We schlepped across the border from Hong Kong to Shenzhen in China to check out Shenzhen’s highest peak, Wutong Shan at 944m, and a great time. Here’s five reasons why you should run Wutong Shan at least once!
1. It's a super easy day-trip. The little Sha Tou Jiao border crossing is a breeze. We caught the 7:30am weekend bus from Kowloon Tong MTR station (exit E) and landed in China an hour later. From there, it's a ¥20 taxi or 3-4km to the nearest trail head and you're away. Even cruising 20K on trail including Small Wutong (with the Shenzhen TV Tower) and Great Wutong peaks, we were back in Hong Kong by 4pm.
2. There’s so many options! Easy runnable trail? Tick. Rocky technical or single track descents? If you want it. A VK route in 4km? Absolutely. Stairs so steep that they are called "The Wall"? You bet. Trail, paved, road, stairs, it’s up to you. Check out this Strava heat map - plenty of trail options - and our GPX here.
3. You can run it with a hand bottle. There are street (trail?) vendors everywhere, well, every few kilometres at least and most of the trails are well shaded. Just when you think you’re crushing an ascent, you get overtaken by one of these wizened old locals, wearing thongs and hauling cold water, sport drinks, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs and other goodies up the mountain to your next quasi-CP!
4. It's Hong Kong but not quite. The trails feel eerily similar to the first stages of The North Face course, but different, while the views back to Pat Sin Leng and Robin's Nest are a fun and alternative perspective. There are pockets of heavy crowd and the locals do love their portable music - boom boxes and speakers carried to the top! - though fortunately not too frequent and it's mostly open trail.
5. You can make a weekend trip out of it with friends! Book a hotel room, get a massage and enjoy some hot pot or Chinese food!
So if you're struggling to get motivated with the same old trails in Hong Kong and have your China visa, consider a day out in Shenzhen climbing Wutong Shan!