Guangdong's first national hiking trail for fitness is being built in Changling sub-district, Guangzhou's Huangpu district.

Changling is located in the heartland of Huangpu and serves as a significant hub that connects Guangzhou Science City and China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City. It boasts a forest coverage rate of 50 percent and is hailed as the backyard garden of Huangpu.

The first phase of the hiking trail spans 64.3 kilometers across Huangma (黄麻), Huangdeng (黄登), Changping (长平) and Lingtou (领头) residential communities. It will showcase the pristine mountains and water sceneries in Lingnan.

An aerial shot of the national hiking trail in Changling.

The hiking trail will feature three functional zones, which run through more than 10 routes with varied difficulties. The eastern Lingtou sightseeing zone will offer two routes centered around the waterside and mountainous sceneries.

The central Changping-Changdeng experience zone will highlight a lake-circling slow-traffic system and a Jiti Mountain Sightseeing Platform (鸡啼山观景台), while the western Huangma demonstration zone will focus on rural rejuvenation.

In addition to hiking, the trail will also offer other leisure activities, such as agricultural experiences, outdoor sports and science popularization.

To date, the major entrances to Huangma and Lingtou, as well as the Lingtou tea garden loop line, have nearly completed construction and open to the public.