Huanghuacheng Great Wall, located in Huairou District 60 kilometers northeast of Beijing, was built in Ming Dynasty with a length of 14 kilometers. It is special that part of its wall was under the water, so Huanghuacheng Great Wall is also called Water Great Wall. Huanghuacheng Great Wall is not only the defense of ancient capital Beijing, but also the important guard of Ming Emperor's Mausoleum. It was said that the great wall was constructed with millet congee, where we can see the solidness of the wall.

Huanghuacheng Great Wall

Huanghuacheng and Xishuiyu

The cheapest and most convenient way is to take shuttle Bus No. 916 at Dongzhimen Station with a ticket of CNY6-8.00 Yuan per person. It is available from 5:30-18:00 at an interval of 20 minutes every day. Get off at the International Conference Center Station and connect the minibus to Xishuiyu, and get off at Zhuangdaokou Village. The minibus is available every 20 minutes before 16:00 every day and the ticket is CNY4.50 Yuan per person. You can also charter a car from the International Conference Center Station to Zhuangdaokou Village directly at a cost of CNY40.00 Yuan around.

At the gate of the village, there is a large sign writing with three Chinese characters of "Huang Hua Cheng". From here, there is a little path on the left leading to Xishuiyu Scenic Area, which boasts the good name of Little West Lake in North China. Xishuiyu Scenic Area is mainly composed of Haoming Lake and some man-made entertainment facilities on the island around the lake. The Haoming Lake divided Huanghuacheng Great Wall into three parts. This hiking tour will focus on the most splendid and typical section. The chestnut garden beside the lake with hundred of 500-year-old trees was planted by the soldiers in Ming Dynasty.

Huanghuacheng Reservoir and the Dam

The first guard tower

Walking about hundreds of meters along the main road from the gate of the village, you can see the great wall lying on the hill ahead. The admission fee is CNY25.00 Yuan per person. The opening hours are 08:00-17:00 on weekdays and 07:30-17:30 at weekends and Chinese Golden Week. We suggest you finish the hiking before 15:30 so that you can catch the bus back to Beijing smoothly. In front of the great wall, there is a large reservoir intercepted by a 30 meters long dam, which is Huanghuacheng Reservoir. Walking through the dam, you can see a little path along the hill leading the lowest guard tower of the great wall. Climb along the little path and your Huanghuacheng hiking tour starts here.

The great wall between the first and second guard towers is ruined. The road between the walls is also dilapidated. However, you will realize that this part of the road should be the best part comparing with the later parts. The roof and the walls of the second guard tower are totally collapsed. It has been coved by wild weeds and trees. The road from the second guard tower to the third guard tower is not very steep, but very narrow. The great wall was built on the ridge of the mountain, so walking on the wall is like walking on the single-plank bridge. After climbing over the third guard tower, you will find the road in the middle of the walls is full of shrubs and weeds and hard to walk through but accessible.

The ruined great wall

The second guard tower

Continue climbing to the fourth guard tower. The fourth guard tower is with two floors and well preserved with little damage. There is a wooden ladder between the two floors and you can climb onto the second floor to overlook Huanghuacheng Great Wall. It is fabulous. The walls from the fourth guard tower to the sixth guard tower are preserved very well. Here you can clearly see the construction of the great wall. Yet, as there are few people walking on the wall, the road is also covered by weeds. The fifth guard tower was built on the outside of the wall and is almost ruined totally. We can only see the shape of its foundation nowadays. The sixth guard tower is upward. In front of tower, the road has been collapsed. The local peasants put some tree branches there as a path for walking through. Sometimes, there will be a peasant there to charge you 1-2Yuan as the passing fee.

Great wall covered by shrubs

Road full of weeds

After climbing over the sixth guard tower, the left part of the great wall can be seen clearly in front of you. The great wall before us starts to descend down sharply to the bottom of the valley and then soared up to the top of the mountain. In the right following, it falls rapidly to the lowest point and rises to the mountain peak once again. You can see three big "V" winds along the mountain. Climbing down the mountain along the wall and you will find the seventh and eighth guard towers together with the walls between them are well saved. This is maybe because this part of the wall was located in the valley and could avoid the wind erosion. Standing at the low point of the valley to look up, you can see the great wall winds like a dragon lying still on the top of the mountain.

The road leading to the ninth guard tower is as steep as the path to Heaven. The hundred meters long road is covered by gravel and very slippery. You'd better focus on climbing and neglect the scenery temporarily. The ninth guard tower was built on the mountain peak and is totally weathered. From here, the great wall falls to the valley again and sinks to the water at the end. It composes the special view of Great Wall under the Water.

Huanghuagang Great Wall

One ruined part of the Great Wall

The road down the mountain from the ninth guard tower becomes more ruined and very hard to hike through. Hence, we suggest you return to the eighth guard tower where there is a little path leading to the foot of the mountain. Although the path is narrow, it is easy walking. After get down to the foot of the mountain, there is a rural road leading to the broad road beyond the mountain. Walking along the big road for about 1 kilometer, you will arrive at the side of the large reservoir. At the gate of the village, you can catch the minibus back to Huairou Station to connect shuttle bus No. 916 back to Dongzhimen Station. Your Huanghuacheng Great Wall hiking tour ends.

Photos of Huanghuacheng Great Wall