Chenjiapu Great Wall
A moderately difficult hike that follows a line of wild wall up to a tall tower with 360° views of mountains, valleys, small villages, and a long line of wall heading high into the hills. Some sections extremely tricky underfoot.
Booking info
Private tour: Chenjiapu Great Wall
From ¥650 per person
For cost details please see the table of prices and inclusions
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 countryside restaurant
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 Chenjiapu Great Wall
Most of the Great Wall at Chenjiapu dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The wall we’ll see on the hike here can be dated to the later part of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), in particular the large brick towers and crenellated side walls.
The Ming wall partially covers an older stone and rock wall that’s said to be from the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577). Part of the older wall can be seen near the General’s Tower.
This part of the Great Wall is also known as the Chen Castle Great Wall or the Shixiaguan Stone Valley Great Wall.
The hiking trail
We start the hike near the ‘Dragon King’ Temple at Chenjiapu Village, on the ‘out’ side of the Great Wall. Behind the temple we’ll follow trails through the fields behind the village, climbing up to the Great Wall on the ridge.
We then follow the wall up to the “General’s Tower”, one of the biggest towers in the area, and likely the location of the commander in the area back in the Ming Dynasty. From here we’ll be able to see why it made such a good command post – the views are amazing!
After the General’s Tower, the condition of the Great Wall here deteriorates, and as we continue we’ll have some tricky descents on slippery, broken down sections of the wall – not much fun if you’re not good with balance or don’t enjoy heights so much.
We’ll hike down a steep section of wall to reach the repaired ‘Mandarin Ducks’ Towers, two mostly-intact towers sited to guard a pass at a dip in the mountains.
From this point we have some options. If you’re feeling good, we’ll continue up the steep wall beyond the two towers to get a look at more of the wall in the higher up sections. (And if you’ve had enough, easy trails lead down the valley to the end of the hike.)
On this hike we usually like to finish the walk at Stone Valley Village, which is on the ‘in’ side of the Great Wall. This village is on the Beijing side of the Beijing-Hebei border, which means we won’t need to go through a border checkpoint on the way home.
