 We
start our
hiking at Jinshanling section of
the Great Wall.
But first, let's see who have successfully
completed their hiking and become our
Hall of Famers!
140
kilometers at the north-east end of
Beijing City, there is a section of
the Great Wall, called Jinshanling
Great Wall. It is 90 kilometers to the
Mountain Resort of Chengde. A tablet with the Chinese inscription of
"Jinshanling Great Wall" was set in this section.
On the right is the full view of the Jinshanling
Great Wall. Its east end
connects to the Simatai Great Wall. Jinshangling
Great Wall got its name because it was built on the bigger and the smaller
Jinshan Mountains.
The Jinshanling Great Wall. was initially built from 1368 to 1389 in the
Ming Dynasty, and in 1567 or 1570 rebuilding of the Wall was mainly
directed by General Qi Jiguang. Poems and tablet writings can be found on
the Jinshanling Great Wall left from the time Qi Jiguang directed building
of this section of the Great Wall.
The total length of this section is about eleven kilometers (6.8 miles),
and the scenic spot of the Jinshanling Great Wall has an area of 32 square
kilometers. The Wall is about seven to eight meters high and five to six
meters wide, which is made of brick and stone. The Jinshanling
Great Wall
has an elevation of 700 meters. Watching Beijing Tower is on the highest
position, from which you can see Beijing. The Jinshanling
Great Wall is
second only to the Badaling Great Wall in its completeness.
There
are more than 100 enemy towers along the whole Jinshanling Great Wall.
Built stably and elegantly, different towers have different structures and
appearances. Please see the left picture - it is one of the enemy towers.
Rows of 3-meter-high Barrier Walls were built leading to the enemy towers
to protect the towers. Some of the towers are storerooms as well. They
were used to store food, hay and weapons.
Two of so many enemy towers are bigger Jinshan and smaller Jinshan. There
is a legend about them. It was said that the two towers were built by 3000
soldiers from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces led northward by Qi
Jiguang. In order to remind themselves of their hometowns, the names of
bigger and smaller Jinshan Islands in Zhenjiang City, which is in Jiangsu
Province, were used to name the two enemy towers.
As there are relatively few
tourists at Jinshanling Great
Wall, it is a good place to explore on foot.
In early mornings of spring and summer you can see a remarkable view -
"Cloud Sea" below you from the Wall.
The Jinshanling Great Wall has never been repaired. You are safer when you
visit this section of the Great Wall than other parts. It is safer as the
service in this section of Great Wall includes that one tour guide is
responsible for one tourist, for his/her safety actually. When needed, the
tour guides will go hand in hand to protect the tourists.
An 800-meter long cable was built to entertain the tourists. Also a
3-kilometer section of the Wall was rebuilt and is bathed after dark in
colored light, making a splendid "Night
Great Wall".
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