The hiking tour at Shanhaiguan Great Wall is composed of three highlights. First is the eastern starting point of the Great Wall - Old Dragon's Head, second is the first pass of the Great Wall from east - Shanghaiguan and the last is the first mountain of the Great Wall from east - Jiaoshan Mountain. Along the route, one third of the wall is located in city area, one third of that is the scenic area and one third of that is located at the steep mountains. Thus it is just a suitable line combining both sightseeing tour and hiking tour.

Laolongtou Great Wall

Jiaoshan Great Wall

Qinhuangdao city is accessible by flights, trains, buses and ships. The airport is 13 kilometers away from the city. It has flight from Shanghai, Xian, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang weekly. The airport shuttle bus is available according to the flight schedule. It cost CNY5.00 and driving time is about 20 minutes.

Trains from Beijing to Qinhuangdao are numerous. Here are some schedules for you to choose:
1) Train D21, depart at 07:20 and arrive at 09:19, ticket cost at CNY93.00 for hard
seat and CNY111.00 for soft seat.
2) Train Y509, depart at 07:50 and arrive at 11:11, ticket cost at CNY44.00 for hard
seat and CNY67.00 for soft seat.
3) Train 1301, depart at 10:03 and arrive at 15:42, ticket cost at CNY55.00 for hard
seat.
4) Train K265, depart at 12:38 and arrive at 16:50, ticket cost at CNY44.00 for hard
seat.
5) Train K215, depart at 13:13 and arrive at 18:18, ticket cost at CNY63.00 for hard
seat.

Besides that, you may also take train K339, D27, D3, D7 and T225/T228 and so on. There are also many night trains, but they are not recommended as you will arrive in Qinhuangdao very late at night, for which you are not easy to find buses and hotels.

Coaches are also convenient to nearby cities like Beijing, Tianjin, Chengde, Zhenzhou, Shijiazhuang, Dalian and Shenyang. The shuttle bus between Bejing airport and Qinhuangdao runs every two hours each day. From Beijing airport, it runs from 9:00 to 19:00, and from Qinhuangdao, it runs from 6:00 to 18:00. In the Beijing Capital International Airport, you can find two stations to take this coach. First is the one located at the opposite of Gate Number 15, first floor of Terminal 2. The second is located at the opposite of Gate Number 3, Terminal 3. The origin stop of this coach from Qinhuangdao city is Qinhuangdao bus station, located at No. 405, Beihuan Road, Haigang district. The ticket charge is CNY126.00 net.

Qinhuangdao pier is the world's largest energy output port. It has passenger liner to Dalian every week. Usually depart from Qinhuangdao in add days and return back the next day. The one way transfer needs about 14 hours and the cruise ticket is priced from CNY69.00 to CNY338.00 net.

Chenghai Tower of Laolongtou Great Wall

Jiaoshan Great Wall

The route we suggested for the tour is hiking from the Old Dragon's Head to Shanhaiguan, Shanhaiguan to Jiaoshan and then back. It is suggested to spend two days so as not too rush.

If you arrive at Qinhuangdao late in the afternoon or night, we suggest you stay one night in the city. You are not recommended to stay near the railway station as the room rate there is much higher but the facility is not as that satisfactory. There are many hotels in Qinhuangdao from 4 star to home stay style to cater all level of clients. 5 star hotels are few, only about 3 ones in that city. The prices vary from CNY20.00 to thousands. While, kindly note that during the high season of Jun to early Sep, the hotels are very hot and hard to book, also the price jumped sharply. You'd better try to avoid this period especially the weekends of Friday night and Saturday night.

If you arrive early in the morning, you may head for Old Dragon's Head the intraday. Take bus No. 25 from Sidaoqiao bus station, for about 50 minutes, you will reach Laolongtou resort and the bus ticket is only CNY1.00 per person.

Laolongtou great wall, located 5km south of Shanhaiguan Pass, is the starting point of Ming Dynasty Great Wall, and is also the only section of great wall on the sea. The whole great wall is compared to be a huge dragon winding through China, while the Laolongtou is just like the head of the dragon stretching into the Bohai Ocean. That's why it's named "Laolongtou" which means the Head of the Dragon. It is an important component of military defense systems of the Ming Great Wall, and it is also a major scenic spots of Shanhaiguan resort.

The resort of "Old Dragon's Head" consist seven parts which are Estuary Stone City, Jinglu Watchtower, Haishen Temple, Nanhaikou Pass, Chenghai Tower, Ninghai City and Binhai City. Among them, the Estuary Stone City was built by Qijiguan, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty. It is high in 9 meters with half of them under the sea level. Although it was collapsed, the existing granite cornerstone can still be seen now. Chenhai Tower was the highest point of the "Old Dragon's Head", from where you may have a perfect view of the see. But pity to us, it was destroyed at the year 1900.

Laolongtou Great Wall sunk into the sea

Laolongtou

The admission fee of the "Old Dragon's Head" is CNY50.00 net in high season and CNY25.00 net in low season. Two hours would be enough to stroll around the whole resort.

The Great Wall between Laolongtou and Shanhaiguan has a length of about 5 kilometers. On the way, you could have a good view of sea and rural scenery. It will take you about half day to finish this trip. On the way, you may pass the villages of Nanxiaowan, Xiaowan, Dongwaziying, Nantuzhuang, Beituzhuang and Nanyingzi. While, these villages are all a little bit far away from the Great Wall except family Ge of Nantuzhuang. Mr. Ge's home is located in the middle of Laolongtou and Shanhaiguan. They are honest and goodness people and always welcome guests with delicious farmer's rice and vegetables. This is the best place to rest during this hiking tour. While, be sure to prepare some small gifts beforehand, or you will feel ashamed and uneasy by their enthusiasm.

Upon arrival in Shanhaiguan, you may first find a hotel stay for a night. The room rate at Shanghaiguan is a bit higher than Qinhuangdao. For those do not want to stay at Shanghaiguan, or those do not have interests in hiking tour from Laolongtou to Shanghai, you may back to Qinhuangdao and take bus to Shanghaiguan the next day morning.

Shanhai Pass is 17 kilometers away from Qinhuangdao City. The transportation in between is very convenient. If you prefer to take public buses, the bus No. 33 is recommended. The bus station is located at the east side of the railway station. It runs every 2 minutes and only cost CNY2.00 net. The transfer last for about 40 minutes. Get off the bus at Shanhaiguan south gate station and go straight for about 10 minutes, and then you will reach the entrance of the "First Pass". Or, you may get off the bus one stop later, at "First Pass" station, and then walk backward for a while. The entrance is just located between two bus stops. Taxi is also a good choice as it is cheap at Qinghuangdao City, start only at CNY5.00 and totally need about CNY35.00 net.

Shanhaiguan Pass

Jingbian Tower of Shanghai Pass

Shanhai Pass, standing at 10 kilometers east of Qinhuangdao City, is the first pass from northeast of the Ming Great Wall. Ever since it was built at the year 1381 A.D., the Shanhai Pass became an important military stronghold in China.

The small town of Shanhaiguan is about 4 kilometers long in perimeter. The wall around is 14 meters high and 7 meters thick. The town originally has four main city gates with a variety of ancient defense architecture. And it was an infrangible city pass due to its complete defense system, so was called the "First Pass under the Heaven". With its majestic watchtower as the mainstay, you can also see the surrounding architectures like Jingbian Tower, Linlu Tower, Weiyuan Hall and Changcheng Musem and so on.

The hiking from Shanhaiguan to Jiaoshan Great Wall takes about 5 hours. First part of hiking is the "First Pass" sightseeing area, south from Jingbian Tower and north to Weiyuan Hall. The whole duration of walking at this section is about one hour, on the way you will pass from Muying Tower, First pass and Linlu Tower. Jingbian Tower, also named southeast corner Tower, was originally built in early Ming Dynasty. It was damaged at the year 1933 and was rebuilt at the year 1986. The tower has two floors in brick and wood construction. At the height of 13.47 meters, it looks very solemn. The "First Pass Under the Heaven" is actually am arrow tower. It is 13 meters high, 10.1 meters wide from east to west and 19.7 meter long from north to south. The tower also has two floors, and altogether there are three steles which inscripted by words of "First Pass under the Heaven". The real stele is placed in the first floor. The rest two on the second floor were inscriped by Mr. Wang Zhiqing of Qing Dynasty and Mr. Yang Baoqing of Republic China.

Entrance of Jiaoshan Great Wall

Jiaoshan Great Wall

The road from the First Pass to Weiyuan Hall has been blocked. You need to get off the wall from the First Pass, take bus to North Gate and climb up to the Great Wall from there again. After you get off the wall from the First Pass, you may also spend some time at the Museum of the Great Wall which is at the front square of the First Pass. Be note that the North Gate has been dilapidated, you can find a thorny path to go up.

At the top of the North Gate, there is no tower can be seen anymore, only some stone base are left. Walking eastward for 200 meters you will then reach Weiyuan Hall. This part of road was inundated by thorn and grass and hard to go through. Then keep going northward, you will be on the way to Jiaoshan Great Wall.

The Great Wall from Weiyuan Hall to Jiaoshan mountain gate is about three kilometers long. The wall was built by green bricks and filled in with loess and gravel. Many sections of wall have been collapsed and only some adobes are left. You will see some decadent towers along the way. This part will take you about one and a half hour's hiking.

Steep stairs of Jiaoshan

Jiaoshan walls

Walking for about 20 minutes from Weiyuan Hall, the wall will be switched off by Bei Huan Road of Shanghaiguan city. You may get out of the wall through an alley, go across the highway, and find another alley up to the wall. Then keep walking northwards. Next you will see an iron bridge, go across of the bridge, walking for about 30 minutes, you will see the wall was switched off again by Beijing - Shenyang highway. Now this time, you do not need to get off the wall as there is an archaized bridge. Go across the bridge, you will arrive at Beiyi City, also named as Bei Ying. However, the city is no longer exit now. You can only see some of the remainder walls there. Here you will get across an iron bridge again, which is called "Bei Ying Bridge". Walking for a while, a broken but lofty tower is standing in front of you. Then keep walking, you will meet the third iron bridge. And last, you will get to the Jiaoshan scenic spot.

The entrance fee of Jiaoshan Great Wall is CNY15.00 net per person. The rebuilt Great Wall start from Hanmen 10th tower, and then suddenly leaps, meandering northward along Jiao Mountain, passing from Hanmenguan, first twer, second tower and end at the third tower. This section is 1.5 kilometers long, need walking for about 40 minutes.

Photos of Shanhaiguan Great Wall    Laolongtou Photos    Jiaoshan Great Wall Photos