When I first started looking into things to do in Guiyang I
kept hearing that the most important attraction to visit was Qianling Mountain
Park. I decided to do a little research
and after about five seconds I was sold.
What sold me on going to the park you might ask? Monkeys; lots and lots of wild monkeys. 
Qianling Mountain Park is home to hundreds of wild monkeys that roam freely throughout the park. They have slowly grown accustomed to their human visitors and are no longer afraid to approach tourists in the hopes of getting some treats. I simply could not pass up an opportunity to hike some beautiful, historically significant mountains and play with monkeys while doing it!
Qianling Mountain Park is a massive complex consisting of
several mountains, loads of hiking trails, the Hong Fu Buddhist temple, a zoo,
and a lake. I definitely recommend
setting aside an entire day for this place.
Walking through the main entrance gate you can either head
up one of the paths leading up the mountains or take a cable car up the tallest
mountain (on the North Eastern part of the park). If you take the cable car it will drop you
off about half way up the mountain not very far from the Hong Fu temple.
During my first visit to the park we chose to head up the
path leading up the main mountain. It only took about 3 minutes after we
embarked on our journey until we saw our first monkeys. It was so awesome. I’ve never been in a place where wild monkeys
just roam around in between people so carelessly. The tourists that brought snacks immediately
attracted them whether or not they intended on sharing said snacks with the
monkeys.
Be careful about brandishing snacks or bottled drinks in the
park. If a monkey spots it, you will lose it.
I only saw monkeys turn aggressive towards people if they refused to
give up their food/drinks or if a tourist tried approaching a baby monkey or a
mother carrying a baby monkey. So if you
do bring along drinks and snacks make sure not to take them out of your bag
until you are in an area away from the monkeys.
It is a pretty amazing experience being able to interact
with nature they way you can at Qianling Mountain Park. When we visited the zoo was closed for
renovations but I doubt it would be any more exciting than playing around with
monkeys throughout the rest of the park.
I definitely would recommend visiting the beautiful Hong Fu temple. It’s
a serene and highly active temple with a long rich history (more on that in a
future post).Later in the afternoon/evening large groups of people gather around the ground level of the park to play games, practice Tai Chi, dance, and sing patriotic songs. This place is a blast and definitely worth the low admission fee.
How to get there:
Catch a cab and tell the driver you want to go to Qianling
Gong Yuan.
Admission Fee: 5 RMB per person (cable car not included)
Hours: Daily until 5pm (entrance to the park is free after
5pm but the attractions inside close at 5.
