Qipanshan Reservoir, Shenyang

Another potentially interesting spot for a ride in Shenyang appeared to be the Qipanshan Reservoir, about 45km north of the city.  Baidu and Google Maps showed a road circling the lake with several attractions dotted around it, including a historical town (built entirely from scratch as a tourist attraction), a children’s amusement park, boating, and two mountain temples.  The question was whether that road was accessible to bicycles and if an entrance fee might be required.

The answers are yes and no, unless you arrive by automobile, in which case you’ll have to pay for parking.  I took a Didi with my Dahon in the trunk from near the Shenyang train station and the cost was 105RMB/15USD. Leave early to avoid the rush-hour traffic.

The Qipanshan Reservoir ring road is accessible from several points around the lake, so there’s no need to worry about access through an official entry.  Circumference of the ring road is approximately 18km and there is a dedicated bicycle path for most of the route. Directional signs on the path point to a counterclockwise rotation, but there seems to be less climb in the opposite direction.   If you care to visit the temples, be prepared to hike up steps.

The road in via Didi (at the NW corner of the lake) went through a town market that consisted of vendors setting up tents along both sides of the road and reducing traffic to a crawl for at least 2-3km, so I opted to escape via a southerly route.  Baidu maps pointed the way but what it didn’t tell me was the road was in fact a trail.  The same thing happened to me in Dalian, but there the trail was quite short.  In this case the trail was 3km long, about half of it climbing (and me pushing my bike up a section of rutted trail strewn with fist-sized rocks).  Had I had an idea, I wouldn’t have gone this route, but having committed, well, what could I do but enjoy riding down a forest trail!

Once I got off the trail, I went down a blacktop mountain road until I hit a nearly empty six-lane highway. My goal was the Expo Park and once I got within striking distance, I hailed a Didi and surprisingly had to wait only five minutes for the driver to arrive to a place where there were no commercial buildings in site.

If I had to do it again, I most certainly would.  Qipanshan is a wonderful spot for cycling or a long walk. If you’re visiting in summer, bring your swim wear.  There are a couple of beaches around the lake, but you might like to enquire from locals about water quality.

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