Huangyaguan Great Wall, located in the south mountain area of Jixian County in Tianjin, was originally constructed in North Qi Dynasty with a history of over 1,400 years. It was refitted in Ming Dynasty in the charge of General Mr. 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, with 66 watchtowers, of which 52 enemy towers and 14 beacon towers. It is a famous national AAAA scenic area for its "Grand, Precipitous, Wonderful and Graceful" scenery and was entitled as the first of the Ten Scenic Spots of Tianjin in 1990.

Huangyaguan Great Wall

Huangyaguan single side wall

The transportation from Beijing to Huangyaguan Resort is very convenient. There are shuttle buses from Beijing Sihui Bus Station to Jixian County at an interval of 15 minutes every day from 6:00 to 19:30. The ticket is about CNY24.00Yuan per person and it takes about 2-2.5 hours driving. You can get off the bus at Nanlou (South Tower) Station near the hillside Road and then take a local minibus to the resort. The minibus charge is about CNY20-30.00Yuan and it takes less than 1 hour. The minibus will take you to the entrance of the resort. It's the most convenient and short way.

After you get off the bus, you will find the Huangyaguan Resort. The resort includes three tourism areas: the Strategic Fortification Area composed of Pass Tower, City Wall and the Eight-octant Street, the Great Wall on the mountain and the great wall cultural tourism area including Great Wall Museum, Longevity Garden and Forest of Stone Steles. The entrance fee for the resort is CNY50.00 per person and the opening time is 8:30-17:00.

Archway in front of Huangyaguan Pass

Eight-octant Maze

Before enter the Huangyaguan Pass, you will see an archway writing with "Ji Bei Xiong Guan" on the front side and "Jin Tang Gong Gu" on the back side. Both words indicate it is impregnable, indestructible and secure against assault. Huangyaguan Pass was the only fortification in Jixian County. It is also called "Little Yanmen Pass" named by Mr. Zicheng Li. Behind the archway is Huangyaguan Gate Tower writing with "Huang Ya Kou Guan" on the gate.

Walking through the gate hole, you will enter the first tourism area - Strategic Fortification Area. The ticket hall is beside the parking lot. The first site 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 if you can walk out of the maze smoothly, you'd better ask the ticket conductor for help. Leave the maze to the Longevity Garden. There are thousands of different characters of Longevity ("寿" in Chinese) sculptured in the garden.

Huangyaguan Pass

Water Pass

After visiting the Longevity Garden, you can have a visit to the Stone Steles Forest. In the Forest, there is a stele with a height of 1.226 meters with an inscription of "Stone Steles of President Mao's Poems" by President Zemin Jiang. President Mao's 28 poems with 1,893 characters are sculptured on the steles in the garden. The number 1.226 and 1,893 symbol the birth date of President Mao.

Walking out of the forests, you will reach the Huangyaguan Pass, also called Bei Ji Ge (Polar Pavilion) or Xuanwu Temple. Climbing onto the pass tower, the stretched city wall to the northward is the Water Pass (Shuiguan Great Wall). Taking Huangyaguan Pass as the center, Huangyaguan Great Wall was divided into two sections: east section from the pass to Taipingzhai Great Wall and west section from the pass to Wangmaoding Mountain. Each section has its special characteristic. If you are energetic enough, you can hike through the both sections for about 4-5 hours. You are suggested to climb the west section first, and you can leave directly from Taipingzhai Great Wall at the end of east section.

Fairy Peak

Steep ladder to Heaven

The west section is not very long and has a short distance of ruined great wall. This section of great wall was constructed on the steep cliffs and part of it is with single side wall. 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 the well preserved section, there you will find the wall was only with one single side. This single side wall was built on the ridge of the mountain and connecting two cliffs at the two ends. The handrail was equipped along the way to keep your safety. On the way, you will pass a platform for sightseeing called Fairy Peak. When the wall touches the cliff, the wall disappeared. Continue to climb a short while, the steep ladder about 30 meters long with 300 steps will be in front of you. On the top of the ladder is the Wangmaoding Mountain. The west section of Huangyaguan Great Wall ends here. Return to Huangyaguan Pass along the same way.

Single side wall of Huangyaguan

The Widow Watchtower

Starting from Huangyaguan Pass and walking through the Water Pass, you will step on the east section of Huangyaguan Great Wall - Taipingzhai Great Wall. This section of great wall is 873 meters long with an altitude of 400-500 meters. After you climb over to the third building, you will overview 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 2-3 buildings, there is also a part of the wall with one single side. Here you will also find a watchtower stretching out of the wall, which is the mysterious Widow Watchtower. It is said that the tower was donated and constructed with the help of 12 passed soldiers' wives. This is a two-storey building about 13 meters high. Four huge pillars divide the building into four halls with arch roof. The building can accommodate more than 10 people. Although Taipingzhai Great Wall is also only with one single wall, it is better preserved and not as dangerous as the west section. And also, the handrail is available. 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 overlook the Taipingzhai Village at the foot of the mountain. Climbing down the wall, you will arrive at the entrance of Taipingzhai Great Wall (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. ) At the entrance, you can find a huge stone sign sculptured with the name of "Tai Ping Zhai". Before the way up to the great wall, there is an Earthen City. In front of the Earthen City, there is a small square where the granite statue of General Jiguang Qi stands. Your Huangyaguan Great Wall hiking tour ends here.

You can take the shuttle bus from Taipingzhai Village to the bus station of Jianxian County. There are shuttle buses back to Beijing Sihui Bus Station as you coming.

A round watchtower

Taipingzhai Great Wall