Blossom Valley – a scenic route offering views of waterfall, river and ancient rocks layered like Kueh Lapis. I reckon it would be even more beautiful during spring when the flowers bloom.
Guess what we saw at this remote part of Great Ladder Cliff?
An unmanned store, haha. Yes, a convenience store with no one manning it at this place with hardly a soul. You can grab what you want and pay digitally.
As we ventured deeper, I sat by the gently-flowing riverbank to take a break and soak in the view, which was a stark contrast to the expansive cliffside panorama seen earlier.
So, is this a river and valley nestled within the cliff? :)
Glass Plank Road: This was thrilling!
Glass-bottom bridges are fairly common in China. As at time of writing, I’ve been to at least three such glass-plank roads in the past two years. By far, the one at Great Ladder Cliff was the most thrilling!
>> RELATED: Glass-bottom experience at Mount Yun, China
I’m not particularly afraid of height, but at some spots, I did feel a surge of fear when glancing down through the glass, looking straight at the bottom of the cliff.
A few tourists were frozen in track, unable to take another step without some encouragement from their friends. So, I think it’s worth paying extra to experience this glass plank road.
Check out the views when walking along the glass plank road.
And here’s how it looks like glancing down.
Elevator Down from Grand Ladder Cliff
Navigating towards the elevator from where we were required further climbing. In hind sight, we wondered if we should have made our lives easier by just climbing down the Great Ladder Cliff.
The consolation, we were presented with view of the Yellow River again, from another vantage point – a more comfortable one that came with table and bench.
After taking some photos and resting a bit, we paid ¥40 each to take the lift down.
More Sights at Great Ladder Cliff
There are more to the sights shown here, at The Great Ladder Cliff. Specifically, there’s a spot on my visit list, but I couldn’t manage to scale up the steep stone walls along one part of the trail.
Actually, I didn’t try hard enough because during then, I didn’t know getting up would bring me to more sights.
Free Bus Back to Hejin City
(4.40pm)
A free bus 21 near entrance of Great Ladder Cliff brought us back to Hejin City within an hour (vs 30 mins via cab).
You may wonder why we didn’t take this free bus to the sight? Well, time was of essence and taxi fare was quite affordable in China. So we chose to grab there. But it’s a different story coming back as we had completed what we wanted to do for the day. :)
I took a good long nap on the bus, and was woken up by my partner to alight at a shopping mall in Hejin city. Let’s check out night-time activity in Hejin.
Shopping & Dining in Hejin City
(5.40pm)
Not a very good shopper, my only haul at the mall (好又多购物广场) was two pairs of socks which I needed to pair with my hiking boots (see mall location). Heads-up that there would be more hiking at Mount Hua (华山) near Xi’An and Mianshan (绵山) which is off the tourist map.
Socks cost just ¥5 per pair – so cheap! :)
Food Street in Hejin, China
We then ventured out of the mall to visit the streets nearby (see location), which were bustling with small eateries and food stalls.
Couldn’t believe it when we saw a whole duck selling for just ¥23 – that’s less than S$5.
Obviously, we couldn’t eat a whole duck and had to give it a miss. But we did find this Guangzhou restaurant which served pretty good Fried Bee Hoon (which I was craving then).
Another specialty was Chee Cheong Fan, though it didn’t leave a deep impression (as compared to the one we had in Chaoshan).
We also bought some small bites at another food street outside a mall, such as crepes and Mi Xue red bean milk tea.
Supermarket Shopping in Hejin, China
The last thing we did here was to shop at a pretty large supermarket within the mall. Specialties in this region seemed to include Hawthorne (山楂), sausages and anything-spicy.
And that’s all for Day 5. Tomorrow, we had a spare day (due to Hukou Waterfall mishap) and would figure out what to do in Hejin.
Hint – it’s something related to my ancestry. Stay tuned!
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