On this reasonably relaxed outing we’ll head west to find villages that have been settled since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, taking a walking tour of each.

Outline of itinerary

• Arrive at Lingshui Village
• Climb up to hill track above the village, stopping to visit Wenchang Temple and Kuichang Lou
• Hike around to the gate of Lingquan Temple via ‘the ancient tree’
• Walk through the village to Immortal Mother Temple and Fire Dragon Temple
• Walk through the village lanes and see if any of the old courtyards are open to visitors
• Lunch at village restaurant
• Drive to Yanhe River Fort (30 minutes)
• Visit all the gates in the walls of the fort, walk through the lanes and see if the village market is open
• Drive to Yanhekou (10 minutes) and climb up to each of the Great Wall Towers
• Drive back to Beijing

Lingshui Village

Lingshui Village is also known as “Scholar’s Village”, because of the relatively large number of residents who passed the Imperial Exams.

The village is a compact collection of courtyards—some large, some small, some newly-repaired, and some falling down due to neglect. There are temples on the north, south, east, and west edges of the village, and a tall mountain looms over the west side.

We’ll do a walking tour of the village, starting with Wenchang Temple and Kuichang Lou and looping around to visit Immortal Mother Temple, Fire Dragon Temple and some of the other interesting locations, including several trees that are 1000 years old.

As we walk through the lanes of the village we’ll keep an eye out for courtyards to explore, and if possible we’ll have our lunch at #114 Courtyard, one of the largest and oldest. (Some of the courtyards are only open seasonally, including #114)

Yanhe River Fort

Thick walls encircle a village that was a Ming Dynasty fort, sited on the bank of a river that flows through to Beijing city.

The fort garrisoned soldiers who guarded the passes that lead through the mountains to Beijing, with the ancient path by the river being one of the easy ways through to Beijing from Hebei.

The walls were built in 1578, and the fort was used from the Ming Dynasty into the Qing Dynasty.

Inside the walls we’ll see old houses, an ancient opera stage, maybe the market in the town square (seasonal), and some '60s-era buildings complete with painted slogans from the era.

(Visitors are not supposed to climb on the walls; we’ll see if we can sneak up for a quick look.)

Yanhekou ‘Two Towers’ Great Wall

Not far from the fort are the ‘Two Towers’, and we’ll climb up to take a look at both of them.

The towers are sited at the end of a narrow gorge that held one of the ancient paths through the mountains, and their size makes them appear absolutely dominant. The two towers are both fully intact, and appear to have had only minor repairs done. Stairs in each of the towers lead up to the roof, and some of the original mantles and drains show special touches with carved designs.

(In more recent times it looks like it was torrents and floods coming out of the gorge instead of travellers on foot, and the village below the towers has been cleared out. No damage to the towers, though.)