Gubeikou Great Wall

Gubeikou is one of the important passes in history and is the throat of the communication between Beijing and the northeast region. In 555 AD, the Great Wall from Juyongguan to Shanhaiguan was built here. In 1403, when Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, he rebuilt the Great Wall to strengthen Beijing's defense. In particular, the section of the Great Wall from Juyongguan to Shanhaiguan, which is about 600 kilometers long, was built particularly solid. Juyongguan in the northwest and Gubeikou in the northeast became the important gateways from the capital of the Ming Dynasty to Mongolia. Because of its rugged terrain, it is known as "the land strangles the throat to the desert, and the sky keeps the key to the majestic pass."

The original state is well maintained, a good place to take pictures of the starry sky

I planned to visit the Great Wall in Gubeikou, and I chose the Panlong Mountain section as my destination. After arriving, I was amazed:



Compared with other scenic spots, the Panlongshan Great Wall is relatively dilapidated, but most of the walls and watchtowers are still intact, retaining the historical style while giving people a sense of vicissitudes. The mountains and forests around the Great Wall are also very beautiful. In addition, most of the roads on the Panlongshan Great Wall are very easy to walk and safe, which can be described as relaxing. There are also very few tourists here, so you can enjoy the charm of the Great Wall without worrying about crowds.



This section of the Great Wall is very close to Gubeikou Town, where there are many farmhouses to choose from and the accommodation conditions are acceptable.

The scenery is really good, suitable for friends who love photography

The ancient town and the magnificent Great Wall tell a tough and moving story.

I wanted to go to Gubeikou Great Wall when I left home, so I entered the navigation system in Gubeikou Great Wall. I took the Beijing-Chengde Expressway and drove for more than 100 kilometers. I followed the navigation system and drove into the entrance of "Guyudao Village". I saw the sign "Panlongshan Great Wall" in front of me and turned left.

I thought: Maybe the Panlongshan Great Wall is a section of the Gubeikou Great Wall?

Gubeikou Great Wall is a broad name, including Panlongshan Great Wall, Wohushan Great Wall, etc. I went to the Panlongshan section of the Great Wall.

On my way up the mountain, I saw this watchtower covered with windows from afar and felt very surprised: most of the watchtowers on the Great Wall have five eyes, and there are very few with nine eyes. What kind of tower is this one with eyes all over it?

I only found out from the introduction that it is the "24-eye General Building"

However, when I looked at the enemy tower from close up, I was almost at the end.

When you climb up the wall from the gap, there is a big sign on the left that says: Danger ahead, etc.

Then, I walked towards the danger to see how dangerous it was.

I have walked many dangerous parts of the Great Wall, and I certainly won't risk my life. But under the warm sun of this winter, on a sunny day with super high visibility, it seems that danger is far away from me, right?

After passing through this watchtower, the Great Wall stretched endlessly in the distance, and I didn’t see any dangerous sections of the road.

And in the distance, there were several small groups of tourists walking towards me. I guess they also wanted to take a look at the enemy tower with holes all over it.

I stood here, took a few photos, then turned around and walked towards the "General's Building".

I look at the Great Wall like I look at a beautiful woman - I can never look at it enough, and I can never take enough photos of it.

I can't count how many Great Walls I have visited. Except for the Ming Great Wall and the Qin Great Wall, which have obvious differences in infrastructure, the other Great Walls I visited are similar, but I still enjoy them: its lines, its light and dark, its winding, its charm; spring, summer, autumn and winter, each season is different.

Of course, apart from the minor differences between each tower on the Great Wall, the biggest difference lies in the history, stories, battlefields, and experiences behind them....

I passed by one of the watchtowers and found that one of the surrounding walls began to collapse along the window hole, leaving visitors with nothing in front of them. They could only hold on to the inner wall and look down. If they were in a hurry, they might slip. This would be a bit dangerous at night!

The 24-eye tower is indeed unique. It is the first time I have seen a tower with so many windows and the first time I have seen such a tall tower. Moreover, at the corner of the tower, there is a bunker-like building (now there is garbage piled inside).

Standing on the 24-eye tower, you can see the vast expanse of the Great Wall.

In fact, from the time I stepped onto the Great Wall until I reached the "24 Eyes Tower", it didn't take long and it wasn't tiring. It wasn't intense or dangerous.

It is said on the Internet that this is the easternmost watchtower of the "Panlongshan Great Wall".

I think it was because the military restricted area was just ahead of the 24-eye building! Not only was the road blocked, but it was also covered with barbed wire, which made me afraid to go in rashly.

I climbed a beacon tower in one go and was exhausted. It had just rained when I went there, the air was fresh and the scenery was beautiful. The steps were a bit high.

Wuzhen in the north is exactly what I imagined, with small bridges, flowing water and houses.

〔The Gubeikou Great Wall is the most complete Great Wall system in the history of the Great Wall of China. It is composed of the Northern Qi Great Wall and the Ming Great Wall, including four sections: Wohu Mountain, Panlong Mountain, Jinshanling and Simatai. Gubeikou is a Great Wall fortress between Shanhaiguan and Juyongguan. It is the throat of the Liaodong Plain and Inner Mongolia to the Central Plains. It has always been a battleground for military strategists, especially in the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The battles of all sizes for Gubeikou have never stopped, so the role of the Great Wall is particularly important.〕--Excerpt from Baidu Encyclopedia.

When you travel to Gubeikou Great Wall, you can climb the Great Wall. There are people selling tickets in the peak season, but most of the time no one sells tickets, and local villagers rely on this to make money. Most of the Great Wall is relatively primitive and unmaintained. The most famous one should be the section called "Balouzi" by hikers.

The Beijing-Chengde Railway passes through here. From Liushuigou Station to Gubeikou Station, it is a semicircle. It is very beautiful and suitable for taking photos of trains. It is a popular place for train fans. I came here with a train fan.

We went there during the May Day holiday, and the weather was already very hot. We brought some barbecue utensils and food, stayed at a local farmhouse, and after eating and drinking, we took flashlights and SLRs to climb the hillside next to the railway to take pictures of trains at night. If there are not many people, it is not recommended to do this. It is pitch black on the top of the mountain, and there are bursts of strange sounds from time to time, like birds but not birds, like people but not people. If you go out to take pictures at night, you must be fully equipped. After we finished taking pictures and went down the mountain and just entered the house, it rained heavily, but we were lucky to escape.

There are many transportation options for visiting the Gubeikou Great Wall. You can take a bus, drive, or take a train. It is recommended to spend more than 2 days. It is a bit troublesome to go back and forth on the same day. If you take the train, there is no ticket office at Gubeikou Station. You can buy the ticket after getting on the train. Students who are interested can try it.

You can learn many interesting stories by following train fans, such as the many stories about the construction of the Beijing-Chengde Line.

The films I shot in the early days were rather childish. I am too lazy to edit the films, so you guys just have to make do with them.

Gubeikou is composed of the Wohushan Great Wall built in the Northern Qi and Ming dynasties in the west, the Panlongshan Great Wall in the east, and the Jinshanling and Simatai Great Walls. The Wohushan Great Wall is named after the shape of the top of the mountain, which resembles two tigers, one facing up and the other facing down. It has a long history, many changes, clever layout, and complete facilities, making it a masterpiece of Great Wall architecture. Here you can find the only sister tower of the Great Wall, the longest water gate Great Wall, extremely rare flat towers, round towers, half-side towers, double crenels and "knife handle towers", as well as the spectacular "Great Wall Knot" formed by the Northern Qi Great Wall, Ming brick Great Wall, Ming stone Great Wall, and Great Wall branch walls. Looking at the Great Wall lying between the mountains from a distance, it is very majestic and shocking.

The Gubeikou Great Wall is winding and undulating, with many watchtowers in various forms. The world-renowned Simatai Great Wall is a section of the Gubeikou Great Wall. Although the Gubeikou Great Wall is not high, the scenery is superb. The Gubeikou Great Wall is also the Ming Great Wall. The difference is that Gubeikou has not been post-processed, and the vicissitudes of history and the original ecology are displayed, which is completely the original appearance. It is a good place for photography enthusiasts!

I went there when it was just built. It was like Wuzhen. It was OK in the north, but not as good as those ancient towns in the south.

I got up early and looked at the sky. It was sunny with occasional clouds. So, we took our camera and headed for Gubeikou.

Take the Beijing-Chengde Expressway, and enjoy the scenery along the way. It only takes one and a half hours to reach the Panlongshan Great Wall in Gubeikou.

Without a ticket, local villagers will stop your car and collect a "toll" of several dozen yuan. It feels more reassuring if you park your car at their house.

The Great Wall here has not been repaired much, it is still original and has a beautiful shape.

The main advantage is that there are few people. In fact, the scenery is average, not as interesting as other Great Walls in Beijing, but there are really few people! It's also okay to go there to breathe in nature... Just walk around!!! Just wander around!!!

I don't know if I went to Gubeikou, but it was not Badaling. There are fewer people, but it is more difficult to climb. The Great Wall really tests physical strength and perseverance. The stone steps we climbed were very shaky, uneven, and some were very slippery. After climbing up the beacon tower, you can go to the second level of the beacon tower. The stone steps are even smaller and you can only walk sideways. There is no light. It is very bright outside and very dark inside. You have to use your hands and feet when climbing and be very careful.

The winding Gubeikou Great Wall has lost its grandeur and splendor, leaving only ruins, but the indomitable spirit is still there!

Compared to the conventional Great Wall, I prefer the one in Gubeikou, which is a little dangerous and not as conventional as Simatai and Badaling. Getting up at five in the morning to climb the Great Wall and watch the sunrise is really exciting.

In a broad sense, the Gubeikou Great Wall includes four sections: Wohu Mountain, Panlong Mountain, Jinshanling and Simatai. The specific Gubeikou Great Wall refers to the section near Hexi Village, where the Gubeikou battlefield of the "Great Wall Anti-Japanese War" was located. Unlike other Great Walls, this section of the Great Wall is surrounded by other buildings such as old palaces. Therefore, in addition to the ancient Great Wall section, there are also attractions such as Yang Linggong Temple, Panlong Mountain, and Gubeikou Anti-Japanese War Site. In 1933, the Gubeikou Anti-Japanese War was carried out here, and the remains of more than 360 fallen soldiers were buried at the foot of the Gubeikou Great Wall. The entire Gubeikou Great Wall has not been artificially repaired, and it has a very vicissitudes of life. The broken walls and bullet holes make people feel as if they are in that war-torn era.

Although the Gubeikou Great Wall is not very high, it is still very tiring to walk. There are no railings next to the Great Wall, so it is quite dangerous to go alone. But the scenery is super good, especially when you look down from a high place, there are many broken Great Walls, which makes us feel the time. They really have existed for a long time. How hard and difficult it was to build them at that time, transporting so many stones to the mountain. I was especially lucky to see the rare sea of ​​clouds, which was super beautiful under the sunset.

Walking on the Great Wall, I felt relieved. However, looking far away, there were endless mountains in the distance, and the walls and beacon towers of the Great Wall were like a string of pearls and gems inlaid on this endless mountain ridge, dazzling and radiant, stretching to the endless distance. I knew in my heart that the endless distance was the Jinshanling Great Wall I wanted to chase, but at this moment, it seemed so illusory and out of reach. I took a deep breath and encouraged myself. I also knew that this challenge was not small, but there was no turning back. Let's go!

In addition to the Great Wall, at the foot of the Gubeikou Great Wall, there is the imperial road that the emperor once passed by, the Yang Linggong Temple, the Anti-Japanese War relics and other memorial sites where you can look back on history, which will not be boring.

The Gubeikou Great Wall is the original Great Wall. The unrepaired walls and watchtowers have not lost their grandeur, splendor and grandeur despite years of erosion, collapse and damage.