Autumnal Beauty in the Suburbs of Beijing | The Simatai Great Wall. Beacon Fires and Gunpowder Illuminate the Great Wall.
The Simatai Great Wall is the only ancient architectural site in China that retains the original appearance of the Ming Dynasty, recognized by UNESCO as the "Primitive Great Wall". This historically significant Great Wall suffered artillery attacks during the Gubeikou Battle in 1933, rendering its broken walls and ruins even more ruggedly beautiful.
The Simatai Great Wall is renowned for its "perilous, dense, peculiar, ingenious, and comprehensive" characteristics:
🔸Perilous: Constructed atop a mountain ridge as if chiseled by a knife and ax, it is breathtakingly dangerous.
🔸Dense: With 35 beacon towers, the closest ones are just tens of meters apart, and the farthest are no more than 300 meters apart, averaging only 140 meters in between.
🔸Peculiar: The steep and majestic mountain terrain, coupled with the shimmering waves of the Mandarin Duck Lake below, paints a picturesque landscape of mountain and water.
🔸Ingenious: The fortification walls, designed for both offense and defense, are strategically placed at every step.
🔸Comprehensive: The architectural styles of the watchtowers and beacon towers are diverse and unique.
⛰Travel Tips:
Compared to Badaling and Juyongguan, the Simatai Great Wall attracts fewer tourists, making it a highly recommended destination for those seeking a sense of historical vicissitude. The ancient Gubei Water Town is located at the foot of the Simatai Great Wall, making it an ideal weekend getaway. A two-day, one-night trip would be perfect.
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🚉Transportation Guide:
🚙Self-driving: We drove there ourselves. Simply set your GPS to Simatai Great Wall, and it's quite convenient.
🚌Bus:
From the Drum Tower Station, cross the road to the bus stop and take bus number 51 to reach Gubei Water Town.
🚌Direct Bus from Dongzhimen: Dongzhimen ~ Gubei Water Town (Three trips per day)
Departure from Dongzhimen: 9:00, 11:00, 13:00
Departure from Gubei Water Town: 12:00, 14:00, 17:00
Simatai Great Wall is beautiful! It's fascinating how they managed to build the whole great wall. Be careful of the steep slopes and remember to wear a hiking or climbing shoe as I couldn't make it down with sneakers (too slippery 😞)
A great piece of renovated Great Wall to visit - entry that includes cable car is on the pricier side but unless you are super fit I recommend taking cable car at least up if not both ways as the wall is quite steep. If you are a confident walker then taking cable car up and walking along the wall and back down to the start would be a great option. We went up in autumn on a perfect day and the photo opportunities were fantastic. You can also go up at night but you have to pay for that separately - we thought going up in the day was best for us (I had my older parents with me).
Simatai Great Wall is located in the north of Simatai Village, Gubeikou Town, north of Miyun District, northeast of Beijing, close to Gubei Water Town, 120 kilometers from Beijing, belonging to the Yanshan Mountains, Simatai Great Wall is built on the steep mountain, and is known for its five characteristics of danger, dense, Qi, Qi, Qi and all. The Simatai Great Wall rises from Wangjing Building to the east, and from the west to Houchuankou. The length of the Great Wall is5.7 kilometers. Among them, Wuhu Reservoir divides the Great Wall into two sections. There are 16 enemy buildings in the east and 19 enemy buildings in the west, with a total of 35 (including one in the water that has been destroyed). In 1987, the Simatai Great Wall was listed on the World Heritage List, and is the only ancient architectural site in China that retains the original appearance of the Ming Dynasty, and is designated by UNESCO as the "Original Great Wall". Luo Zhewen, a famous ancient architect in China, once said that "the Great Wall of China is the world's most, and the Great Wall of Simatai is the most". In 2012, the Great Wall of Simatai was named "the top 25 scenery in the world that cannot be missed" by the British Times. The Simatai Great Wall was built in the early years of Ming Hongwu (AD 1373), and was built on the basis of the Great Wall of Beiqi, under the jurisdiction of the ancient north road of Zhongmu Town of the Ming Dynasty "Jiuzhen". During the Ming Wanli period, Qi Jiguang, the general soldier of Jingyu Town, and the governor, Yuan led the troops to carry out key renovations, greatly improving the defense system. Its mountain is steep, the terrain is steep, the project is vast, easy to guard, and the wind speed is large.
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The beautiful Great Wall is the greatness of the Chinese. The hard work of the Chinese, the environmental protection is very good, like it!
There are too many people on National Day, the management of the attractions is very good, the scenic spot is clean, the scenery is pleasant, like it!