Shenzhen is famous for being the Silicon Valley of Hardware. A manufacturing powerhouse with a population of more than 15 millions.In theory, you wouldn’t expect much from the outdoors of a highly industrialized region. Yet, wherever you are in the city, you will never be more than an hour away from mountains.

I’ve put together a guide of my favorite trail in Shenzhen!

1 - WuTong Mountain (梧桐山)

An hour out of city center by bus, you will find the village of WuTongShan or 梧桐村. The village is a collection of 4 stories buildings bordered by large reservoirs. The streets are busy conveying batches of people from the city who come for the strenuous climb.

WuTong Mountain is my favorite playground in Shenzhen. Lush vegetation, vast areas with no people in sight and steep slopes. There are no better place in Shenzhen if you love running through trees covered in mud and sweat. I mean, what else would do there anyway?

Okay, if you don’t like that dirty, it’s also a relaxing place with streams, a diverse flora and great panoramas.

Best times are early spring (February-May) and late autumn (October-December) when temperatures are cooler. Bring a windbreaker, it’s common to experience a 5-10ºC drop in WuTong.

There are three main peaks in WuTong Mountain:

  • Big WuTong (大梧桐) - 944m
    • The highest mountain of Shenzhen is a challenge for anyone looking for a good sweat (especially the last 200m of ascend)
  • Middle WuTong (中梧桐) or Bean Curd Head (豆腐头) - 706m
    • The Red Bean Curd is located between Small and Big WuTong. You will be able to capture some great shots from this peak
  • Small WuTong (小梧桐) - 652m
    • A restaurant, restrooms, Shenzhen TV Tower (深圳电视塔) and a nice panorama over the city

Let’s review the different trails available to us!

1.1 - WuTong Village to XianTong Sports Park -

Difficulty: Hard

Do you like muddy, rocky paths and steep slopes? So do I! This is one of the lesser-known WuTong trail and also my favorite.

Uphill - WuTong Village (梧桐村) to Big WuTong (大梧桐)

It’s a 895m ascent over 2.89km to Big WuTong. Shoes with a decent grip and a minimum of experience is recommended. You will have to step over many trees felled by Typhoon Mangkut (2018).

Beware On rainy days, rocks are slippery and the mud, abundant.

Downhill - Big WuTong (大梧桐) to XianTong Sports Park (仙桐体育公园)

The downhill path is a combination of steps and rocks. Yes, you cannot completely escape steps in WuTong. Luckily, they only make about 30% of the descent. The rest of the path is a runnable rocky path where you will face very few obstacles.

XianTong Sports Park is 2.66km away from the arrival point on below map. From the Sports Park, you can call a Taxi or go down to LuoShaLu (罗沙路) and take the M85/M113 back to Luohu (罗湖).
Overall Difficulty Hard
Distance 8.24km
Ascent / Descent 895m / 736m
Avg / Max Grade 10% / 54%
Path Dirt / Rocks / Steps
Estimated Duration 2-3h
Suggested Itinerary WuTong Village -> Big WuTong -> XianTong Sports Park
OSM Map / GPX Trace Map / Download

Access

AMAP - 高德地图 / Baidu Map - 百度地图

WuTong Village is located an hour away by bus from Luohu city center. The main road to get there is frequently jammed. Early morning is your best bet!

By Bus

1 - Grand Theater Metro Station（大剧院地铁站) Exit F -> M29/M104 -> 罗湖区委 (LuoHuQuWei)2 - 罗湖区委 (LuoHuQuWei) -> M445 -> Terminus (横排岭总站) Trip duration ～ 1h15

Note Most of the people will get off the bus in the village center to go to the main gate. Stay aboard and continue all the way to the terminus.

Get off at the terminus and walk straight to the dam. You will find restrooms and a grocery store on your left. When you arrive at the dam, it starts on your left.

This trail is fun! I recommend it to anyone who want to enjoy a challenging and less crowded path.

To be continued…