Hiking the Wild Great Wall

The “Wild Great Wall” are remote, quiet, beautiful, and you may not see any other tourists. In Beijing, there many awesome wild sections along the magnificent Great Wall for hiking and trekking, such as Simatai, Jinshanling, Gubeikou, Jinshanling to Simatai, Gubeikou to Jinshanling, Jiankou, Huangyaguan, Huanghuacheng, Badaling Wild Great Wall, and Shentangyu etc. You can choose different sections from easy to hard level depending on your physical level.

Simatai Great Wall

If you are up to challenge, the Simatai section will be ideal for you. The Simatai Great Wall is famous for steepness and queerness. The bacon towers and walls damaged in past wars and worn by the weather are remained in their original look without restoration and building of tourist facilities. The section of Simatai is located on the north of Beijing. The eastern part of the Simatai section is unbelievable steep sited on the sheer mountain ridge. When you climb on it, you will be stunned by ancient Chinese people’s architecture skill. This part is the most exciting hiking site for brave tourist.

There are four highlights namely Watching Beijing Tower, Fairy Tower, Heavenly Ladder and Sky Bridge. There are 16 beacon towers in the eastern of Simatai section. From the 14th beacon tower to the 16th beacon tower is the most precipitous and slope parts of the Great Wall. The wall between the 14th and the 15th beacon towers is called the Heavenly Ladder. The wall here stretches up on the steep mountain cliff, and is just more than half meter wide on the top of the wall like a ladder rising up into heaven. The 15th beacon tower therefore called Fairy Tower. It becomes more breathtaking when hiking goes ahead. You can get the feeling from its name: Sky Bridge. It is the 100m long wall between the Fairy Tower and the 16th beacon tower. It is merely 40 cm wide on the top of the wall. When you reach the 16th beacon tower, you have reached the highest point of the Simatai Great Wall, where the beacon tower is named the Watching Beijing Tower.

Jiankou Great Wall

Jiankou Great Wall is regarded by some people as the most picturesque section of Great Wall and is a good example of “Wild Great Wall”. It’s become a popular photographic hotspot and hiking destination in recent days. Jiankou is translated as “Arrow Nock” in English, since the shape of the mountains where the walll was built is like an arrow with the collpased ridge opening as its arrow nock. The main section of the wall was built along the ridges with steep cliffs on each side. Therefore, you have to prepare for a good fitness and great care if you climb this section.

Jinshanling to Simatai

The hiking from Jinshanling to Simatai is about 12km passing 30 watch towers and takes about 4 hours. Some parts are renovated but most are original. Some say that the hike between Jinshanling and Simatai gives you a truly “authentic” Great Wall experience. Trekking along the Great Wall, you can choose to go back to the city or camp overnight on the Great Wall, or stay overnight in local guesthouse.

Gubeikou Great Wall

Gubeikou Great Wall is located along the Yanshan Mountain rang in the northeast of Miyun County, about 100 km northeast of Beijing. It is composed of Wohu Great Wall and Panlong Great Wall. Although being collapsed and dilapidated, the whole Gubeikou Great Wall is not under any restoration at all. It keeps its original appearance totally, so it attracts travelers from all over the world here to appreciate the splendid beauty of China old great walls.