How to hike Yangtai Mountain in Shenzhen without the crowds

There are multiple ways to go up the Yangtai Mountain (羊台山）in Shenzhen.

Off the Beaten Path (the Dirt Road):

• Navigate to take Bus 66 till the last stop (wang jing keng王京坑). The bus starts from Window of the World which is also a Metro stop on Line 1 and 2. The nearest metro stop to take the bus is Xili on line 5 and 7. The bus ride is 2rmb, the ride from Xili is about 20 minutes
• Once you arrive, walk towards the local village where you will pass by a super market, make sure you use the bathroom here and grab enough water and food before you go up
• Follow a step trail to start hiking. You will encounter many cross roads, it's advisable to ask people you see on the way to confirm direction or use map on your phone. At one point you will see a little pond and a small farm, go left and you will see a rather sharp ramp going up. The dirt is very lose hence slippery so make sure you wear right shoes and get your hands dirty as you will need to grab onto rocks and little tree branches to go up.
• After it's a continuous dirty road going up with lots of trees, make sure you walk on the exposed roots of the trees for extra grip as the roads are slippery with loose dirt.
• Eventually you will arrive at the top for some stunning view over Shenzhen and some large rocks for Instagram photos. Many people stop here for picnic but please take your trash with you!
• When you are ready to go, just know there is still a long way up first before you head down. Otherwise you can choose to go back down the same way you come up.
• Going down: If you are tired, take the staircases which takes you to the main gate in Longhua. If you are feeling adventurous, you can take the dirt road down where you will end up in Baoan. The splitway is around "Lovers Pavillian". If you go left, it's easy steps to Longhua, if you go right, it's slippery road to Baoan. (The easy path of course will be rather packed and noisy)
• Once you go down to Longhua, you can walk out of the gate and take a bus or taxi. The closest metro stop is not really walking distance, take a taxi or grab a shared bike if you see one.
• Not sure where you will end up in Baoan as I took the easy way down. Will come back and update next time.
• Total time: 2hr going up, 1hr coming down