Golden Whip Stream: the walk at the bottom of the pillars

Where the name comes from

The stream takes its name from Golden Whip Rock, a pillar beside the water whose upper half turns gold in the sun. A local legend says it is the whip the First Emperor of Qin used to drive the mountains, dropped here and turned to stone. Scenes from the TV series Journey to the West were filmed along the stream.

Stretch by stretch

From the Oxygen Bar square, about five minutes’ walk from the South gate, you pass these in order:

• Golden Whip Rock and the Divine Eagle. The pillar that named the stream comes early, with the rock beside it shaped like an eagle spreading its wings to guard the whip.
• Zicao Pool. The stream gathers into a deep green pool, the stretch visitors photograph most.
• The Meeting of a Thousand Miles. Two rocks like old friends reunited. This is the halfway point and the fork in the path, about 3 km from the square by the signposts.
• Shuiraosimen. The end of the walk, where four streams meet. It has a shuttle-bus station, and buses to the Bailong Elevator, the Ten-Mile Gallery and the Central gate all connect here. See the park map.

You can walk it the other way, from Shuiraosimen to the square, and visitors report fewer people. Going with the stream is easier, though: they describe it as a gentle downhill all the way.

If you only want half

The usual short version is the Oxygen Bar square to Golden Whip Rock, Zicao Pool and the Meeting of a Thousand Miles, then back the same way: an hour and a half to two hours, and most of the best of it. With only one day in the forest park, you can walk a stretch in from the Shuiraosimen end and come back, then carry on to the cliff tops; the Tianzi Mountain page has that day.

How to walk it well

• The monkeys. Wild macaques live along the stream, especially on the first half up to the Meeting of a Thousand Miles, and in summer you can watch them bathing and jumping into the water. They come close, they know what snacks and plastic bags are, and they will go through a bag if they can. So keep food inside your pack with the zip closed, carry nothing loose in your hand (clear bags attract them most), do not feed or tease them or reach for the young, and watch and photograph from a few steps away. Visitors report first-aid points along the path.
• Go early. Around 8 in the morning the valley has the fewest people and the best mist. Every entry to the forest park is booked for a gate and a time slot, so arrive for the slot you booked; visitors report that a missed slot has to be rebooked.
• Shoes. The stone and moss are slippery after rain, so wear soles with some grip. The valley stays walkable in rain, which makes it a good wet-day choice.
• Water. There are toilets and small shops near the start, the middle and the end, but not many, so bring a bottle.
• For strong walkers. At the Meeting of a Thousand Miles the left-hand path, Luancuan Slope, climbs from the middle of the walk up to Yuanjiajie. Check on the day that it is open.