Hefangkou

Chinese: 河防口
Pinyin: Hé fáng kǒu
English: River guard pass
Coordinates: 40°25'54"N 116°40'18"E

Want a challenging hike / climb on an old stone wall in difficult terrain? Hefangkou may be just for you. Hefangkou is easy to get to but not easy to climb. The surfaces contain loose stones and portions are very steep.

Hefangkou is one of the closest and easiest places to access the Great Wall from Beijing. It's on the main road just north of Huairou. Once you reach the Hefangkou area, getting from the road to the Great Wall is also easy, with two short trails on the east side and one short trail on the west side.

The Hefangkou Great Wall is highly deteriorated. Unlike many of the Great Walls in the Beijing area which were done or re-done in brick during the late Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall at Hefangkou was made from stone during the early Ming Dynasty and was never later improved. While the wall itself was not improved, typical, large Ming Dynasty brick towers were added.

On the eastern side of the Hefangkou Great Wall, there is one place where there is a high step on the south side of a tower at 40°26'46"N 116°39'57"E. It's nearly impossible to pass this step and difficult to go around. There are two paths to access the east side of the Hefangkou Great Wall. The more northern path goes to the high side of this point and the more southern path goes to the lower side. The northern path runs next to a restaurant and begins on their property around 40°26'37"N 116°39'48"E. They appreciate it if you use their restaurant if you use their path, and since they have good food and friendly service for reasonable prices, there's no good reason not to do so.

Eastern side of the Hefangkou Great Wall

From this trail, you will want to turn left to go up, north and then east towards Qinglongxia, or right to head down towards the south. Following the wall on the east side of Hefangkou upward towards Qinglongxia, you will pass a couple of towers and then the wall will end against the base of a cliff. Beyond this point, there are three gaps at cliffs or steep inclines, and there area two short spans of wall in between the gaps, before the wall begins a longer section at Qinglongxia. There are paths around these gaps, but they are rarely used and therefore difficult to follow, especially in seasons when vegetation grows heavily. And once you reach the beginning of Qinglongxia, you will find the fence monitored with security cameras which is not easy to get around.

The trail that provides access to the lower (southern) portion of the eastern side of the Hefangkou Great Wall begins around 40°26'19"N 116°40'4"E. This is a longer path then the northern one but less steep. Once you reach the wall, you can turn right to head north or left to head south. North is the better option because the wall to the south leads back towards the road and the wall becomes more highly deteriorated as it gets closer to the road. It is actually possible to access the wall from where it meets the road but this is a difficult way to go.

Accessing the western side of Hefangkou is done on a trail that essentially follows the path of the wall itself, although like on the east side, the wall on the west side is in a more and more deteriorated condition as it gets closer and closer to the road, and at the road it is entirely gone. The trail begins around 40°26'21"N 116°39'52"E. As the trail approaches the wall here, you can see one of the difficulties involved in mapping the Great Wall. At first you see a stone or two here and there on the path. Gradually, the number of stones increases until you finally realize that you're actually walking on the remains of the Great Wall rather than a path through the woods that has a few stones strewn about. Defining where the wall actually begins is somewhat arbitrary.


Western side of the Hefangkou Great Wall

The wall on this side is more nearly continuous than on the eastern side, with only a few gaps. A couple of the gaps consist of giant stones that are incorporated into the wall and must be climbed over or bypassed. There are many places where the wall has long, steep, and crumbly inclines and great care must be taken if you intend to climb these portions. After a distance of about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles), the wall dwindles down to nothing and there is a gap of about three quarters of a kilometer (half a mile) where no wall exists before it begins again nearing Shentangyu. This is a very rigorous piece of terrain. This is the reason why no wall was built here; passing on foot is very difficult. This pertains not only to invaders of the past but to you as well. If you intend to hike this area, be prepared for some difficult and risky rock climbing.

In 2012, repair plans were announced for Hefangkou. A span of about 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) on the west side and about 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) on the east side were scheduled for minor rebuilding in a style similar to that done on the west side of Qinglongxia during 2009-2010.

Location summary: Hefangkou is about 63 kilometers (39 miles) north of downtown Beijing. It is about 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) southwest of Qinglongxia and about 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) east of Shentangyu. The path of the Great Wall from Hefangkou to Shentangyu is about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles).

Driving directions: From Kaifang Road in the Huairou urban area, go north on G111 for about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) to the Hefangkou Great Wall.

Hefangkou Great Wall map

Red paths: Great Wall
Yellow paths: foot paths
Blue path: road

East side northern access restaurant (40°26'35.50"N 116°39'45.75"E)

East side northern access restaurant sign

East side northern access trailhead (40°26'36.60"N 116°39'47.29"E)

East side southern access trailhead (40°26'18.40"N 116°40'4.30"E)

West side access trailhead (40°26'21.03"N 116°39'52.23"E)

View from 40°26'32.66"N 116°40'5.39"E

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

At a rare level spot (40°26'49.39"N 116°39'55.64"E)

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Remains of an early Ming tower

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Here the Great Wall dead ends at a cliff and continues above it

Inside of a tower

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

At a huge tower (40°26'55.71"N 116°39'58.04"E)

Wall meets tower

Stacks of stones were used to fill in the low spots in the rocks to create a wall

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Here was a very high step and hard to find a way around

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall east side

Hefangkou Great Wall west side

Hefangkou Great Wall west side

Hefangkou Great Wall west side

Hefangkou Great Wall west side

Hefangkou Great Wall west side

Hefangkou Great Wall west side

Hefangkou Great Wall west side

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Hefangkou Hefangkouguan Memorial

The memorial is located at 40°26'27.27"N 116°39'55.14"E

Here you can see the western Hefangkou Great Wall behind the Hefangkouguan memorial

河防口关

明长城隘口。因河设防, 故名,据 <<方与纪要>> 载:“河防口关在 县北元连口东第二关也。口外为连云栈,又北为沙岭儿, 隘窄不容 马, 防守较易。” 又据 <<嘉靖蓟州志>> 载:"东北至大水峪关八里, 西 南至神堂峪关十里, 水口数十丈, 十马可并, 内外俱宽." <<三镇边务 总要>> 载"河防口通大川, 正关河口并东西两山墩空,俱冲." 从河防 口镇天碑记载得知, 明穆宗隆庆年间 (1567-1572) 时曾派河间三卫官 军戌守. 该口在清代也是通往丰宁大阁镇的口隘, 关口南侧为河防口 村, 河东岸村中有城堡, 永乐年建关, 明代属蓟镇石塘路管辖. 开南 门, 门额上书"河防口" 三字,城堡及关口附近长城已于1953年- 1963年拆毁, 城堡匾额尚存. 1933年9月初, 吉鸿昌, 方振武率抗 日同盟军由独石口南下, 分别经河防口元连口, 大水峪口向南挺进, 9 月20日方部进入怀柔, 23日吉,方在怀柔会师. 1939年至1943年 修通怀丰公路.

Hefangkou pass

Ming Great Wall fortress. Named due to location on main river, according to Fangyu Minutes, “Hefangkou pass is in the second pass of Yuanniankou east, north of the county. Outside of it is Lianyuanzhan, and to the north is Shalinger. The fortress is narrow and can contain horses. It is easy to defend.” Also according to Jiajing Jizhou records “It is 8 li from the northeast to Dashuiyu, and 10 li from southwest to Shentangyu. The mouth of the water is tens of zhang. Ten horses can stand abreast. Both outside and inside are wide.” Three towns’ border general minutes records “Hefangkou goes to big rivers. The mouth of the river and the middle of two mountains in the east and west are open and can be passed.” Hefangkou's tianbei records show that during Ming Muzong Longqing (1567-1572), three official guards were once sent to defend it. This pass was also the fortress toward Fengning Dage Town in Qing Dynasty. The southern side of the pass is Hefangkou village and there was a castle in the village on the eastern bank of the river. The pass was built in Yongle year. In the Ming Dynasty, it belonged to the jurisdiction of Shitanlu, Ji town. The southern door was open and there were three characters “He Fang Kou” above the door. The Great Wall near the castle and pass was detached from 1953 through 1963. The castle’s inscribed board still exists. In the beginning of September, 1933, Ji Hongchang and Fang Zhenwu led anti-Japanese allies to the south through Dushikou and advanced southward separately through Hefangkou, Yuanniankou and Dashuiyu. On September 20, Fang’s army entered into Huairou. On 23rd, Ji and Fang met together in Huairou. From 1939 through 1943 the Huaifeng Road was built.

Any suggestions or corrections on translation would be appreciated!