Do your first hike of 2026! Explore the Panlongshan section of the the Gubeikou Great Wall, starting with a climb up to the 24-Eyes Tower, finishing with a look at some of the Great Wall towers on the west side of the big North Gate, and hiking all the wall in between. Includes an early dinner at a countryside restaurant.
Level 3
3–4 hours of hiking over approx. 9km. (Can I do it?)
Early dinner included; bring your own snacks and lunch.
Payment in advance required for this hike.
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Get a healthy start to 2026 with an easy hike on the Gubeikou Great Wall!
The hike
We’ll start off nearby the small hamlet where we used to finish this hike, and hike up to the small reservoir further up the valley from the houses.
By the reservoir is a hill track that will take us up to the top section of the Great Wall at Gubeikou. It’s not a difficult climb, but once we’ve finished it we’ll be almost at the highest point of the whole hike.
The actual highest point of the whole hike is the 24-Eyes Tower, and we’ll follow the wall up for long views of more Great Wall and mountains all around.
24-Eyes Tower is the highest tower on the Panlongshan ‘Coiling Dragon Mountain’ part of the Great Wall, and was one of the largest, too. The name ’24-Eyes’ came from the number of windows—six on each of the tower’s four sides. The tower only has two sides now due to damage over the years, including explosions and gunfire during a 1930s battle between Chinese and Japanese armies.
A tower on the middle section of the Gubeikou Great Wall, just past the General’s Tower. (Click for larger image)
After a break at 24-Eyes Tower we’ll hike down the Great Wall, heading for Gubeikou’s North Gate. We’ll be on the wall most of the way there, passing through Haowang Tower and the General’s Tower along the way.
Just after the General’s Tower we’ll take a detour off the wall to head for the North Gate, hiking hill trails to get back to the wall that encircled Gubeikou Village, and then along the wall to the North Gate, an arched gate in the wall.
Views from the other side of the North Gate, with the General’s Tower and 24-Eyes Tower seen in the far distance.
We’ll head down to the village from the North Gate and finish our day with a big meal at a village restaurant.
