Chengde · Jinshanling Great Wall | On the Untamed Dragon's Spine
Essential Overview
Location: Luanping County, Chengde, 2h drive from Beijing/20-minute taxi from Gubeikou Station on Beijing Suburban Railway
Best seasons: April-May (wildflowers on the wall), September-October (autumn foliage), November (snow on ruins)
Must-experience: Sunrise over sea of clouds, hiking unrestored wild sections, discovering 24 unique watchtowers
Hidden reward: Carry 10 kg of trash down the mountain to earn a commemorative badge
🏯 First Encounter with the Wall: The Breathtaking Moment of the Dragon's Awakening
Climbing the brick tower steps with flashlights at 4 AM, as the eastern horizon turns pale blue-green. When the first ray of sunlight pierces through the mist, illuminating the crenellated battlements of Kufang Tower, the entire Great Wall suddenly transforms into a golden dragon—those undulating walls following the mountain contours aren't man-made fortifications at all, but the spine of the mountain range itself rising up.
💭 Soul-Stirring Experience
Touching the clear inscription "Fifth Year of Wanli" on the wall bricks creates a sudden time overlap with soldiers who stood guard 440 years ago. The watchtowers they once manned have now become scenic spots in our camera frames—perhaps this is history's grandest irony.
🚶 Hiking Route Guide
【Easy Route】Brick Tower → Shaling Pass (2h)
Highlights: Best-preserved wall sections with inscribed bricks, arched tower gates perfect for framing photos
Secret photo spot: Capture the S-shaped wall from the "Qilin Screen" watchtower window
【Classic Route】Small Jinshan Tower → General's Tower (4h)
Impressive feature: Conquering the 70-degree steep "Heavenly Ladder" section on all fours reveals the hardships of ancient builders
Wild experience: Pick sour dates and walnuts along the route in September
【Wild Route】One-sided wall traverse at Simatai (guide required)
Adventure among crumbling ruins where collapsed arrow windows frame the vast Yanshan Mountains.
📸 Three Legendary Photo Spots
West Five-Eye Tower
At sunrise, sea of clouds flows over the wall; from drone perspective, the wall appears to float on clouds
Taochun Pass
Late April when mountain peach blossoms explode, creating stunning contrast between pink flowers and gray-colored wall
3 Houchuan Tower
After winter snowfall, collapsed watchtowers resemble fossil remains of giant beasts, telling the cruel beauty of time
🍲 Mountain Delicacies
Farmhouse feast at the foot of the Great Wall
Wood-fired stewed bighead carp (freshly caught from Luan River), oil-fried magnolia shoots with almonds (limited to early spring)
Hiking supplies
Bring Chengde Lulu drinks and Lvdagun (donkey roll cake) for a time-travel experience eating in the watchtowers
Hidden gem
Yellow gentian tea sold by elderly women at the scenic area exit, 2 yuan/cup, refreshing and cooling
💭 Taste Memory
While crouching in the shadow of a collapsed watchtower eating flatbread, an army of ants comes to carry away fallen sesame seeds. Suddenly I understand—no matter how magnificent, the Great Wall will eventually become part of nature.
🏡 Accommodation Recommendations
Guesthouses at the foot of the Great Wall
Recommend "Jinshanling Great Wall House," with sun-dried kang beds and owners who can tell stories about each watchtower
Camping warning
Official prohibition against overnight stays on the wall! But you can stay at campgrounds outside the scenic area and climb up at 3 AM
Caution
Avoid Gubei Water Town hotels on weekends—overpriced and noisy with crowds
❗ Essential Tips
Equipment: Hiking poles necessary! Some sections covered with loose rocks
Safety: Must sign liability waiver for wild wall sections, absolutely no entry to collapsed areas
Etiquette: Don't carve on wall bricks! Take all trash with you (including toilet paper)
Bonus: Every Wednesday in autumn, descendants of wall guards give tours (10:00/14:00)
🌌 Final Spiritual Dialogue
Sitting on the battlement of Great Jinshan Tower at dusk, watching birds fly through arrow slits. In the distance, traffic on modern highways looks like a glowing necklace, while the stone wall beneath my feet has wound through these mountains for six hundred years in silence. I suddenly understand the eternal charm of the Great Wall—it's both our telescope into history and a mirror reflecting our own insignificance.
- Ring line 3km: ticket gate → brick gate → Shaling gate → ticket gate. On this line, you can see the most distinctive barrier walls, horse-blocking walls, branch walls, and campfire platforms of the Jinshanling Great Wall. - Ring line 4km: ticket gate → brick gate → Shaling gate → Xiaojinshan Building → ropeway station → ticket gate. This line has a must-see size Jinshan Building on the Jinshanling Great Wall. Two enemy buildings are located on two steep and beautiful peaks. The name of the Jinshanling Great Wall also comes from this. - 5km of the ring line: ticket gate → brick gate → Shaling gate → Houchuankou → ticket gate. This line is the highest point of the Central Ring Line and the best photography location of the Jinshanling Great Wall. Here, you can overlook the entire Great Wall and see the magnificent scene on the Great Wall. - 10km of the Ring Line: ticket gate → brick gate → Shalingkou → Houchuankou → East Five Eyes Building → East Gate Visitor Center. This is a fun Great Wall sports line, suitable for sports enthusiasts challenge.
Jinshanling Great Wall is worthy of being the most beautiful Great Wall selected by National Geographic Magazine The scenery is more than a billion points of shock❗️The sunset is like a movie filter✨ 📍Jinshanling Great Wall in Chengde, Hebei 🎫: 65r/person 🚗2h self-driving in Beijing city adjacent to Miyun 📝4-hour Great Wall Three Wonders Route The entrance of the scenic area is the middle gate➡️Brick cut mouth➡️Xiaojinshan Tower➡️Houchuankou➡️Dongwuyan Tower➡️East Gate Exit
The scenery is beautiful, with both natural scenery and cultural atmosphere. It is also convenient to drive there. The road there is paved with stones, and we took a speedboat back. It is worth visiting again.
Compared with other Great Walls, there can be fewer people. If you plan to cross, the intensity is not too big. There is basically no one on the East Line in the morning. Most of the photos are taken in the morning. If the weather is good, the scenery is also beautiful. There are fewer entertainment facilities around the East Line. It is recommended to drive by yourself.
Great Wall, Jinshan Duxiu Jinshanling Great Wall play guide; I accidentally brushed the Jinshanling promotional video. After watching it, I planted grass in my heart. It is a little better for a niche destination. There are few Jingmei people~ Suitable for travel photos~ This time period is very comfortable~ It is cooler than Beijing~ It is operated on Trip.com , and finally booked a day trip from 🚌 Beijing-Beidou Travel Jinshanling 🚌 The most important thing about the itinerary is to solve the other non-important round-trip transportation~~🌺 Regarding transportation: ⏰ From Chaoyangmen Metro Exit A bus directly to Jinshanling Great Wall at 8 am, one-way is about 2.5 hours, about 10:30 Arrive at the scenic spot; after entering the park, take the shuttle bus to the ticket gate and start climbing the Great Wall! Return at 16:00 in the afternoon, arrive at Chaoyangmen subway at about 18:30; 🌺 About the tour guide: 😄 Zhang Dao is very humorous, and his appearance is a joy! Talking Beijing accent Beijing flavor! The bus has a lot of explanations, history and humanities. . Colorful and interesting, after arriving at the scenic spot, it is basically free activities~ start the punch-in trip; 🌺 Regarding eating and drinking: 🍔 The itinerary does not include meals. There are fast food in the scenic area (the scenic area, not much to say, everyone should understand) and you can also bring some. Add in the Great Wall~ The water in the scenic area is expensive. Buy 5 yuan and 2 bottles in the car before getting off the bus; 🌺 About the tour: 📌 varies from person to person, depending on personal situation~ ✅ Recommended line 1: Scenic Area Zhongmen-Cableway-Xiaojinshan Building-East Five Eyes Building-Walk-East Gate of the scenic spot, enjoy the style of the large and small golden building, the towering of the East Five Eyes Building can overlook the Simatai Wangjing Building and the Miyun Reservoir. Explore text bricks and shadow walls (about 3 hours hiking) ✅ Recommended line 2: Scenic Area Zhongmen-Walkway-Brick Entrance-East Five Eyes Building-Walkway-East Gate of the Scenic Area, enjoy the defense system of brick Entrance and General Building, (about 4 hours hiking) ✅ Recommended line 3: The scenic spot Zhongmen-Walk-Taochunkou-East Five Eyes Building-Walk-The East Gate of the Scenic Area, you can look at the Gubeikou Pass and the Gubeikou Great Wall from a distance, and find that Ke Shouliang once flew over the Great Wall (about 4.5 hourly hiking tour) Jinshanling is more beautiful because of the changes in the scenery of the four seasons, and there are apricot flowers in spring. Xiaguan Yunhai, autumn maple leaves layer forest dyed, winter snow, ice hanging smog ...🌺 exceeded expectations for a day trip, the price value! Don't step on the pit! Recommend to everyone! '
The autumn Jinshanling Great Wall is colorful and stained with forests. The red leaves and colorful leaves of the mountain are interesting and picturesque, making people linger. Look at the majestic and simple Great Wall, like a dragon flying in the mountains, the red leaves all over the hillside, the morning glow is like the red clouds falling on the mountainside, inside and outside the Great Wall, those trees and those leaves are thousands of postures, colorful, like countless colorful butterfly flying, in the bright and high blue sky against, More intoxicating...come on! Go to the Jinshanling Great Wall to enjoy this beautiful autumn color!
Driving on the Beijing-Chengdu Expressway, once you cross the Beijing-Shanghai junction, you can see the rolling Great Wall on Jinshanling. Jinshanling Great Wall is a renovated scenic spot, safer than climbing the Wild Great Wall, but there are also many city walls that have not been repaired, retaining the original charm of the Wild Great Wall. Self-driving cars parked in the two-story parking lot outside the scenic spot must take a sightseeing car. You can take the cable car directly to the top of the mountain, saving a lot of physical strength. Go straight down the cable car and go straight to the Great Wall. You can choose to go left (East Section) or right (West Section). After asking the staff, there are fewer repairs to the left and more repairs to the right. Whether you go left or right, there is a road to walk down the mountain, and there is no need to return to take the cable car down the mountain. The last time I went to catch a spring snow very rare. The mountain dance silver snake, "look inside and outside the Great Wall, only the reckless"; snow pressed flowers, "see red wrapped, especially demons".