Live Your Best Lives
"War. If you win, you will surely win over the princes. If you lose, the mountains and rivers, both inside and outside, will be safe." - Zuo Zhuan, Duke Xi, Year 28
Thousands of years ago, the State of Jin, with its location surrounded by mountains and rivers, was able to attack the State of Chu without any worries, achieving a resounding victory and establishing its hegemony! This terrain of mountains within and rivers without is our protagonist today – Shanxi!
Shanxi has a rugged terrain. The surging Yellow River has torn a 725-kilometer-long Shanxi-Shaanxi Grand Canyon on the west side of Shanxi. The surging Yellow River water has become a natural barrier, and the 100-meter-deep valley is terrifying. This is the Yellow River in Shanxi!
Right on the bank of the Yellow River, a giant dragon that has experienced many vicissitudes of life winds its way over the mountains of northern Shanxi. Sometimes it towers over the peaks, sometimes it goes deep into the valleys, and sometimes it hovers over the plains, protecting this land for thousands of years. This is the Great Wall of Shanxi!
Today, the terrain of the mountains and rivers has lost the significance it had thousands of years ago, but the preserved remains of the Great Wall and the Yellow River Canyon have created a unique secret scenery for us. Today, let us hike on the Great Wall and the Yellow River, walk along the symbols of China, and explore the place where the Great Wall and the Yellow River shake hands!
The Great Wall, as the largest military project in ancient China, has become a symbol of China, but do we really understand it?
Shanxi has been an important frontier town for dynasties since ancient times. The total length of the Great Wall is more than 3,500 kilometers. The existing remains of the Great Wall can be traced back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties from the Warring States Period. Only when you come here can you feel the magnificent beauty of "Where to go for thousands of miles, the Great Wall is built across the desert." Today, the Great Wall has lost its majestic appearance of the past, and only those broken walls remain. However, it is these broken walls that build China's "national soul"!
The Shanxi Great Wall is divided into the "Inner Great Wall" and the "Outer Great Wall". The Inner Great Wall starts from Pianguan on the banks of the Yellow River and extends westward along the Yinshan and Hengshan Mountains, running through the entire Shanxi Province. The Yanmen Pass and Pingxingguan we are familiar with are both checkpoints of the Inner Great Wall!
The Outer Great Wall also starts at Pianguan on the bank of the Yellow River, passes through the famous Shaohukou, and goes directly to Jiayuguan. This section of the Great Wall is also the "lifeline" of China's agricultural civilization, because outside the pass people can only engage in grazing!
The Inner Great Wall of Shanxi winds along the ridge of Hengshan Mountain Range. Looking out from the top of the Great Wall, you can see an endless vast plain in the distance. Thousands of years ago, Li Guang, the great general of the Han Dynasty, wrote here: "If only the flying general were in Dragon City, the Hu horse would not be allowed to cross Yinshan Mountain!"
The most spectacular section of the Inner Great Wall is definitely the Baicaokou-Guangwu section! Located in the middle of the Inner Great Wall, this section is the most famous frontier outpost. The terrain is basin-shaped to the north and south, and the view from here is the most precipitous and scenic spot on the Inner Great Wall. It's where Li Guang of the Han Dynasty and Yang Ye of the Northern Song Dynasty once fought against invading enemies.
This route is 8 kilometers long, with a mere 500 meters of elevation gain, and winds along mountain ridges almost entirely. This section of the Great Wall towers into the clouds, and features a high density of horse faces, with eight closely spaced for every 400 meters. The wall itself is also remarkably well-preserved. Both the New Guangwu Fort and the Old Guangwu Fort can be seen along the Great Wall, with the Old Guangwu Fort being known as "China's best-preserved Liao Dynasty city."
In addition to the Guangwu ancient city and the remains of the Great Wall, you can also see the Guangwu Han Tombs. As a frontier position for the long-term battle with the Huns, countless soldiers have been buried here. This is the largest, most concentrated and most complete Han tomb group in the country, with a total of 293 burial mounds.
Tips:
Hiking distance: 8 km
Hiking type: Crossing
Hiking elevation gain: 500 meters
Hiking difficulty: 2 stars/easy
Suitable for people: 12 years old and above
If the Inner Great Wall of Shanxi is steep and precipitous, then the Outer Great Wall of Shanxi is a majestic and long-lasting loess wall stretching across the land, with beacon towers forming a magnificent beacon forest!
The biggest feature of the Great Wall is the continuous beacon towers and ancient border castles. Beacon towers stand on the plains, like trees in the forest, staggered and imposing. Because this place is relatively remote, a large number of border garrison soldiers can only live here, and over time, a number of ancient border castles have been formed!
There are two most beautiful sections of the Outer Great Wall hiking route, one is the Zhenchuankou Beacon Fire Group, and the other is the Zuoyun Great Wall!
Zhenchuankou is an important pass of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty. It was built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. In order to strengthen the defense, a large number of beacon towers were built on both sides of the Great Wall. Looking east from Fangshan, the Great Wall stretches for more than dozens of miles, with towers everywhere, and it is magnificent.
This route is 10 kilometers long and has an elevation of only 200 meters. It goes all the way along the Great Wall to the top of Fangshan Mountain. From there, you can see the entire group of beacon towers in the valley. The spectacular scene is still unforgettable!
Tips:
Hiking distance: 10 km
Hiking type: Crossing
Hiking elevation gain: 200 meters
Hiking difficulty: 2 stars/easy
Suitable for people: 12 years old and above
Zuoyun Great Wall is one of the most essential parts of the Shanxi Great Wall. It is one of the highest Great Walls in the world and is known as the "Hometown of the Great Wall" because here you can see not only well-preserved remains of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall, but also remains of the Han Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty, as well as miniature ancient castles, Catholic churches, hollow arrow towers, border fortresses and other Great Wall relics!
Yuehuachi, a miniature "castle" within the Zuoyun Great Wall, boasts a mere 264 meters in circumference, offering sweeping views of the mountains and rivers of Inner Mongolia and Shanxi. As one of the gateways to the west, Yuehuachi has served as a fortress since ancient times. The present-day Yuehuachi is an unfinished market management town, built during the reign of Emperor Muzong of the Ming Dynasty.
The Bataizi Church in Motianling is a Gothic church with a very old feel. It has a history of more than 100 years. Now only the pointed roof of the church remains, and the carved beams and painted buildings can be vaguely seen, full of exotic style.
This church was originally built in 1876 by Italian missionaries. Legend has it that the magnificent Bataizi Church was a center for Christians from Zuoyun, Youyu, Liangcheng, and other areas. In the decades that followed, Bataizi was repeatedly destroyed during wars, and now only the lonely remains of the bell tower remain, nestling alongside the Motianling Great Wall.
Bataizi Church is the only church along the Great Wall, so it is also regarded as the place where the Eastern Great Wall culture, Western church culture, grassland culture, and farming culture converge and merge!
The Zhenning Hollow Arrow Tower stands approximately 20 meters tall and has a circumference of 120 meters. Its purpose was to allow soldiers stationed on either side to intercept and kill any invading Hu invaders from the riverbed with arrows. Built during the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty to defend against the Tatars and the Oirat Mongols, it is the largest and most comprehensive Great Wall hollow arrow tower in history, the only one still intact today, and the only remaining brick hollow watchtower in Datong.
According to historical records, the Zhenning Hollow Arrow Tower was built under the supervision of Qi Jiguang, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty. It is an important symbol of the gradual strengthening of the Ming Great Wall's defense system. It is also one of the few brick-built watchtowers remaining on the entire Shanxi outer Great Wall, and it is the best preserved one since the Great Wall entered Shanxi from Hebei.
Tips:
We will visit Zuoyun Great Wall by car
The Shanxi-Shaanxi Yellow River Grand Canyon begins at the junction of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces. At Pianguan County in Shanxi, the Yellow River suddenly makes a 90-degree turn, its waters, once flowing from west to east, now roar southward, unstoppable. Millions of years of erosion have carved a vast, deep canyon across the Loess Plateau. This is the Shanxi-Shaanxi Grand Canyon.
The Shanxi-Shaanxi Grand Canyon boasts a staggering 56% of the Yellow River's sand content, despite its drainage basin comprising only 15% of the river's surface area. It's a true testament to the Yellow River's true beauty, with its deep ravines, turbid waves, and the quintessential Yellow River canyon scene. In 2005, China National Geographic magazine named the Grand Canyon one of China's ten most beautiful canyons.
Here we will hike 6 kilometers and gain an elevation gain of 150 meters. The entire journey will pass through the canyon of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Grand Canyon, and we can see with our own eyes the "first bend of the Yellow River entering Shanxi" - Laoniu Bay!
Tips:
Hiking distance: 6 km
Hiking type: Crossing
Elevation: 150 meters
Hiking difficulty: 2 stars/easy
Suitable for people: 12 years old and above
The Great Wall starts from Shanhaiguan at 40 degrees north latitude and runs westward.
The Yellow River, starting from the Bayankala Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, marches eastward. They meet magnificently at Laoniuwan in Pianguan County, Shanxi Province, and shake hands in friendship.
Friends, come together and explore the Great Wall, the Yellow River, the magnificent Shanxi scenery and the profound history behind it...
