Dalingzhai

Chinese: 达岭寨
Pinyin: Dá lǐng zhài
English: Reach ridge fortress
Coordinates: 40°17'35"N 118°31'29"E

This is in Qianxi, about 45km away from the bus station (in contradiction from Qianxi's tourist book, where it says it's only 25km from the urban area).

Qianxi's bus station is new and located on the opposite side of town from where the old bus station was. The minibuses that go to villages near sections of the Wall are still at the old bus station's location (which is now demolished). Go figure.

Anyway I paid a taxi driver 80 kuai one way. This is a really beautiful section of the Wall and it seems to go on forever, in comparison to others in Qianxi where the path just seems to kind of stop. I'd love to come back in summer and spend the night here.

You can go left or right. The left part is nothing more than a rockpile with a guard tower, eventually going down an extremely steep part of the mountain where the Wall is cut in half by a road. On the other side of the road the mountain is even steeper, and the Wall for a long stretch is nothing but rocks. Beyond that the Wall continues with guard towers.

Going right, at first glance there appears to be only six guard towers. Reaching the top I realized there are even more guard towers, going on for who knows how far. The path is paved well and this is definitely the easier of the two ways to go.

The first guard tower you see.

Look at how steep that is, madness.

Looking back at the towers on the right side.

Going back to the eastern part of Dalingzhai.

Funny enough, but you can see the steps have been remade with concrete so you can walk up them.

If you zoom in, you can see how the Wall stretches on after that long, steep section.

Those two guard towers in the background made me wonder how much farther this section went on for. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to find out.

Without a doubt, this is the most well-preserved staircase I've seen in Tangshan's Great Walls yet.

Going back down.

BONUS: I've been to many villages, but this is the first time I've seen a Mao statue in one.

Dalingzhai time lapse video