Jinshanling

Chinese: 金山岭
Pinyin: Jīn shān lǐng
English: Gold mountain ridge
Coordinates: 40°41'0"N 117°14'10"E

Jinshanling is an excellent Great Wall location to visit. It has a wide variety of interesting features, beautiful scenery, and it's not exceptionally dangerous. It has a good hotel and restaurant, and while it's not too touristy, it's getting more crowded every year. There are many opportunities for taking excellent photos at Jinshanling.

Jinshanling is further away from Beijing than other locations near Beijing in Huairou District and Yanqing County. Jinshanling is reached by taking the Jingcheng expressway north from Beijing, through Miyun and Gubeikou. Just beyond Gubeikou, you will see signs to turn off to the right to Jinshanling. It's about 10 or 15 minutes from that point to the entrance to the Jinshanling Great Wall, which is on the right side. The entrance to the Jinshanling Great Wall is on the north side of the wall. Most entrances to the Great Wall near Beijing are on the south side. The other notable exception is Jiankou, which can be entered from either side but is much more accessible from the north.

Jinshanling viewed from the east

2.2 kilometers (1.4 miles) of the Jinshanling Great Wall were tastefully rebuilt in 1985-1987. Many parts including towers were left in their original condition while repairs were done to make walking safe. Also, the wall itself was nearly intact in many areas and only needed minor repairs. Since 1987, many additional places have been repaired in the Jinshanling area, especially towards Simatai to the east, in order to further improve safety.

Jinshanling was restored in 1985-1987. Many of the towers were left in their original condition during the restoration. Also, the Wall itself was nearly intact in many areas and only needed minor repairs. As you head west towards Gubeikou from Jinshanling's main pass at Zhuanduokou, the Great Wall is only restored up to the third tower and is in original condition from that point all the way to Gubeikou (and beyond). Heading east to Simatai, you will find a longer stretch that's restored, but after the Greater Jinshan Tower, it's only repaired in a couple of spots where it was badly damaged.

As you head west towards Gubeikou from the lowest part of Jinshanling, the Zhuanduokou pass, the Great Wall is only restored up to the third tower and is in original condition from that point all the way to Gubeikou. Heading east to Simatai, you will find a longer stretch that's restored, but after the Greater Jinshan Tower, it's only repaired in a few spots where it was badly damaged.

Jinshanling is connected to the Simatai Great Wall in the east and the Panlongshan Great Wall in the west. Jinshanling has probably the highest frequency of towers per kilometer of any place along the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. It also has one of the greatest varieties of architectural and defensive styles of both wall and towers.

When you arrive at Jinshanling, you walk from the ticket booths down a path past first a restaurant and then a hotel on your right side. Next is a gate where your tickets are checked. Just past this gate on the left is the lower cable car station. There is also a trail leading from here towards the Great Wall. This trail is not officially open, and at times the people in the ticket checking office will try to prevent you from using it. (Of course, if heading in the other direction, nobody will try to stop you from entering this trail at the top.) This trail goes to the easternmost possible part of the wall near the Houchuan tower, and is useful if you want to take the shortest path to Simatai. However, it's the longest path to reach the Great Wall and you will need nearly 30 minutes just to reach the wall from here. It's also useful in the opposite direction if you have walked to Simatai and you wish to return to Jinshanling, or if you have hiked here from Simatai and you want to complete the trip in the shortest way possible. However, in doing this you would miss some of the most interesting parts of the entire Simatai-Jinshanling hike.

The cable car is the easiest way to reach the Great Wall. It brings you up to the top of a hill where you follow a short foot path to reach the wall near the Lesser Jinshan tower. From here you can walk in either direction and either follow a foot path down or return to the cable car. The wall is more interesting if you walk to the west, but the views are better if you walk to the east. However, if you walk to the west all the way to the West Five-Eye tower, or Xiwuyanlou, the views are outstanding from there.

If you bypass the cable car and keep walking down the road, you will reach a point where a side road goes off to the left. If you take this side road, it will lead to a long series of stairs and trails that reach the Great Wall at Shalingkou. Again, from here you can walk in either direction and enjoy the Great Wall and return by either a different way or the same one.

If you continue to go straight along the road, you will see a branch of the wall high up on the hillside to your left (east). This section is known as the Leopard Wall due to its unusual spotted appearance, which results from its construction using rocks instead of bricks. Later, when you get up higher on the wall to the west, you will have excellent views of this feature.

Continue down this road to its end and you will reach Zhuanduokou pass, which is considered the main pass at Jinshanling and is certainly the lowest point. Zhuandoukou features a large tower known as the Guard Tower.

Zhuanduokou

From here, walk to the west (to the right). You will pass one platform, and beyond it you will reach a tower, called Xiliang Tower or West Second Tower. After this tower is the end of the restoration to the west. Go on down a short hill and then up to the following tower. This is the Xiwuyanlou or West Five-Eye (or five-window) tower. This tower has five windows when viewed from the side. When viewed from the wall as you approach, you only see the narrow end, which has one door and one window.

West Five-Eye Tower

From this point, if you turn around and look behind you, you will see a fantastic scene that has made it to thousands of books, magazines, postcards, and so forth. The wall seems to lead in all directions. If the weather is clear, you can see a great view of the entire Simatai ridge. Because this is one of the first places I sought out the first time I ever visited the Great Wall, and because I have been there many times, it's one of my very favorite spots on the entire Great Wall.

View of Jinshanling and Simatai from West Five-Eye Tower

Xiwuyanlou also marks the end of Jinshanling and the beginning of the Gubeikou Great Wall. Continue from here to the west and in several hours you will reach Gubeikou. See the following Gubeikou Panlongshan description for more details on this section of the wall.

Jinshanling with Xiwuyanlou at the right

Heading to the east from the Zhuanduokou Tower, you will climb up to a T-junction where you must turn left or right. To the left is the Leopard Wall. The wall continues for a short distance and stops. You have to climb through the window of a tower to access this short wall. It's an interesting place to look at and it gives the best available view of the Jinshanling village. If instead you turn to the right at the junction, you go up a short hill and reach the Storehouse Tower or Warehouse Tower. This tower is named for the large building next to it which is thought to have been a storehouse for supplies such as food and weapons.

Proceeding to the east from this point, you will reach Shalingkou, another Jinshanling pass. Pass another tower and you will then reach the Black Tower, a rare 3-story tower.

Black Tower

Pass the Black Tower and two more towers and you will reach the Lesser Jinshan Tower and then the Greater Jinshan Tower. These are named for their heights rather than their sizes as the Lesser Jinshan Tower is the larger of the two.

Lesser Jinshan Tower

Shortly after the Greater Jinshan Tower, you will reach the end of the Jinshanling restoration project. After this point, the wall is restored only in a couple of spots where it was previously dangerous to pass.

Another important tower you will soon reach is called General Tower or General's Tower. This large and high tower had a good strategic position and a good view or enemy territory to the north. This tower sits at the top of a steep incline that has exactly 100 steps. This is the highest point you will reach on your way to Simatai.

General Tower

From the General Tower and the area just past it, if you turn around and look back where you came from, the view of the Jinshanling Great Wall is excellent. On a clear day you can see all the way to the Wohushan Great Wall on the far side of Gubeikou.

Further to the east, after you pass a few more towers, you will reach a tower known as the small fox head tower (Xiaohudinglou). What makes this tower very special is a Kylin screen carving on its upper, western, inner wall. The carving was made using six large tiles and is still in relatively good condition today. However, one of the reasons that it's still in good condition is that it's not accessible to the public. There is no simple way to reach the top of the tower as there are no stairs leading to the top of the tower from its interior. If you're a good climber, there is a way to climb to the roof from one corner on the inside of the tower, or you may be able to scale the outside of the tower, but most people will have to be satisfied looking at photos of the sculpture.

As you explore the Jinshanling Great Wall, you will notice barrier walls in many places. These are series of short walls that cross about two thirds of the width of the path along the top of the Great Wall. They are found on inclined areas near watch towers. They can be found in only a few places on the Great Wall other than Jinshanling. These walls were built to provide yet another layer of defense by making it easier to defend the wall. Many books state, incorrectly, that these barrier walls were intended to be used against enemy forces that may have made it onto the Great Wall at a lower point. Actually, they are used to defend against people who were on the ground near the Great Wall. When you reach these barrier walls, and especially those that are original, rather than rebuilt, it's an interesting exercise to imagine both scenarios and see for yourself which purpose was intended.

Round tower

Jinshanling features two round watch towers which are separate from the wall, located on the north side of the wall near Zhuanduokou. This is just another example of the very wide variety of towers to be found at Jinshanling because round towers are very uncommon on the Great Wall.

I visited Jinshanling for the fourth time in 2008. I arrived from early in the morning, spent the entire day exploring, had dinner in the restaurant, and spent the night in the hotel. The next morning, I left very early and hiked to Simatai, reaching the Simatai reservoir before 8:00 AM. (Because it was so early, I did not see a single person the entire way.) This allowed me to spend the entire day at Simatai. This is a good two-day plan for those who wish to not only hike from Jinshanling to Simatai but also to have plenty of time to spend at each end of the hike.

Location summary: Jinshanling is about 111 kilometers (69 miles) northeast of downtown Beijing. It is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) west of Simatai and about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) east of the Panlongshan Great Wall at Gubeikou. The path of the Great Wall from Jinshanling to Gubeikou is about 8.6 kilometers (5.3 miles).

Driving directions: From Beijing's north sixth ring road, drive northeast on G101 for about 100 kilometers (62 miles). After you've passed Gubeikou and Bakeshiyingzhen, turn right at the signs for the Jinshanling Great Wall and drive about 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) to the Jinshanling Great Wall parking lot.

Jinshanling has always been one of my favorite Great Wall locations. It has very interesting features, beautiful scenery, and it's not exceptionally dangerous. It has a good hotel and restaurant, and while it's not too touristy, it's getting more crowded every year. There are many opportunities for taking excellent photos at Jinshanling.

Red paths: Great Wall, blue paths: foot paths, yellow line: cable car

Road to Shalingkou

Leopard Wall

Xiwuyanlou

View of Jinshanling and Simatai from Xiwuyanlou

Warehouse tower

Black Tower

Lesser Jinshan Tower

Greater Jinshan Tower

Eastern end of restored Jinshanling Great Wall

General Tower

Overview of Jinshanling Great Wall from the east

Barrier walls

Barrier walls

Round tower

Jinshanling Great Wall

Jinshanling Great Wall

Xiwuyanlou (West five eye tower) marks the western end of Jinshanling

Jinshanling Great Wall

Jinshanling Great Wall

View from Xiwuyanlou

Jinshanling Great Wall map

Jinshanling Great Wall map

Jinshanling Great Wall map

Jinshanling Great Wall map

Jinshanling and Simatai Great Wall map

Jinshanling Great Wall map

Jinshanling Great Wall map

View of Jinshanling and, in the distance, Simatai, from the Gubeikou Panlongshan Great Wall

Xiwuyanlou, the western end of Jinshanling

Xiwuyanlou

Xiwuyanlou

Barrier walls

Xiliang Zhuanduo Tower

Zhuanduoguan (Zhuanduolou)

Tower at Bakeshiyingzhen (40°43'1.50"N 117°11'15.90"E)
This is a rarely seen tower.

Camping at Jinshanling

Jinshanling

Jinshanling

Jinshanling Warehouse Tower

Jinshanling