Jiankou Zhengbei Tower Great Wall Loop
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.
Booking info
Private tour: Jiankou Zhengbei Tower Great Wall Loop
From ¥650 per person
For cost details please see the table of prices and inclusions
This hike shows the highlights of the southeast part of the Jiankou Great Wall, covering many of the best parts of the Jiankou to Mutianyu trail.
It’s not a long hike, but there are steep and tricky parts. We’re going to avoid the dangerous big cliffs, but you will need to take care on some steep and tricky ascents and descents, as well as a few narrow sections.
Prices and inclusions
Prices
| Group size | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5-7 | 8-9 | 10+* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person |
¥1,500 | ¥1,200 | ¥950 | ¥850 | ¥750 | ¥650 |
Inclusions
English-speaking Beijing Hikers guide • Round-trip transport in private vehicle from central Beijing • Tickets and entry fees • Bottled water, snacks, lunch and drinks • Hiking sticks • Post-hike meal at a village guesthouse
Not included: surprise shopping trips.
The Great Wall in Beijing
Beijing Municipality has more than 600km of Great Wall, found mainly in the mountains north and northeast of the city. The majority of Beijing’s Great Wall dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), but there are remnants of much older wall to be found, too.
The Jiankou Great Wall
Original construction of the wall at Jiankou started around 1000 years ago, in the Tang dynasty (618–907). Most of what we will see on the first part of this hike is the remains of the Ming Dynasty wall, built between 1568 and 1615 by General Qi Jiguang.
The Great Wall at Jiankou runs up and down impossibly steep ridgelines, and it’s known as one of the most dangerous parts of the wall to hike. Our trail avoids the danger zones—you’ll see them in the distance, and we think you will agree with us that they’re nicer to look at than to hike on.
The hike
The hike begins from a small village in the Jiankou area, and we’ll get started on an easy trail that leads up into forested hills.
At the top of the hills is Zhengbei Tower, one of the highest towers on the Jiankou Great Wall.
On our way up to Zhengbei Tower we’ll to take a detour to take a good look at some of the steepest and most photogenic Great Wall in the Jiankou area.
Our detour starts on a side track that cuts across the side of the hill, taking us to the bottom of The Cliffs, one of the most dangerous parts of the Jiankou Great Wall.
We won’t be climbing the cliffs! What we’ll do is an out-and-back hike the other way, following steep Great Wall up and down the ridgelines, heading for the ‘Little Potala’ Tower.
The wall between the cliffs and the ‘Little Potala’ Tower has had some basic repair work done to stop the Great Wall crumbling away. The workers did a good job, and the repairs make it safer to hike. (Previously it was extremely difficult to hike, as well as slightly unsafe.) It’s still a little bit tricky! The footing is solid, but uneven, and care is required on the steep parts.
From the ‘Little Potala’ Tower we’ll get excellent views of the steepest and most scenic parts of the Jiankou Great Wall.
From there we’ll hike back to The Cliffs, and then take a side trail around the cliffs and back to a safer section of Great Wall.
The next stop will be Zhengbei Tower. At around 1,000m of elevation, Zhengbei Tower is one of the tallest in the area, and offers unobstructed views of Great Wall all around.
The only taller tower in the area is the one at the top of the Ox-Horn section, and after a rest at Zhengbei Tower we’ll start the hike over and up to that one!
The Ox-Horn is a steep section of wall that makes a tight curve up to a peak that’s 1,019m above sea level. We’re going to first cut across the bottom of the curve on a forest path and then hike up the steepest side—much easier to go up than down, especially on the smoother flagstones near the top. We’ll take a break at the top and hike down the other side of the curve.
Once we get back down the Ox-Horn we’ll farewell the wall, and follow a clear track down through forest, arriving eventually at one of the other villages at Jiankou. From there, a short drive takes us back to the starting point of the hike, and we’ll visit our local guide’s guesthouse for snacks and drinks and dumplings before heading back to the city.
