Four-day Great Wall Extreme Trekking & Hiking Adventure for the Great Wall Conquerors up to 100 kms

Route 4UX (formerly 4A)
Huanghuacheng-Xishuiyu-Jiankou-Mutianyu-Gubeikou-Jinshanling-Huanyaguan with two nights of camping inside the watchtower at Gubeikou and Jiankou

Day 1: Beijing-Huanghuacheng-Xishuiyu (L+D, 7 hours of hiking, 19 kms). Camping on the Great Wall.

Your English-speaking guide will pick you up from your hotel at about 7:00 am. 

We’ll drive 2 hours to get to Huanghuacheng Great Wall, the most peaceful section of the Great Wall.

Huanghuacheng is remains very quiet away from tourists simply because of the challenges this section offers. The wall here is a combination of both restored and unrestored areas but largely wide, giving your hike a little more variety and adventure. When you reach the middle of the wall you will be able to see that the countryside is swathed in yellow, as masses of wild flowers come into bloom.

The highest point of the wall is a broken watchtower, and from there you will have a wide panoramic view of the whole valley. From this summit the Wall dives steeply downwards into the valley. The Gate is located at the bottom, an opening in the wall, which connects the Zhuangdaokou village on the inside, with the still-well-preserved Yaoziyu Castle, built in the Ming Dynasty, on the outside. Over the top ofthe passageway is another watchtower where we will rest a short while before continuing on. On the inside of the gate you will notice three large characters carved in the stone, indicating the name of the village – ZhuangDaoKou. On the outside is written the name of the passageway - “ZhenNu Pass” - meaning “Defeat to Invaders”, a warning to potential attackers in ancient times.

Today’s hike is quite special-part of the wall is under water! In 1974 China built the Xishuiyu Reservoir, and when the water level rose, some low-lying sections of the wall were submerged under water. Seen from the dam of the reservoir, this stately sunken wall is still visible under the water’s smooth and glimmering surface.  

Tonight, we'll sleep on the top of Jiankou, the watchower called "Zhenbeilou."  All heavy camping materials and provisions will be provided (such as tents when sleeping on the Great Wall. Zhengbeilou tower looks down on the rugged Jiankou section of the Wall to the west and toward Mutianyu in the east, making it a great spot for the amateur photographer. It is the best place to welcome the sunrise the next morning from the Great Wall of China.

Before we go up to camp at about 8 pm, you will enjoy the typical Chinese country-style dinner and breakfast.

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Day 2: Jiankou Trekking and Crossing over to Mutianyu  (B+L+D, 7 hours of hiking, 22 kms).  Camping on the Great Wall.

Today we will explore the amazing Great Wall at Jiankou. We will wake up at 5 am to welcome the magnificent sunrise starting at 5:30 am. We will have a breakfast after the sky become bright.

Jiankou is translated as 'Arrow Nock' in English, for the shape of the mountain is like an arrow, with the collapsed ridge opening as its arrow nock.  The Jiankou section is known for its ruggedness and wild beauty, and you will be in awe of the marvelous views it affords. As soon as we reach Jiankou we will see a deserted watchtower that gives you a panoramic view of the entire valley. In the early morning the view is priceless with its morning fog. This section of the wall is not well known by tourists, although if you see a picture of the Great Wall from exotic traveling magazines, chances are it is from Jiankou. This is the pinnacle of exotic Great Wall scenery.

This part of the wall is often empty, so you will have some peace and serenity on your hike today. Our hike will begin in earnest from the watchtower known as “Defending General”, and over the course of our trek we will pass through seven to eight different watchtowers. Over the next two hours we will be moving from west to east.  As we trek we’ll be able to see “Ying Feng Dao Yang” so named because this watchtower was erected on the highest peak in the area, and eagles and hawks often perch on it. Although the majestic wall is slowly being conquered by small trees and brambles, but the view from the top is still stunning!  Other landmarks will include the “Beijing Knot “ and the “Heavenly Ladder”, but we will not be able to scale these peaks as they are not accessible due to its toughness and dangerous footing.  The toughest challenge that this hike presents is a portion known as the “38 Steps”, where the Wall vastly increases in steepness, to the point that it is near 70 degrees! It is due to this feature that we advise those with heart problems or a phobia of heights not to go on this trip.  The rest of the hike is mostly smooth sailing.

Later we will move to another part of Jiankou to walk toward Mutianyu section, a section of the wall that has been largely restored. Although it has gotten a face-lift, it avoids the army of tourists that plague Badaling. Mutianyu offers some breathtaking views of the valley and wall below, and if you look to your right you’ll see a large sign engraved in the side of the mountain encouraging you to “Cherish the teachings of Chairman Mao”. Mutianyu has also become popular for visiting foreign leaders and celebrities.

We will head for Gubeikou to experience the off-the-beaten camping in ancient watchtowers at night for the second night. Before it gets dark, we'll set up our tents and other equipment in a watch tower.  We'll prepare the necessary camping facilities such as sleeping bags so you don't have to bring anything but yourself.

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Day 3: Gubeikou-Jinshanling-West Simatai (B+L+D, 7 hours of hiking, 23 kms). Sleep at the foot of the Great Wall.

We will wake up at 5:00 AM to view the complete twilight of the beautiful sunrise. We will have a continental breakfast in the watchtower and start our hike.

Today, our goal is to complete the hike from Gubeikou to Jinshanling and to West Simatai. This is a very classic intensive hiking on the Great Wall enjoyed by many people, but only offered by the Great Wall Adventure Club.  The section of Gubeikou was a battlefield in the modern World War II.

Gubeikou Great Wall occupies a strategically important location, which is difficult to access. Situated between Shanhaiguan Pass and Juyongguan Pass, and about 62 miles to Beijing, it is the bastion protecting the northern gateway to the capital. There are 14 beacon towers, 143 watchtowers, 16 strategic pass, three citadels and many other military constructions. Many of them are famous cultural relics, such as the Big Flower Beacon Tower of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Fairy Tower, General Tower, and the dominant Wangjing Tower. Being unrestored, the Gubeikou Great Wall is a challenging hike, but it’s not harder than anything you’ve hiked so far on this tour.

After walking on Gubeikou we will cross over to Jinshanling. Much of the hiking that we will do on Jinshanling today is relatively easy, as much of the wall here is restored and the surface smooth. However, some of the parts of Jinshanling are rather steep, making for lots of climbing. Jinshanling has five main passes and 67 watchtowers. 

Following lunch, we’ll make our way back onto the Great Wall in order to cross over into West Simatai. While the eastern portion of Simatai is closed due to government maintenance and repairs, the western section of the Simatai Great Wall is still open to hikers. The Simatai Great Wall is separated into eastern and western halves by a valley, with a rainbow-like chain bridge over the valley. The hills in the west are sloping gently, with 20 watchtowers remaining in good shape. The Simatai section of the Great Wall is one of the few sections to retain the original appearance of the Great Wall. Incorporating a variety of characteristics of other sections of the Great Wall, Simatai also displays some unique features of its own. It is often described with the following five words: perilous, dense, diverse, artful, and peculiar.

After the dinner, we will drive two hours to the famous section in Hebei called Huangyaguan. We will lodge in a hotel at the foot of the Great Wall to prepare for the next day's longest day trek. It will be at about 8-9 pm when we check in the hotel.

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Day 4: Peace Fort-Huangyaguan-Sky Ladder-Sanjiebei (B+L, 10 hours of hiking, 23 kms)

Following breakfast in the hotel, we will begin our hike of the Huangyaguan Great Wall section. We will walk from Taipingzhai to Huangyaguan with the chance to see the Widow Tower and then continuously walk westward for ten hours today .

Huangyaguan is designed as a miniature of the entire Great Wall of China, thereby allowing you get an understanding of the entire wall in a fraction of the time. The entire section is built on an abrupt mountain ridge. Huangyaguan is situated in a beautiful valley in the heart of the Yanshan Mountains. We start our walk heading up the steep renovated steps towards what appears to be a sheer cliff face. This is where we encounter "Heavens Ladder", a steep climb of over 200 steps leading us up to the cliff face. Once we have caught our breaths, the path continues gradually up to the top of the ridge and once again the old Wall, which follows the contours of the mountain. From the peak we can also see the Huangyaguan Fortress, which was restored in 1984. From this vantage point, we will be able to see its Baguan pattern, a specially designed labyrinth designed to confuse and entrap the enemy.

Six miles southeast of Huangyaguan Pass is the Taipingzhai (Peace Fort) Great Wall, another important mountain stronghold of the wall during the Ming Dynasty. It is also called Taipinganzhai, meaning "the fort of peace and prosperity". Starting from Banlagang Mountain in the east and arriving at Guafu Tower (Widow Tower) in the west, it winds through the precipitous mountains for about 955 yards. There are six watch towers, one battlement, and one shortcut leading to the wall. The architectural styles of the military towers vary considerably. There are square, round, solid and hollow towers, with some inside and others outside the wall. Beside the shortcut, there is a small citadel where an 8.5-meter statue of Qi Jiguang, the chief commanding officer of Ji Garrison (one of the eleven garrisons in the Ming Dynasty) is located. To the west of the citadel, a section of the wall extends 33 yards out to where a sentry post was situated. At the western end of the wall is a square stone tower called Guafu Tower, "Widow Tower" in English, built by twelve wives whose husbands died during the construction of the wall in the Ming Dynasty. Besides these cultural points of interest, Taipingzhai Great Wall is also famous for its amazingly impressive scenery. Zigzagging along the mountain ridge for over 984 yards, the wall looks very much like a giant dragon flying through clouds.

 
We will keep climbing toward the west on the Great Wall through the Sky Ladder. The incline is steep and a great challenge! Walking westward for 503 meters (550 yards) from the Huangya Pass, you will get to the steepest segment of this section, the Huangya Sky Ladder. Stairs there are not very smooth. Some of them even crack in the middle. Stretching to the top of the ridge, this long stairway seemingly leads to the sky. Climbing over the ladder, you will reach the primitive Great Wall built in the Northern Qi Dynasty, marking the end of the Huangyaguan section.

On the top the mountain top, we move continuously to the west side of Huangyaguan, the parts called Qianganjian and Sanjiebei. Both of the Great Wall sections here are the typical relic of the history where all the Wall are in the total ruined status with the walls have been torn down because of the age of hundreds of years, weather and war damages. In the end when we close today's trek, we reach the intersection of three province -Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin. Wahoo!

We will enjoy our last dinner together nearby the Wall. As it is a very long day today, you will get back to  your hotel in Beijing at 9-10 pm.

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