GW01One Day Hiking from Jinshanling to Simatai Great Wall

 
Jinshanling Great Wall and Simatai Great Wall are a section of continuous wall that belongs to two provinces. Jinshanling part lies at the conjunction of Luanping County in Hebei Province and Miyun County in Beijing; and Simatai part lies in Miyun County in Beijing. The wall from Jinshanling to Simatai has never been restored and its original appearance of more than 400 years old has been best preserved. Because it is full of challenge and with splendid and charming scenery, this section of the great wall has been the favorite destination of hiking lovers from all over the world. Most photos about China Great Wall on the propaganda materials were taken from this part.

Zhuanduokou, starting point of Jinshanling hiking

The starting section of Jinshanling

As it takes about 3 hours for one way transfer from Beijing downtown to the great wall, you'd better set off early in the morning. You are suggested to arrive at Dongzhimen Station at 8:00am and take the shuttle bus No. 970 or No. 980 to Miyun County. The ticket is CNY15.00 Yuan for one way and it takes about 2 hours. The first shuttle bus No. 980 starts at 6:30am, and it is available at an interval of 10-20 minutes. After arrival in Miyun, you can hire a car to take you to the foot of Jinshanling. Bear in mind to bargain with the driver to settle the price at about CNY50-100.00 Yuan per car. You will arrive at Jinshanling at about 11:00am. As there is no place for lunch on the great wall, you can find a small restaurant for lunch at the foot of Jinshanling. Or you can take some boxed food for a picnic on the wall later.

The watchtower of Jinshanling

The steep Great Wall

This hiking route from Jinshanling to Simatai is about 10.5 kilometers, passing by 43 watchtowers (18 watchtowers on Jinshanling, 17 watchtowers on the west section of Simatai and 8 watchtowers on the east section of Simatai). The watchtowers on this section are concentrated, with a tower every 50-100 meters. The Great Wall was constructed with huge stones, with a height of 5-8 meters. The whole trip requires about 4-5 hours. Hereunder is the detailed information:

The admission fee of Jinshanling Great Wall is CNY50.00 per person. Walking along the road leading to Jinshanling Scenic Resort, you will find a building with the name of "China Jinshanling Great Wall". Your hiking will start here.   
 
Tips: At the foot of Jinshanling Great Wall, there are some local people offering to accompany you hiking through, to earn 30-50Yuan for living or sell some postcards or souvenirs to the visitors. If you want a companion or take your safety into consideration, you can hire one, or you can just ignore.

The dilapidated watchtower

The ruined Jinshanling Great Wall

Crenel Building (Zhuanduokou Tower) is the first tower you will pass and also the entry place to Jinshanling Great Wall. Jinshanling part is not ruined as serious as Simatai part, and is not that tough to climb through. Walking eastward from Crenel Building, you will approach the 2nd watchtower Guard Tower (Qiangduolou Tower) and the 3rd watch tower East Terrance (Dongfangtai Tower), 50-100 meters away from each other. Continue to hike northeast and you will find a turnoff to southwest which is leading to Open Tower (Changlouzi Tower) and Sifang Terrance (Sifangtai Tower). Forget about this turnoff and continue to walk eastward to the 4th watchtower Storage Tower (Kufanglou Tower) and the following is 5th and 6th watchtowers of West Tower (Xichenglou Tower) and West Terrance (Xifangtai Tower). Climb forward and you will find a pass leading to the parking. It is Shalingkou Pass. Go on to hike through Shalingkou, the 7th watchtower East Terrance, the 8th of Black Tower, the 9th of First Building Tower and the 10th of Second Building Tower, then you will find a turning watch tower erecting on the cliff before you, which is the 11th watchtower Little Jinshan Building. The 12th watchtower Large Jinshan Building is just about 100 meters ahead of Little Jinshan Building. From here forwards, the wall becomes more dilapidated, poorer and more shabby, which arouses our conscience to protect the Great Wall. The road is steeper and more ruined in the left part. You must pay more attention to your safety. On both sides of the wall are the cliffs. So it's better to hike the wall with a companion in case of any emergency.

Hiking on the wall

Hiking on the wall

Maybe you can walk in the first part of the wall, however, from now on, you can only "climb" on the wall. Continue to hike northeast from Dajinshanlou Tower, you will pass the following 13 to 18th watchtowers, namely Yaogou Building (Yaogoulou Tower), Unnamed Building (Wuminglou Tower), Houchuan Building (Houchuankou Tower), Shazi Building (Shazilou Tower), General Building (Jiangjunlou Tower) and Corner Building (Guaijiaolou Tower). By the way, between the Unnamed Building and Houchuan Building, there is a Houchuan Pass, a sideway stretched from where leading to the foot of the wall.

From the Corner Building, you will enter the Simatai Great Wall. There will be a person here asking you to buy the tickets for Simatai Great Wall, CNY40.00 Yuan per person. The characteristics of the Simatai part can be described as five words - dangerous, dense, complete, artful and rare. Some parts of the wall were built along the sheer crags. The hikers must pay more attention to the loose and broken steps. Different kinds of watch towers are more close to each others than those of the other sections of the Great Wall. Besides the above advantages, the environment of the Simatai section is also very good. There is a reservoir with green water all year round. Feel the water flavor must be a nice experience after realizing the sturdiness of the wall.

Climbing on the wall

Hiking on the wall

Simatai section is more dangerous and broken than Jinshanling. It is divided into two parts by Simatai Reservoir: East Section and West Section. There are 17 watchtowers on the west section and 15 watchtowers on the east section. Today, you will hike through the whole west section and the first 8 watchtowers on the east sections.

Starting from the Corner Building, you will pass the Unnamed Building (1st tower), Black Tower (2nd), Tower with three holes (3rd) and Tower with five holes (4th), then turn left and continue to pass through the Small Arc-roof Building (5th), Large Arc-roof Building (6th), Wall made of literal bricks, Nianzigou Tower (7th), Tower with three holes (8th), Tower with four holes (9th), Henggou Building (10th) and four Unnamed Buildings (11-14th). Now you will arrive at the 15th Watchtower Little Hutong Building. Climb over the 16th watchtower building with 3 holes (Sanyanlou Tower), and you will get to the last watchtower of the west section - Corner Building (Zhuanjiaolou Tower). Here the Simatai is cut off by the Hot Spring Lake (Simatai Reservoir). Take the cable to fly over the bridge (ticket at CNY5.00 per person) to reach the east section of Simatai. You can just walk through the chain bridge to cross the lake.

Great Wall climbing

Great Wall climbing

Option One: After getting to the east section of Simatai, you will climb through 8 watchtowers to reach the White Cloud Building (Baiyunlou Tower), where there is the cable car taking you back to the foot of the wall.

Option Two: If you are not energetic to climb 8 more watchtowers, there is cable car available at the second watchtower, where you can take the cable car to the half of the mountain, and then take a battery boat to the parking lot of Simatai. After getting off the boat, you will find a huge stone writing "Simatai Great Wall".

There is also a hillside road here leading to the foot of the wall. If you don't like to take the cable car, you can also climb down the mountain along the way.

Option Three: If you are still full of energy, after arriving at the 8th watchtower (White Cloud Building), you can continue to climb forward to the Wanghailou Building (11th watchtower) and the General Building (12th watchtower). From the General Building on, the wall is under developed and forbidden to go through. There is no way at the 12th watchtower to get down the mountain. You will need to return to the 8th watchtower White Cloud Building to get down the wall as option one.

Watchtower of Simatai section

Simatai Great Wall

After getting to the foot of Simatai great wall, you can hire a car taking to Machang, which is a fork way and where there are lots of buses to Miyun County passing by. The charge is about CNY20-30.00 per car. Take a bus to Miyun Bus Station and the ticket is CNY5-10.00 per person. About 18:00 you will get to Miyun Bus Station, you can take the shuttle bus No. 980 back to Beijing. Your memorable and adventurous Jinshanling to Simatai Great Wall hiking ends here.

Some kind tips: 
1. This section of the Great Wall is loose and broken, so it's dangerous to hike through. You'd better find a companion to be with you or hire a local people for guidance. 
2. No photos while walking. If you want to take photos, stop and find a safe place to stand. 
3. Bring enough water with you. There is no water available on the wall. When drinking water, we suggest you sip slowly instead of gulp. Gulp will make you feel thirsty more quickly. By the way, there is no restroom on the wall. 
4. The wall is badly weathered and rocks are easy to crumble off. Be cautious and keep your safety in mind. As the road is shabby and dilapidated on the way, climbing is the best and safest way to move forward.

The bridge over Simatai Reservoir

The cable car down the Great Wall