Avoid horseback riding at all costs! Avoid horseback riding at all costs! Avoid horseback riding at all costs!
I booked a round-trip horseback ride to Huahaizi for 720 yuan, but on the way there, the driver at the pick-up point refused to take me! He said he didn't want to go anymore. Later I found out he went to pick up hikers coming down from Dafeng in the early morning and ripped them off! I was speechless!
So here's my very honest advice for anyone going to Haizigou: 1. Don't ride a horse. If you want to ride, only go as far as Chaotianping. Don't go any further. First, you're likely to get ripped off, and second, the scenery is best at Chaotianping. Go as far as Shiban Re, and the Dahaizi area is really not worth it; it's quite ordinary. Huahaizi is just a ditch unless it's in bloom. Anyone who goes there is a huge waste of 20km of boring mountain trails. Anyone who rides a horse is a fool who gets ripped off by the horsemen. (Attached photos: the first two are of Chaotianping, the last two are of the endless, muddy horse trail beyond Chaotianping, and Dahaizi, which is only 20km further on the round trip.) 🙂