Why we’re not doing the Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike anymore
Why we stopped doing the Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike, and what we’re doing instead, with trail history and before and after photos.
It’s a common question: “Is the Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike possible?”
For us, it’s not possible.
Why? Here’s the full explainer.
The brief version
The trail through to the Mutianyu Great Wall from the Jiankou side was blocked off at Mutianyu’s Tower 20 around 2018. Security cameras and guards made it difficult and risky to get around the closed section and get back up on to the wall.
In 2026 the ticketed area of the Mutianyu Great Wall was extended to Tower 23. A new wall across the wall at Tower 23 blocks access to the Great Wall between Tower 23 to Tower 20 as well.
That means you can’t hike any of the Mutianyu Great Wall if you’re coming from the Jiankou side, unless you climb over tall walls, evade the security guards, and avoid the cameras.
What we’re doing instead of the Jiankou to Mutianyu hike is hiking some of the other trails at Jiankou, including an out-and-back hike from Zhengbei Tower to the Ox-Horn section. We also recommend the Gubeikou to Jinshanling Great Wall trail for a classic Great Wall hike.
The longer version
Read on for a description of the old trail, some then vs. now photos of the parts that were blocked, and bonus photos and maps.
The original Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike
Back in the day this was a classic Great Wall hike where you’d see the rough and unrepaired Great Wall and towers at Jiankou and then hike out through the touristy and repaired Great Wall at Mutianyu, with the option to finish in style on the toboggan before heading to a local restaurant for cold beers and barbecued trout.
The scenery was terrific, especially as the views opened up at the top section of the Mutianyu Great Wall.
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Back then, the ticketed part of the Mutianyu Great Wall came up as far as Tower 20.
The arched door in this tower used to be open and you could hike on through, buying a ticket if there was anyone on duty.
After the arch was filled in you could still hop over the wall, but if there were guards on duty they’d stop you.
The guards were usually there during peak season, mostly to stop visitors to Mutianyu from getting out, but they’d also stop people from hiking in.
Sometime around 2020-2021, the Tower 20 wall was built taller—too high to comfortably climb over. But you could go around the side, and climb back on the wall a bit further down.
But then, not long after that, going around the side and climbing back on top became difficult too, with extra cameras and guards on duty.
As an example of ‘becoming more difficult’, see this news story about two visitors to the Mutianyu Great Wall who ignored the security guard and jumped the wall to explore further, only to have their faces matched to their names by the surveillance cameras and get banned from future visits to Mutianyu.
We stopped doing the Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike when that taller wall was built, and started doing a version that finished at Beigou Village instead of the Mutianyu Great Wall.
Still a good hike—the same Jiankou to Mutianyu trail up until Tower 20, including the Tower 23 section, and then hill trails by the base of the wall and down to the village to finish. No more toboggan, though.
But then! … in 2025 a tall wall was built across the wall by Tower 23.
The wall built across the wall meant we couldn’t hike the Tower 20–23 section either.
It’s still possible to hike trails by the base of the wall from Tower 23 and then down to Beigou Village. That’s a walk of about 4km, nearly half of the whole trail—not super exciting, and if the main idea of doing the Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike is to actually hike some of the Mutianyu Great Wall, then it’s not going to work.
We’ve stopped doing the Jiankou Great Wall to Beigou Village hike as well.
What we’re doing instead of the Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall (or Beigou Village) hike
We designed a loop hike at Jiankou that visits the main parts of the old Jiankou to Mutianyu trail, including Zhengbei Tower and the Ox-Horn part, plus a bit extra. We’re calling that one the Jiankou Zhengbei Tower Great Wall Loop.
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Towers on the east side of the Great Wall at Jiankou. Jiankou Zhengbei Tower Great Wall Loop
Level 4+ — Hike by the Great Wall section that our local guide calls ‘the most beautiful part of the Jiankou Great Wall’ and then explore around Zhengbei Tower, including an out-and-back walk to the steep ‘Ox-Horn’ section. 7km / 4-5 hours of hiking
More info: As a private hike at Jiankou Zhengbei Tower Great Wall Loop • Check dates for upcoming group hikes for Jiankou Zhengbei Tower Great Wall Loop
We have other Jiankou-area trails to hike, like Nine-Eyes Tower, and the Chinese Knot.
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On the Jiankou ‘Big West’ Great Wall, with Nine-Eyes Tower just visible on the peak in the background. Nine-Eyes Tower and the Jiankou ‘Big West’ Great Wall
Level 4 — The Great Wall at Jiankou has seen repairs in recent years, but there are still untouched sections to see on the west side, including the rough line that leads up to Nine-Eyes Tower (elev. 1,156m). After the tough climb up to Nine-Eyes Tower, the hike loops back to follow the flatter ‘Big West’ Great Wall. On this hike you’ll see Great Wall all around—the steepest parts of the Jiankou Great Wall on the opposite side of the valley, the Mutianyu Great Wall further beyond, with glimpses of even more Great Wall following nearby mountain ridges. 8km / 3–4 hours of hiking
More info: Nine-Eyes Tower and the Jiankou ‘Big West’ Great Wall As a private hike • Check dates for upcoming group hikes for Nine-Eyes Tower and the Jiankou ‘Big West’ Great Wall
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Not far from ‘the Knot’, with Xizhazi Village seen in the valley below. Chinese Knot Great Wall
Level 4 — The Chinese Knot – also known as the Beijing Knot – is where Beijing’s inner and outer lines of Great Wall meet. The hike begins with a climb up to the Knot from Xizhazi Village on the Jiankou side, and continues along the wall to finish on the Great Wall Spur section, showing some extremely well-preserved ‘wild’ wall. 9km / 4–5 hours of hiking
More info: Enquire about a private hike at Great Wall: Chinese Knot to Xiangshuihu • Check dates for upcoming group hikes for Great Wall: Chinese Knot to Xiangshuihu
For a classic Great Wall hike that shows both unrepaired and repaired Great Wall (like the original Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike), we recommend the Gubeikou to Jinshanling Great Wall hike.
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On the west side of the Great Wall at Jinshanling. Gubeikou Great Wall to Jinshanling Great Wall
Level 4+ — The Gubeikou Great Wall is a mix of lightly-repaired and unrepaired ‘wild’ Great Wall, with photo opportunities for postcard-perfect shots of long stretches of wall and towers. The Jinshanling Great Wall is a mix of fully-restored and lightly-restored wall where you’ll see picturesque views of large towers and sweeping lines of wall along the ridgelines. A great challenge for fans of a long hike! 12-14km / 4-6 hours of hiking
More info: Gubeikou Great Wall to Jinshanling Great Wall As a private hike • Check dates for upcoming group hikes for Gubeikou Great Wall to Jinshanling Great Wall
Will we do the Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike in the future?
If it becomes possible to buy tickets at Mutianyu’s Tower 23 and hike on in, we’d definitely consider it.
Bonus content
More photos, selected trip reports, and our maps of the hiking trails here.
More photos
Selected Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall trip reports
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Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2021/02/27
This was our first hike here for a while, as the villages had been closed down to outsiders. It was as fun as ever—see 18 photos from the hike, including snowy trails and wild Great Wall. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2019/10/07
See 11 photos from a hike from Jiankou over to the Mutianyu Great Wall—clear air, blue skies, green hills, and lots of Great Wall in view. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2019/08/17
See 34 photos from a tough hike from Jiankou over to the Mutianyu Great Wall—perfect weather, awesome photos. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2019/05/11
See a set of 14 photos from the hike from Jiankou over to the Mutianyu Great Wall. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2019/02/16
We hiked through snow on this walk from Jiankou to the Mutianyu Great Wall—see 16 photos. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2018/10/17
With big blue skies and colourful autumn foliage, this was a perfect day to be up on the Great Wall—see 20 photos from our hike from Jiankou to Mutianyu. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2018/09/24
See 18 photos from the hike from Jiankou over to the Mutianyu Great Wall—blue skies, green hills, and awesome views of the Great Wall. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2018/05/24
See 18 photos from a hike from Jiankou over to the Mutianyu Great Wall—green hills, blue skies, and great views of the Great Wall. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2018/03/15
See a set of 20 great photos from our hike from Jiankou over to the to Mutianyu Great Wall—blue skies, long views, and photos of both repaired and unrepaired wall. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2018/01/20
See a set of 20 photos from the walk along the Great Wall between Jiankou and Mutianyu. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2017/7/8
Eighteen photos from the walk from Jiankou over to the Mutianyu Great Wall. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2017/3/08
Fourteen photos from the hike from Jiankou to the Mutianyu Great Wall, with blue skies and superb views. -
Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall, 2015/7/11
See a small set of nine photos from our Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike. -
Great Wall Christmas 2014 - Jiankou to Mutianyu
Photos from our Christmas Day hike from Jiankou to the Mutianyu Great Wall.
Maps
