My New Favorite - Jiankou Great Wall

Time: 2018-07-13

I should have posted this earlier, but I've been hesitant. On the one hand, I really like this part of the Great Wall and want to share its beauty with people; on the other hand, it is not officially open to the public and its wildness could cause risks. In the end, I decide to present the Jiankou Great Wall to you as a traveller, not as a tour operator. Maybe, if more people are interested, the local government can be inspired to renovate it and open it officially? Then I hope the wild feeling of this area can remain unchanged.

The Jiankou Great Wall is about 100km from the city centre, 2-3 hours drive depending on traffic and where you start from. It is just west of the Mutianyu Great Wall. You can actually walk from Mutianyu to Jiankou. I have only done the day trip to Jiankou, once in April and once in June, with different partners/friends. I liked both trips. In April it was cloudy and grey, but we were able to finish the 3 hour walk. In June it was green and beautiful, but because of the storm we only visited a small part of it.

Now for the journey.

First we drive to the car park of Xizhazi Village, at the foot of the wall.

Take a look back at the village.

There are several paths to different parts of the wall and we take the most dangerous one, as they say. It takes about half an hour to reach the wall. This is the tricky part. If you don't know it, you might ask yourself "where is the wall? For me, it is also the most exhausting part, as the path goes up the mountain, with a difference in altitude of several hundred metres from the bottom to the top.

Then you see the wall, oh no, walls! The amazing thing about Jiankou is that you can see the walls going in different directions. There is a tower called Beijing Jie (Beijing Knot) where the walls from 3 directions meet. Due to time constraints, we didn't make it to Beijing Jie, although I saw it from a distance. It gives me a new feeling of the Great Wall. It is bigger and more extensive than I knew.

Of course, it is also famous for being dangerous. See for yourself in the pictures. Well, for me it is no problem at all, easier than the trail. Haha.

On the way down from the wall to the village, the mountain path returns. Warning: This path is more dangerous than the wall as it can be sloppy and slippery. Yeah, I didn't expect the trails to be the hard part!

Another warning: Try to avoid the wall on rainy and stormy days. The lightning and thunder adds to the sense of awe and wonder, with a fantastic view, but it confines you to a small section and there is a chance that the lightning could strike anyone who is up there. And it is more slippery than usual. No joke. There have been reports of accidents due to being struck by lightning or falling.

Then we had a dinner or lunch at Mr Zhao’s family run guesthouse. Nice and cozy to be there!

The latest news, as I have just checked, is that the government has started to renovate some parts of the Jiankou Wall. Again, I hope it will remain fantastic and wild, while becoming safer.

By Angie Guo - Charmission Travel