The Great Wall at Huangyaguan is almost completely restored, but climbing to the Phoenix Tower it’s possible to see small traces of the original wall on the cliff opposite the tower.

It seems to be a pretty steep climb to get up there so I wouldn’t recommend it. It would probably be possible to see more of the unrestored wall closer to the restored part, but I have not attempted to go there.

The Phoenix Tower is located 800 meters northwest of Huangyaguan and can be seen from many part of the wall. According to the map in Bradt’s Great Wall of China the tower was once connected to the rest of the wall, but this part was not restored together with the rest of the wall here.

Apart from the possibility of seeing the original wall, it’s really not worth the effort to climb to the Phoenix Tower. It’s a big round tower which can only be accessed by means of a rickety ladder.

In the weekend I had the opportunity to visit Huangyaguan (黄崖关) for the second time, about a year after my first visit. Huangyaguan is located in the northern part of Tianjin municipality close to Jixian. From Jixian follow S101 north trough the mountains for about 30 kilometres to Huangyuguan.

Upon arrival at Huangyaguan it’s possible to enter the Great Wall at the fortress of Huangyaguan or for 10 RMB a small bus can take you to Taipingzhai (太平寨) from where it’s possible to walk back to Huangyaguan in about one and a half hour.

Close to the entrance at Taipingzhai a statue of Qi Jiguang, a Ming general famed for his struggle against Japanese pirates and for his repair of the Great Wall between Shanhaiguan and Beijing, following his return to Beijing in 1567.

From the entrance at Taipingzhai the wall continues southeast before it ends at the foot of a steep cliff, which acts like a natural barrier. From here it’s a 2 kilometres walk back to Huangyaguan with a magnificent view from the top of the mountains.

The Great Wall at Huangyaguan, meaning Yellow Cliff Pass, was first build during 557 AD and later repaired using bricks during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644). The wall was repaired again for three years starting in 1984 and opened for the public in 1987.

The Great Wall at Huangyaguan is a strange mix of bricks and stones, with sections of bricks and stones alternating along the entire wall in this area. Not sure if this was the original configuration or just an attempt to show how the wall looked during different periods of its history. It seems a bit strange that they would construct the wall using the well known bricks in some parts and not at others.

A famous tower at the Taipingzhai/Huangyaguan Great Wall is the Widows’ Tower which got its name from the 12 widows that reputedly helped build the tower by donated their pension after they learned about the death of their husbands in the war against northern barbarians.

The Great Wall winds its way on the mountain ridge with some steep passages along the way. Shortly after the Widows’ Tower the wall split in two, one section leading back to Huangyaguan and another leading to watch tower which was probably once connected to the Phoenix Tower north of Huangyaguan.

From the top of the Great Wall it’s easy to appreciate the layout of the walled fortress in the bottom of the valley, although undoubtedly much have changed since the fortress was originally constructed. The fortress was constructed with a maze, a so-called Baguan pattern, of buildings to make it very difficulty for the enemy for find his way trough the fortress if he successfully entered the fortress. Today a small amusement labyrinth have been constructed to give the visitors the same feeling as invading enemy troops might have had many years ago.

Back at Huangyaguan it’s possible to continue a bit further west which takes you to the foot of the mountain where the Heaven Ladder of Huangya begins. Unfortunately I had to turn back, but it seems that the wall continues up the mountain into a small ravine and ends at the top of the mountain. I will surely go back one day to explore this part of Huangyaguan.

Huangyaguan is home of a yearly marathon, and we actually saw a few people practicing on the Great Wall. Having tried a normal marathon myself I can easily imagine how hard the Great Wall Marathon must be.

Entrance price: 50 RMB

Date of visit: May 10, 2008

Although it has been known for some years that the eastern end of the Great Wall is located at the Hushan mountain in the eastern part of Liaoning province, close to the boarder of North-Korea, many still believe that Shanhaiguan is the eastern end of the Great Wall, and the information about the Great Wall in Liaoning is very sparse, mainly because large part of the wall in this area is long gone. Now most books only mention (if mentioned at all) Hushan, Jiumenkou and a few also mention Xigou.

During a trip to the old city of Xingcheng, located in Huludao prefecture-level city, 100 kilometres northeast of Shanhaiguan, I came across an interesting map showing the Great Wall within Xingcheng city.

I went to see the White Pagoda at Baitayu 14 kilometres outside Xingcheng, and according to a local guide book some rubbles from the long gone Great Wall in this area should be visible close to the pagoda, however I didn’t find any trace of the wall and none of the locals we asked knew anything about the Great Wall in this area.

Passing Shanhaihuan on the Jingshan express way I have a few times seen what seems to be the remnants of a beacon tower, so when returning from the May holiday I decided to make a short stop outside Shanhaiguan to take a closer look.

Bradt’s Great Wall of China mention a beacon tower called Bianqiangzi 5 kilometres east of Shanhaiguan which is probably this beacon tower although no information was found around the tower.

The beacon tower is in very bad condition and only the rammed earth is left without any trace of the bricks or stones that once hold the rammed earth in place.

The stones at the base of the beacon tower seems to be a reconstruction as well as the square wall surrounding the beacon tower.
Apparently there are planes to make this beacon tower into a tourist attraction, however is seem a bit like the work have cease at the moment, maybe because workers are busy elsewhere preparing Shanhaiguan for the summers Olympic which will bring events to  nearby Qinhuangdao.    

The gate at the main road also looks half finished and seems to have been that for a long time. A bit sad to see but hopefully the project can be finished soon so the beacon tower can be saved for future generations two see.

During my last visit to Baiyangyu I noticed what seems to be the remnant of a beacon tower located very close to the main wall.

To me is it seemed like a strange place to pit the beacon tower, since a small mountain is located very close to the wall, from where it would be easy to see the light from the fire far way.

It made me wonder if this was part of an older wall, since part of another wall can be seen north of the main wall. Furthermore the base for the tower doesn’t look like what can be found on the watch towers, which might indicate that the beacon tower is older that the wall itself.

The Baiyangyu Great Wall was first build during the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577) and was only three meters in width at that time. Later it was reinforced by Qi Jiguang during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the width was increased to 5-6 meters. The main wall located close to the pass was build with bricks, while parts located far away from the pass was build by piling up rocks, as can be seen in the section called Marble Great Wall.

These extra walls are also build by piling up rocks, as well as other walls further down the mountain. However the walls in the valley are clearly made to protect the sparse farmland and to stop the flow of water down the ravine.

According to one of the very few sources regarding the Great Wall in Hebei province these walls close to the main wall was build at the same time as the Great Wall but it doesn’t say exactly when, so it’s unclear if it is Ming Dynasty or not. The auxiliary walls are made of stones from top to bottom and was used to strengthen the defence of the main wall.

Apart from the wall there also seems to be a trench running along the wall from east to west which more or less follow the main wall and the auxiliary walls. Traces of similar layout can be found at nearby Liujiakou.

In the main wall close to the beacon tower there is a small gate trough the wall probably to facilitate access to the beacon tower just outside the wall, although it might seem a bit strange to weaken the defence by installing a gate here.

Apart from avoiding the steep mountain in the beginning of the Baiyangyu section, another advantages of taking the easy way up is to see the two stone tablets inserted into the south side of the wall to mark the joint of to different sections.

West of the boundary tablet white limestones are used as the base of the wall, while east of the boundary tablet, purple stones are used as the base. The red and white stones at the jointing point make a striking contrast.

The western tablet bearing the inscription zhong xie tai ping lu dong jie marks the eastern boundary of the Zhongxietaiping road.

The eastern tablet bearing the inscription dong xie yan he lu xi jie marks the western boundary of the Dongxieyanhe road.

During the Ming Dynasty the Great Wall in the Tangshan area was under the administration of Ji Town, which was on of nine towns. Ji Town consisted of twelve regions, each being responsible for the defence and renovation of the Great Wall in its area. During the construction of the wall, stone tablets were installed at the border between the regions. The two tablets shown here thus mark the boundary between the Yanhe and Taiping region.

In the weekend I went back to The Baiyangyu Great Wall located in the north-western part of the Tangshan area in Hebei province. It was the third time I visited this section but first time for my wife – she have heard me praise this section many times so she wanted to see if it’s really so great.

We choose the easy way up to avoid the steep mountain in order to have more time on the Great Wall. However for first time visitors of Baiyangyu it is recommended to hike from the small town of Baiyangyu to see the magnificent view from the top of the mountain and try to climb the steep wall at this point.

From the top of the wall there is a beautiful view of the valley to the south and in the mountains to the north the Great Wall can be seen winding its way over the mountaintops like a giant dragon.

Baiyangyu is also known as the Marble Great Wall because of the use of natural occurring white rocks to build part of the Great Wall in this area. After entering the wall it’s about 2 kilometres hike to the beginning of the Marble Great Wall.

Some places the wall is in really bad condition and part of the wall have collapse leaving only part of the wall intact. Especially the Marble Great Wall is in bad condition because of the lower quality of the wall owing to the building material.

Close to the Marble Great Wall several bricks bearing the mark 中 (zhong, meaning middle) can be found. Similar bricks can be seen at Liujiakou not so far away.

The markings refer to the production of the bricks and several other examples can be found on other sections of the Great Wall.

The first two times I visited Baiyangyu I didn’t continue at the steep mountain at the Marble section, but this time I wanted to go to the top. Seen from the road the mountain looks steep, but the main problem is the rocky surface that makes it difficult to climb and even more difficult to descent.

Because of the difficulty of the climb the mountain is not recommend for beginners or people with less experience. Once at the top the view is magnificent and the wall can be seen winding is way to east and west.

On the west side the Marble Great Wall continues for a few kilometres before it again resume its normal stone/brick configuration. The wall seems to be in fairly good condition here and can be accessed by road by continuing from Baiyangyu village. I hope to be able to go back to Baiyangyu one day to make an attempt to climb to the top of this part of the wall. It looks rather steep in the beginning, but once at the top is seems to be fairly level.

The top of the mountain houses a small watch tower not similar to the other watch towers seen at Baiyangyu. However only half remains of some of the watch towers so it’s difficult to see how big these originally were.

To get to Baiyangyu take the Jingshen (Beijing-Shenyang) express way and exit towards Qian’an (迁安) and then follow S252 towards Qinglong (青龙). At Jianchangyingzhen (建昌营镇) continue on the road for a short time and then follow the sign towards Baiyangyu (白羊峪). It’s possible to enter the the wall two places, either at a small site after the first mountain (clearly visible with a traditional Chinese gate at the roadside) or it’s possible to follow the road all the way to the Baiyangyu village and enter the wall from here.

Entrance price: 20 RMB

Date of visit: April 27, 2008

People’s Daily Online reported on April 22, that several new sections of the Great Wall have been discovered in Gansu Province after a survey of the Gansu Great Wall began in 2007. The Great Wall in these newly discovered sections were built during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC), Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–220 A.D.) and Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D. – 1644 A.D.).

In 2007, a team surveyed nearly 1,000 kilometers of Gansu Province; and discovered three segments of wall and moats, and six barriers and four beacon towers in Tianzhu County, Liangzhou District and Jinta County. These sites, found in the wild and previously not documented, were named after their locations.

Gansu Province’s Great Wall sites include the work of five dynasties, with a total length of 4,000 kilometers of wall. Moreover, heads of the Great Wall, built during the Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, are located in Gansu .

Inspired by my recent trip to the Banchangyu Great Wall I designed a Save the Great Wall logo as can be seen in the sidebar. I’m not quite sure how to use it yet, and maybe it will just stay at my own blog as a quiet protest.

A bigger version of the logo can be found here.

Yesterday I visited the Banchangyu Great Wall section in the Qinhuangdao area in the eastern Hebei province. Banchangyu is located approximately 40 kilometres north of Qinhuangdao. From Qinhuangdao follow S251 towards Qinglong until Yiyuankou. From Yiyuankou a small mountain road leads north towards the Banchangyu scenic area.

I have not been able to find much information regarding this section of the Great Wall. However according to the leaflet we received at the ticket office the area both contains an early Ming wall and a late Ming wall. The two sections can be seen on the below picture from Google Earth, the blue being the early wall and the red the late wall:

The early wall is made of stone and can be seen on the way trough the scenic area which also contains various temples and natural sights. The late Ming wall is lined with the well known gray bricks. Apparently the wall in this area was first constructed in 1381 and later renovated and expanded in 1571, so it seems that when renovating the wall a new wall was build to the north of the old wall in the steep mountains and the old wall was left as it were.

A good place to stop is the big restaurant in the middle of the scenic area. From here it’s a steep climb towards the Great Wall, but the wall in this area is truly worth the effort.

The wall in this area fully exploit the natural defence provided by the steep mountains, making it very difficult for the enemy to intrude.

At some places the wall is almost vertical.

From the top it’s possible to see the wall wind its way south towards Yiyuankou which looks like a very interesting trek, so I hope to be able to go back to this area one day.

According to one of the locals the local government have some plans to restore the wall at Banchangyu. I really hope they don’t succeed with their plans and make a new Badaling.

The Wall is already in fairly good condition so it would be sad to see it restored. Apparently they don’t like that the wall don’t have any inside parapet, however I didn’t see any evidence that there ever being an inside parapet.

Close Banchangyu some brick kilns have been found. For more info about that please see here and here.

Entrance price: 30 RMB

Date of visit: April 19, 2008