Huangyaguan Great Wall, located in the south mountain area of Jixian County in Tianjin, was originally constructed in the North Qi Dynasty over 1,400 years ago. It was retrofitted in the Ming Dynasty under the charge of General Jiguang Qi. The whole part of Huangyaguan Great Wall is about 42 kilometers long constructed along the mountain ridge with an altitude of 736 meters. It has 66 watchtowers, 52 of which were guard towers and the remaining 14 were beacon towers. Huangyaguan is a national AAAA scenic area famous for its “Grand, Precipitous, Wonderful and Graceful” scenery. It was named as the best of the 'Ten Scenic Spots of Tianjin' in 1990.

Transportation from Beijing to Huangyaguan Resort is very convenient. There are shuttle buses from Beijing Sihui Bus Station to Jixian County every fifteen minutes daily from 06:00 to 19:30. A ticket costs about CNY24.00 Yuan and the trip takes about 2-2.5 hours. You can disembark at Nanlou (South Tower) Station near the hillside road and than take a local minibus to the resort. The minibus charge is about CNY20-30.00 Yuan and the ride takes less than one hour dropping you off at the entrance to the resort. It's the shortest and the most convenient way.

The resort includes three major tourism areas: First is the Strategic Fortification Area composed of the Pass Tower, the City Wall and the Eight-octant Street; second is the Great Wall itself and third is the cultural tourism area including the Great Wall Museum, Longevity Garden and the Forest of Stone Steles. The entrance fee for the resort is CNY50.00 per person and the operating hours are 08:30 to 17:00.

Birds view of the Great Wall

Great Wall in the snow

Before entering the tourist area, you will see an archway inscribed with “Ji Bei Xiong Guan” on the front side and “Jin Tang Gong Gu” on the back side. Both sets of words indicate the impregnability and indestructibility of Huangyaguan Pass, the only fortification in Jixian County. It is also sometimes called “Little Yanmen Pass”. Behind the archway is the Huangyaguan Gate Tower with the inscription, Huang Ya Kou Guan.”

Walking through the gate, you will enter the Strategic Fortification Area. The ticket hall is beside the parking lot. The first sight you will visit is the Eight-octant Street, also called Eight-octant maze. At the center of the maze is the Great Wall Museum. If you are not sure you can walk out of the maze without difficulty, ask one of the ticket conductors for help. After leaving the maze, you can visit the Longevity Garden. There are thousands of different characters signifying longevity ("寿" in Chinese) sculptured in the garden.

After touring the Longevity Garden, you can go to the Stone Steles Forest. In the forest, there is a stele 1.226 meters tall with an inscription reading “Stone Steles of President Mao's Poems" by President Zemin Jiang. President Mao's 28 poems comprise 1,893 characters. The numbers 1.226 and 1,893 symbolize the birth date of President Mao.

The Great Wall

Sky Stairs

Walking out of the forest you will reach Huangyaguan Pass, also called Bei Ji Ge (Polar Pavilion) or Xuanwu Temple. Climbing onto the pass tower the elongated city wall to the north is the Water Pass (Shuiguan Great Wall). Huangyaguan Great Wall is divided into two sections. The east section runs from the pass to Taipingzhai Great Wall and the west section funs from the pass to Wangmaoding Mountain. Each section has its own special characteristics. If you feel energetic, you can hike through both sections in about four to five hours. Hikers are advised to climb the west section first and then the east section finishing at Taipingzhai Great Wall.

The west section is not very long and a small segment of the wall is in ruins. This western section was constructed on steep cliffs and part of it is single-sided. At the beginning part of this section, the wall is well preserved and the steps are also in good condition, so it is easy to climb. Besides a short of distance at the start of the wall was built with huge blue bricks, the left part was built with stones. Climbing over this section, you will find the single-sided wall. This wall was built on the ridge of the mountain and connects two cliffs at each end. A handrail has been installed along the way for safety purposes. Soon you will pass a sightseeing platform called Fairy Peak. When the wall touches the cliff, the wall disappeared. Continue to climb a short while and you will see a steep pathway about thirty meters long with 300 steps. At the end of the pathway is Wangmaoding Mountain. The west section of Huangyaguan Great Wall ends here. You can return to Huangyaguan Pass along the same route.

A watch tower of the Great Wall

Our clients on the Wall

The east section begins after the Water Pass and extends to Taipingzhai Great Wall. This section is 873 meters long with heights ranging from 400 to 500 meters. As you pass the third building along the wall, you will get a panoramic view of a watchtower afar from the great wall, which is the Phoenix Watchtower. It is a round building with a square pavilion on the top. Turn right and continue your hiking. After passing two or three more buildings, you will see another single-sided wall. Here you will find a watchtower protruding out of the wall. This is the mysterious Widow Watchtower. It is said that the tower was constructed with help of twelve wives whose soldier husbands had died defending the wall. The tower has two stories and is about thirteen meters tall. Four huge pillars divided the building into four halls each with an arched roof. The building can accommodate more than ten people. Although Taipingzhai Great Wall is also single-sided, it is better preserved and not as dangerous as the west section. Here, too, a handrail is available as you continue along the wall. Keeping hiking along the wall, you will also come across a round enemy watchtower which is especially existed in Huangyaguan Great Wall. From here you can oversee Taipingzhai Village at the foot of the mountain. Climbing down the wall, you visit the village that is also the eastern entrance. (You can also start to climb Taipingzhai Great Wall from Taipingzhai Village at the foot of the mountain. So there is an entrance to the wall here. ) Here you will find a huge stone sign inscribed with the name “Tai Ping Zhai.” There is a replicated earthen city here, the front of which contains the statue of General Jinguang Qi. Your Huangyaguan Great Wall hiking tour ends here.

You can take the shuttle bus from Taipingzhai Village to the Jianxian Couonty bus station. From there you can board shuttle buses back to the Beijing Sihui bus station.