| Hiking The Greatwall |
140 kilometers at the north-east end of Beijing
City, there is a section of the Great Wall, called Jinshanling
Great Wall. It is 90 kilometers to the Mountain Resort of Chengde.
A tablet with the Chinese inscription of "Jinshanling Great
Wall" was set in this section.
On the right is the full view of the Jinshanling Great Wall.
Its east end connects to the Simatai Great Wall. Jinshangling
Great Wall got its name because it was built on the bigger and
the smaller Jinshan Mountains.
The Jinshanling Great Wall was initially built from 1368 to
1389 in the Ming Dynasty, and in 1567 or 1570 rebuilding of
the Wall was mainly directed by General Qi Jiguang. Poems and
tablet writings can be found on the Jinshanling Great Wall left
from the time Qi Jiguang directed building of this section of
the Great Wall.
The total length of this section is about eleven kilometers
(6.8 miles), and the scenic spot of the Jinshanling Great Wall
has an area of 32 square kilometers. The Wall is about seven
to eight meters high and five to six meters wide, which is made
of brick and stone. The Jinshanling Great Wall has an elevation
of 700 meters. Watching Beijing Tower is on the highest position,
from which you can see Beijing. The Jinshanling Great Wall is
second only to the Badaling Great Wall in its completeness.
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There are more than 100 enemy towers
along the whole Jinshanling Great Wall. Built stably and
elegantly, different towers have different structures
and appearances. Please see the left picture - it is one
of the enemy towers. Rows of 3-meter-high Barrier Walls
were built leading to the enemy towers to protect the
towers. Some of the towers are storerooms as well. They
were used to store food, hay and weapons.
Two of so many enemy towers are bigger Jinshan and smaller
Jinshan. There is a legend about them. It was said that
the two towers were built by 3000 soldiers from the Jiangsu
and Zhejiang Provinces led northward by Qi Jiguang. In
order to remind themselves of their hometowns, the names
of bigger and smaller Jinshan Islands in Zhenjiang City,
which is in Jiangsu Province, were used to name the two
enemy towers.
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As there are relatively few tourists at Jinshanling Great
Wall, it is a good place to explore on foot.
In early mornings of spring and summer you can see a remarkable
view - "Cloud Sea" below you from the Wall.
The Jinshanling Great Wall has never been repaired. You are
safer when you visit this section of the Great Wall than other
parts. It is safer as the service in this section of Great Wall
includes that one tour guide is responsible for one tourist,
for his/her safety actually. When needed, the tour guides will
go hand in hand to protect the tourists.
An 800-meter long cable was built to entertain the tourists.
Also a 3-kilometer section of the Wall was rebuilt and is bathed
after dark in colored light, making a splendid "Night Great
Wall".
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