Qinglongxia

Chinese: 青龙峡
Pinyin: Qīng lóng xiá
English: Blue dragon gorge
Coordinates: 40°27'15"N 116°40'18"E

Qinglongxia is a nice place to combine a casual visit to the Great Wall with other fun activities.

Qinglongxia is the name of a gorge and resort area located just north of a village called Dashuiyu. For this reason, the Great Wall here is sometimes called the Qinglongxia Great Wall and sometimes called the Dashuiyu Great Wall.

The Qinglongxia Great Wall is the easternmost Great Wall in Huairou District and represents the start of a nearly-continuous span of wall traveling about 63 kilometers (39 miles) all the way across Huairou District and into Yanqing County, terminating at Songshugoucun.

Qinglongxia is conveniently located just north of the Huairou urban area. Drive north past Yanqi lake and after you pass the lake on the left, you will see signs on the right directing you to Qinglongxia. It's just a few minutes off the main road and easy to find.

The wall on the east side was badly deteriorated and difficult to follow until it was partially repaired in 2009-2010. The wall on the west side is in good shape for the most part and some minor repair work was done on this side as well during 2009-2010. The towers especially are surprisingly intact and in most places the wall is relatively easy to follow although it is crumbling and somewhat overgrown in many places.

Qinglongxia is a Beijing area resort with many activities in addition to the Great Wall. There are a few hotels in the area and several places to eat. Qinglongxia is popular with both Beijing residents and tourists.

Upon entering Qinglongxia, you will purchase tickets and go through a ticket gate. You will immediately be greeted by a spectacular view of the Great Wall heading up a steep mountain on the east side of the valley, to your right. The Great Wall extends east here for only a short distance (about one kilometer). After this, the wall ends and there are only sporadic towers for a long distance, until you reach the Wangzhuang area just west of the Miyun reservoir. The wall on the east side is made mostly of brick, with some stone parts. Just before you reach the point where the wall nears the road, there is a restaurant on a hill on your right side. Around this restaurant to its left (north) side, you will find a trail that will lead you to the wall. It's not too difficult to follow the wall past a couple of towers to the point where it stops. There is then a gap to the next tower, where the wall begins again for a short span before stopping again. Beyond this point, there are several more freestanding towers. But the spans where no wall exists are difficult to pass due to heavy vegetation in the area.

Qinglongxia's east side

If you walk northward down the valley from the entrance to Qinglongxia, along the river, and past the eastbound Great Wall, you will soon see Great Wall towers high up on the mountain ridge to your left (to the west). Keep walking and you will come to a bridge across the river on your left, which you will want to cross. At the end of this bridge is a hotel and a restaurant. From roads behind and to the right of this hotel, it's easy to access the Great Wall as there are two marked and well-maintained paths to the west side. The first one is longer and the second one is shorter but steeper and includes several long metal staircases. There is also an open, ski-lift type cable car which takes you to the high point on the west side, near the top of the second path but at a location higher up and further to the northwest. The scenery at this point is excellent in every direction.

The author on Qinglongxia's west side
Photo by Zhou Lingyu

The wall on this side is made from stone and there is often no parapet or other protection on the south side of the wall.

From the top of both paths as well as the top cable car station, you can follow the Great Wall in either direction, east or west. If you pass the top cable car station and proceed west along the Great Wall towards Hefangkou, you will soon encounter a robust barbed-wire fence and the area is protected by security cameras as well as a number of warning signs. It is possible but not easy to get around the fence because the terrain is quite steep. Therefore, Qinglongxia is not the place to go if you're planning on a long continuous Great Wall hike. In the other direction, you can only go a limited distance to the east before you reach another fence that indicates the end of the public section. To reach the wall on the other side of this fence, you should look for a path from the road leading to the entrance of Qinglongxia, about 780 meters (0.5 miles) before you reach the ticket gate, at 40°26'54"N 116°41'25"E. This path leads north up to the closed, lower part of the western Qinglongxia Great Wall. Even though it's officially closed, this part of the wall has been repaired and is not difficult to climb.

Qinglongxia is the lowest Great Wall location in the Beijing area at only 120 meters (395 feet) elevation.

Location summary: Qinglongxia is about 66 kilometers (41 miles) north of downtown Beijing. Hefangkou lies about 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) to the southwest. The path of the Great Wall from Qinglongxia to Hefangkou is about 4.3 kilometers (2.7 miles).

Driving directions: From Kaifang Road in the Huairou urban area, go north on G111 for about 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) and turn right towards Dashuiyu. Continue east for about 300 meters to Qinglongxia. You can also take bus No. 16 from Dongdaqiao or Xuanwumen, bus No. 936 from Dongzhimen or No. 3 tourism train from Xizhimen railway station to Qinglongxia rail station.

Qinglongxia Great Wall map

Qinglongxia Great Wall map

The east side as it appears from the entrance area

Towers high above the ground on the west side

Passage to Hefangkou blocked

Qinglongxia east side

Qinglongxia east side

Qinglongxia east side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Qinglongxia west side

Wall at 40°27'11.5"N 116°41'19"E

Wall at 40°27'4"N 116°41'13"E

Tower at 40°27'30.3"N 116°41'16"E

Tower at 40°27'39.7"N 116°41'19.4"E

Some restoration work was performed on the Qinglongxia Great Wall in 2009 - 2010. This before and after photo of one area shows the type of work that was done.

2008

2010