Earth Day Cleanup: Huanghuacheng Great Wall

The area near the Great Wall at Huanghuacheng has been somewhat spoiled by a buildup of trash and litter. Help us clean it up!

Level 2+

3–4 hours start to finish over approx. 5km. (Can I do it?)

This hike is not currently scheduled

The stretch of Great Wall above the Huanghuacheng Reservoir.

The clean up was very successful! Click here to see the report and some photos.

The Huanghuacheng Great Wall is found in the hills north of Beijing—a location that is popular with hikers and casual visitors because of the long views of the countryside to be had from up on the ridges where the wall is found.

Unfortunately, both hikers and casual visitors are not always conscientious about cleaning up after themselves. The trail up to the wall and the lower towers have been somewhat spoiled by the buildup of trash.

In the spirit of Earth Day we’re going to head out and clean up as much as we can, with the following plan:

Walk up the trail beside the river, noting places to clean up on the way down
Clean up the area beside the wall and the first two towers
If there’s time, we’ll climb up to the highest point of this section for a look
Walk back along the trail, picking up more trash as we go
Head to a local restaurant for snacks and drinks, with Beijing Hikers picking up the tab

We’re running this hike at cost, and with some sponsorship we estimate it will cost about 150 RMB per person.

Trash we’ll be collecting

Any plastic
Any metal without sharp edges
Cigarette butts
Orange peels (Even though they come from fruit, these peels do not break down quickly!)
Whatever you feel comfortable removing that was left by someone else

What to bring

Warm clothes, just in case
Food and drinks – Beijing Hikers will NOT be providing any on this hike besides water!
Comfortable, broken-in hiking boots
(Click here to read our full What to Bring on a Hike list)

We’ll provide

Water
Garbage bags
Plastic gloves

COVID-19 and participation precautions

The brief version:

Please DO NOT participate if you are sick or showing symptoms of fever and/or have an elevated temperature, or have been in close contact with someone who was/is.
You MUST agree to the mitigation and prevention measures outlined here and that Beijing Hikers will not be held responsible if any participants become sick.

Please read in full here: Operating hikes under COVID-19 precautions