Safety Issues of Mount Siguniang Dafeng Trek

The nature of a Dafeng Summit Trek is to challenge yourself and have fun as well. It is an adventure trip. It involves risks of all kinds including body temperature losing, falling, injuries, altitude sickness, dehydration, clean food and drinking water, etc. Please read below all the risks we gathered here and the counter-measures.

Warm Keeping

Please remember to keep yourself warm is not by asking question of only how cold it is, but also how fast the weather/temerature changes. Because it is exactly the case of Mount Siguniang Dafeng.

There is a big difference in temperature during night and in the day time. In general the temeprature is lower at night and in the morning, especially in winter, autumn and spring time when the day-and-night temperature differ at a big rate. In general the Siguniang Area has good weather conditions all year round and one distinctive nature of the weather here is the big difference of temerature in the daytime and during night time.

There is a big difference in temperature in the sun and in the shed. In a sunny day it is warm when you are in the sun and it is cold in the shed espeically in the seasons of autumn, winter and spring time. You will feel this more in a windy day. This requries more work you need to do: in the sun you may want to take off your clothes but in the shed please do not be lazy, put on extra clothes when you will be stopping long.

Please do keep in mind because of such weather, you are recommended to have your warm clothes handy all the time. Please read further about the general temperature and weather in different seasons>>.

Dehydration

Mount Siguniang is located on the highland where it is usually drier and windier. Travelers to Dafeng are recommended to keep yourself hydrated all the time. A minimum of 3 Liters of water is required each day. A termal is very helpful so that you can drink hot water for most of the time.

Walking Trails

The walking path to the summit of Dafeng is a well managed trail in general. From the entrance to Dajianbao is a trail wide enough for a motorbike. The trails are not paved and can be muddy during rain/snow. The tricky part of the trail is the sections above Dafeng Base Camp especially near the summit when it is steep and often covered in snow. The depth of the snow can be up to knee-deep. The trail obove Dafeng Base Camp is at over 4300 meters where there are no plants, grass growing but rather just rocks. Be careful while walking on these terrains. Read more details here about hiking path and terrains of Dafeng Trek>>.

Altitude Sickness

Dafeng Trek involves walking/sleeping at over 4000 meters. Precautions are important to avoid altitude sickness. Please read Details>>.

Proper Gears

People wear outdoor gears for many reasons. Here on a trip to Dafeng the gears we recommend are for safety reasons. They don't have to be very expensive gears but need to be the right gears.

To stay un-injured: you are recommended to use strong walking boots with high-cut or middle-cut, bring walking poles to reduce the risk of injuries of your knees and feet, to bring sun-glasses to protect your eyes from the sun and the snow, to use headlap to make sure you can at least see in the dark, etc.

To stay warm: please use down jackets and thermals when you are not walking, use hat keep yourelf from the sun and wind, to use down sleeping bags to keep warm while sleep.

To stay dry: use dry bags inside your pack to wrap up important clothing, to have a hardshell or raincoat to keep yourself dry from snow/rain, to use strong/waterproof boots to keep your feet/socks dry, use a 3-season tent when camping to make sure your sleep is decent.

Read here for a suggested packing list to do Dafeng Summit Trek>>.

Wild Animals

By far the big preditors have been confimed seen in Siguniang Nature Reserve include wolfs, bears, boars and snow leopards. But these animals haven't been seen anywhere near Dafeng. They tend to stay far from humans at further and higher places up the Haizi Valley. There has not been a single incident of people being attacked by wild animals.

Drinking Water

Avoid drinking directly from a water tap or from the rivers and streams. When you are not in the mountains, try use bottled water or cooked water all the time. When you are in the mountains, make sure the water you drink is treated or cooked. When doing camping, choose the smaller streams or springs from the side valleys instead of the big river at the bottom of the valley to reduce risks of stomach problems.

Weather-related

Use reliable weather forecast and try to avoid snowstorm or thunderstorm if time allows. More importantly, be prepared for bad weather. Have the right gears and pack them with you. If you are planning a trip and expect to do this trek at its best-possible weather conditions, you can try November, August and September although you also need to know that weather is very unpredictable in the mountains. Please read details here on our record of the climate and weather in Siguniang>>.

During Camping

While at campsite, keep your expensive gears inside of your tent and always have your valuable things in your daypack. Mount Siguniang is a more developed traveler destination and the people here are experienced workers and some professional. Basically you won’t have any safety troubles in terms of robbery or loss of belongs.

About the Rescue

At Mount Siguniang, the rescue is very efficient and quick comparing to other hiking destinations in China. If you are suffering heavy mountain sickness while hiking, your guide will decide and transfer you down to lower land quickly with their horses. In a word, the local workers are quite experienced and reliable. They started to work as mountain guides since 1980s. But please be aware that helicopter rescue is not available here. All rescues at Siguniang will be conducted by the local people and it takes longer time than using a helicopter. We recommend you have right assessment of yourself during the trek to avoid serious situations. At present, Mount Siguniang is also considering to run a helicopter rescue service, it will have a more integrated rescue system maybe in the next few years.

Local Etiquett

At Rilong when you use the local guesthouse, remember to ask for a key of your room and lock it while you are not in the room. It is necessary as Rilong is having more and more travelers coming. Losing something important will usually be an unpleasant experience. Also try not to offend local people by negotiation too much as it is not popular at present. The prices of services are actually not as cheap as before and the now prices are considered reasonable at local standard. Although there are greedy people everywhere, you ought to make sure you are not ripped off while using the service here.

Insurance

Make sure you have bought youself a comprehensive insurance that covers the costs of your adventure travel. Make sure you have everything proofable after you pay for the extra service you use.