Gubeikou Great Wall | One of the towers on the Gubeikou ‘Panlongshan’ Great Wall trail.
One of the towers on the Gubeikou ‘Panlongshan’ Great Wall trail.

Gubeikou Great Wall

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 a post-hike lunch at a countryside restaurant.

Level 3
3–4 hours of hiking over approx. 9km. (Can I do it?)
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Bookings close November 12

Booking info

Wednesday, November 13

¥470 / ¥420 for members / ¥240 for kids

  1. 7:45am departure from the Liangmaqiao subway area
  2. 8:15am departure from the Lido Metropark Hotel Starbucks
Includes a meal after the hike.
Payment in advance required for this hike. More about payments

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.

Hiking up to Gubeikou’s 24-Eyes Tower.
Hiking up to Gubeikou’s 24-Eyes 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.

Gubeikou West Circuit, 2017/11/18 photo #2
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.

COVID-19 and participation precautions

The current precautions are minimal. Please read in full here: Operating hikes under COVID-19 precautions

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  13. Gubeikou Great Wall, 2023/03/05

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