Jinshanling Great Wall

Located about eight kilometers (five miles) southeast of the Bakeshiying Township in Luanping County in Hebei Province, the Jinshanling Great Wall is the best preserved part of the Great Wall with many original features. It starts from the Wangjinglou Tower in the east and ends at Longyukou in the west and stretches about 10 kilometers (six miles).

The Jinshanling Great Wall was initially built from 1368 to 1389 in the Ming Dynasty, and in 1567 or 1570 rebuilding of the Wall was mainly directed by General Qi Jiguang. Poems and tablet writings can be found on the Jinshanling Great Wall left from the time Qi Jiguang directed building of this section of the Great Wall.

The total length of this section is about eleven kilometers (6.8 miles), and the scenic spot of the Jinshanling Great Wall has an area of 32 square kilometers. The Wall is about seven to eight meters high and five to six meters wide, which is made of brick and stone. The Jinshanling Great Wall has an elevation of 700 meters. Watching Beijing Tower is on the highest position, from which you can see Beijing. The Jinshanling Great Wall is second only to the Badaling Great Wall in its completeness.

There are more than 100 enemy towers along the whole Jinshanling Great Wall. Built stably and elegantly, different towers have different structures and appearances. Rows of 3-meter-high Barrier Walls were built leading to the enemy towers to protect the towers. Some of the towers are storerooms as well. They were used to store food, hay and weapons.

Two of so many enemy towers are bigger Jinshan and smaller Jinshan. There is a legend about them. It was said that the two towers were built by 3000 soldiers from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces led northward by Qi Jiguang. In order to remind themselves of their hometowns, the names of bigger and smaller JinshanIslands in ZhenjiangCity, which is in JiangsuProvince, were used to name the two enemy towers.

As there are relatively few tourists at Jinshanling Great Wall, it is a good place to explore on foot.
In early mornings of spring and summer you can see a remarkable view - "CloudSea" below you from the Wall.

The Jinshanling Great Wall has never been repaired. You are safer when you visit this section of the Great Wall than other parts. It is safer as the service in this section of Great Wall includes that one tour guide is responsible for one tourist, for his/her safety actually. When needed, the tour guides will go hand in hand to protect the tourists.
An 800-meter long cable was built to entertain the tourists. Also a 3-kilometer section of the Wall was rebuilt and is bathed after dark in colored light, making a splendid "Night Great Wall".