Gubeikou Great Wall, is located along the Yanshan Mountain rang in the northeast of Miyun County, about 100 kilometers northeast of Beijing. It is composed of Wohu Great Wall and Panlong Great Wall. Although being collapsed and dilapidated, the whole Gubeikou Great Wall is not under any restoration at all. It keeps its original appearance totally, so it attracts travelers from all over the world here to appreciate the splendid beauty of China old great walls. Being separated by Chaohe River, Gubeikou Great Wall was divided into Wohushan Great Wall on the west and Panlongshan Great Wall on the east. Therefore, you cannot hike through the wall from Wohushan to Panlongshan directly. You have to climb up Wohushan and return to the foot of the mountain first, and then restart for Panlongshan section. The whole hiking for both Wohushan and Panlongshan sections will take about 7-8 hours. So, if you arrive in Gubeikou late, you'd better stay at Gubeikou County for overnight. Here we would like to provide you some accommodation information for your reference in case you need.

Wohushan Great Wall

The ruined guard tower in Wohushan section

1). Name: Gubeikou Die Cui Ju Folk Hotel
Address: After getting off at Gubeikou Tunnel, walk forward for about 30 meters from the Guyudao Ticket Office. It is convenient to access both Wohushan and Panlongshan great walls.
Tel: 010-81051469
Price: CNY70.00 Yuan per person for standard room (Fully aboard)

2). You can also stay at local farmer's home. Uncle Xu's home is recommended. Uncle Xu's Tel: 010-81051548; 13241355787. The price is CNY45.00 Yuan per person with fully aboard.

For the transportation, train and bus are both available to go to Gubeikou Great Wall. There are four trains running from Beijing North Station to Gubeikou Station:

• No. 6453 -- Beijing North Station/ Luanping; 06:16 leaves Beijing and 08:50 arrives at Gubeikou Station
• No. 2189 -- Beijing Station/ Wulanhaote; 15:30 leaves Beijing and 18:30 arrives at Gubeikou Station
• No. 4449 -- Beijing North Station/ Longhua; 16:43 leaves Beijing and 19:12 arrives at Gubeikou Station
• No. 2559 -- Beijing North Station/ Chifeng; 21:20 leaves Beijing and 04:07 leaves at Gubeikou Station. As this train will arrive in the early morning, it is not convenient for you to find the proper accommodation. So this train is not recommended.

When you buy the train ticket, the ticket clerk may tell that the train will not stop at Gubeikou Station, but it stops actually. You can buy the ticket to Huairoubei Station, CNY5.50 Yuan per person. After you get on the train, you can pay the excess fare to Gubeikou Station at CNY4.50 Yuan. The total cost is CNY10.00 Yuan. Gubeikou Station is about 10 minutes walking to the village at the foot of the great wall. Walking through the village, you will find the entrance of the great wall. For the train schedules back to Beijing, we will provide at the end of the tour.

Gubeikou Tunnel

Hexi Village

If you prefer to take a bus, there are two options for you:

1). Take Bus No. 980 from Dongzhimen Station and get off at Miyun Station to connect the minibus to Gubeikou. You can get off near Gubeikou Tunnel and walk backward for a short while, then you will find the village at the foot of the great wall. The total tickets cost about CNY25.00 Yuan. The whole trip takes about 5 hours.

2). From Sihui long-distance bus station, take a bus to Chengde City or Luanping County. The buses are available every 30 minutes from 05:10 to 16:05. Get off at Gubeikou Tunnel and you will see the wall. As these buses always set off until the bus is fully seated, so the whole journey takes about 5 hours. The ticket is CNY36.00 Yuan per person.

If you will drive there by yourself, start from Siyuanqiao Bridge, take Jingshun Lu and reach Kuliushu Roundabout, head for the direction of Miyun, reach Niulanshan Roundabout, drive along the National Highway 101, pass Miyun County and Taishitun, and you will arrive at Gubeikou Town.

No matter which transportation you choose, you will arrive at Gubeikou County and walk through Hexi Village eventually. Hexi Village is a folk culture village. If you have plenty of time, you can have a wander around the village before or after your great wall hiking. Walking out of Heixi Village, you can find the entrance of Wohushan Great Wall is not far away. Wohushan Great Wall is about 13.6 kilometers long, with around 20 guard towers. It earns its name as the whole wall winding along the mountain looks like a crouch tiger. Wohu in Chinese means "crouch tiger". It opens all day long and the ticket is CNY25.00 Yuan per person. If you enter the wall from Hexi Village instead of the entrance of the scenic spot, you can avoid the ticket.

Wohushan Great Wall

Wohushan Great Wall

Wohushan Great Wall is not with much up and downs, while it rises all the way up. The wall was constructed on the mountain with an altitude of 450 meter, and the highest point of the wall was about 665 meters. The first section of the wall is totally ruined and is hardly to walk through. The foregoers have already stepped out a new sideway alongside the wall. At the end of this sideway is the guard tower of the wall. The guard towers of the wall are comparatively well preserved. You will need to climb over the guard tower to continue your hiking. Go on with climbing up and you will pass a destroyed guard tower which looks like an archway gate now. Its walls have been collapsed. Walk through the gate (tower) and continue to climb upward. When you climb up to the highest guard tower, you can overlook the Wohushan Great Wall on the west and the Panlongshan Great Wall on the east. After a short rest, return to the foot of wall along the same way.

Climb down from the Wohushan Great Wall and return to Hexi Village for a rest. Your next destination is Panlongshan section. After passing across the Chaohe Bridge in Hexi Village, walk northwards along the 101 national way for about 50 meters, you will find a broad road leading eastward. Walk along this road for about 500 meters, you will see the Gubeikou Anti-Japanese Battle Monument erected on the half way of the mountain. Now you are at the foot of the great wall. Find any a little path in front of you to climb up the wall. Along the way, there will be some signs indicating you the direction to Panlongshan Great Wall.

Panlongshan Great Wall

The ruined guard tower of Panlongshan Section

Panlongshan Great Wall is not high in altitude. It is only about 150 meters in acceleration, but the walking distance of the wall is up to 5 kilometers with about 19 guard towers. The General Tower is the most famous guard tower. It located at the commanding elevation of Palongshan Mountain, from where wars were directed. There are four arrow windows on the north and south sides respectively, while each of the east and west sides has three arrow windows. This section of the wall is of unique construction. It is made up of earth walls, stone walls and brick walls. It has never been repaired and is in its original state. Lots of historical wars took place here. In ancient times, both warring parties places great emphasis on securing the Panlongshan Great Wall, because each knew that once the wall was captured, the Gubeikou Great Wall would be readily occupied. Therefore, most guard towers of this section have been greatly damaged during the war and through the years of exposing to the weather. As lots of visitors hike through this section of the wall every year, the road along this section of great wall is comparatively better and easier and also not that steep as Wohushan section. Hiking along the road, you will arrive at the famous Guard Tower with 24 Holes, where you cannot make through along the wall yet. It is the military forbidden area and there is a white board on the wall written with "A closed military zone No thoroughfare".

Panlongshan Guard Tower

The guard tower with 24 holes

You can return to the village from the military zone, as the Panlongshan section of wall ends here. Climbing around the military zone, you will get to the well known Jinshanling Great Wall. If you are inclined to hike forward, you can find a northwards little path at the east side of the tower. The little path can be easily seen. Hike along this little path and pay attention to your right hand where you can see the great wall subtly. After you walk into a field of corns, look for a path turning to the right. Walk along the path and hike throughout the field of corns. You will see some sign boards on the way. After you walk out of the field, you will get back to the foot of the great wall. Walk along the foot the wall and you will be at Jinshanling Great Wall when you stand on the great wall again. You can refer to Jinshanling to Simatai Hiking for more tips about this section.

The ruined 24-hole guard tower

The closed military zone

After you finish the hiking and return to the village, here are two recommended means for you getting back to Beijing.

1.By train: the detailed train schedules are as following
1). 6454   Gubeikou Station (15:07) -- Beijing North Station (20:19)
2). 4450   Gubeikou Station (09:34) -- Beijing North Station (13:53)
2. By bus: Charter a cab from Gubeikou County to the starting station of the shuttle bus from Gubeikou to Miyun County. It takes about 10 minutes and the cost is about CNY15. Then take the shuttle bus from Gubeikou to Miyun for 1.5 hours, with a ticket of CNY3 per person. From Miyun bus station take the shuttle bus No. 980 which runs highway to Dongzhimen Station. It takes about 1.5 hours and the ticket is CNY15 while CNY6 with a Beijing bus card.

Photos of Gubeikou Great Wall