The Western Hills (西山, xishan) is a mountain range west of Kunming city in Yunnan, China. It’s most notable for its Dragon Gate - a rock tunnel and gate carved out of the cliffside rock. With a cableway and shuttle buses running along most of the route, it’s a very beginner-friendly, yet scenic day out if you’re looking for a short escape from the city. I wouldn’t quite call it a proper hike though! I visited it right at the end of 2024, while on my first trip to China.
After being dropped off by our DiDi near the Xishan Park (西山公园) train station, we began our hike. From the station, you can get on a bus up to the park entrance or walk 5km along the boardwalk trail / road. We opted to walk, which took about 90mins in total.
The start of the trail can be walked along a nice wide wooden boardwalk. Sometimes the boardwalk would diverge a bit from the road and take a bit of a longer route, in which case we’d jump back on the road as a shortcut. Just make sure to be careful of the buses that are running along it.
The 5km does feel quite long, and in hindsight, I wouldn’t say that it’s worth walking, because it is mostly road, but there were plenty of other people doing the same. Funnily, there was even a portion with a waterslide running alongside the boardwalk. I guess if you are coming back down the hill, a waterslide might be a fun way to skip some of the walking.
Part-way up the road, you’ll pass by the Huating temple (华亭寺). And after about an hour of walking, you’ll reach the Taihua temple (太华寺). Unfortunately no photos are allowed inside, although my partner did take a sneaky one.
Although we hiked right at the end of December, since Kunming is in south-western China, it’s not as cold as the northern cities like Beijing. You’ll probably want to bring your puffer jacket to start, but can strip down to a long-sleeve shirt as you warm up from all the walking.
After about 90 minutes total, you’ll reach the entrance to the park. You’ll need to buy a ticket to get in beyond this point. If you got the bus, it would drop you off here. This is also the main (and only) area that serves food, so it will be a good place to grab lunch if you haven’t already.
Once you’re inside, there is the option to get on another smaller shuttle bus which will take you another km or so up the road, or you can opt to walk here is as well.
Once you’ve finished all the road, this is where the fun begins! It’s a lot of narrow staircases and tunnels carved into the cliff-faces. Unfortunately with the narrow-ness, there are also a lot of traffic jams as you try and squeeze past the people coming in the other direction.
As you approach the highlight of the Western Hills area, the Dragon Gate, you’ll also might run into a traffic jam. Obviously everyone wants their photo with the Dragon Gate. Apparently if you touch the underside of it, you will be granted good luck.
It was quite crowded. I assume we had the misfortune of being up there at the same time as a couple of tour groups were passing through.
There was a security guard loitering around here as well, who was ready to keep the crowd moving if required. I found out later that he mentioned that if you come around 9am, it is not crowded at all, so I would recommend coming by then if you want some better pictures. It was around 1pm when we arrived, so that would explain the crowds.
From the Dragon Gate, you can also get an amazing view out onto the city of Kunming below.
From the Dragon Gate, you’ll continue climbing through a rock tunnel, and then up towards the cableway station.
But before heading down on the cableway, you can climb a bit more up to the highest point on the hike, which is an outlook at an elevation of around 2350m. The highest point of the Western Hills is 2511m, but unfortunately I don’t think is easily accessible from today’s course (or I didn’t see it on the tourist map, anyway).
There’s a little pagoda, and more opportunities to see out onto Kunming city. Surrounding the city is what seems like the ocean, but is actually the massive Dian Lake.
Finally, we got the cableway back back to the park entrance, and then the bus back down. The cableway was pretty awesome, so I would recommend using it in either direction. The views of Kunming City and Dian Lake were really nice.
Although we started to descend after 2pm, there were still lots of people coming up the cableway, so I suspect the Dragon Gate area stays crowded all afternoon.
Access and general info
- We took a Didi, but Western Hills is also accessible via the Xishan Park (西山公园) train station
- I would recommend trying to come as early as you can (like 9am) to enjoy Dragon Gate without the crowds.
- Walking all the way up, we took about 5 hours (including a lunch break) and it took us 8km.
- In retrospect, I would recommend taking the bus up and down if you don’t have much time, or to take it on the way up.
- There are toilets along the trail, but public toilets in China generally do not have toilet paper and the Western Hills area is no exception, so remember to bring your own. Also be prepared to use squat toilets.
- If you’re a reader of my Japanese hiking blog and use YAMAP, I have the hike log and map here
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