Dayingpan

Chinese: 大营盘
Pinyin: Dà yíng pán
English: Big barracks
Coordinates: 40°14'53"N 115°49'18"E

Following the line of the Great Wall southwest from Badaling, we go from Huangtaizi towards Bijiashan, to reach Dayingpan, the next point where a road crosses the Great Wall.

Dayingpan Great Wall
Photo by Luan Qi

Like much of the Great Wall in this area, Dayingpan boasts fantastic views but poses challenging walking and climbing conditions. There are many very steep and deteriorated sections, but you will find trails alongside the wall in these areas. In fact, the more difficult the particular parts of the wall are, the more prominent the trails are.

Down the X415 County Road to the south a distance of about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), there is a fortress town called Henglingcheng. This village has a perimeter wall of about 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) in circumference in quite good condition around its northeast area. Another 5.8 kilometers (3.6 miles) brings you to the fortress of New Zhenbiancheng, which has an incomplete perimeter wall of about 1.4 kilometers (0.9 miles) in length. And another 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) to the south brings you to Old Zhenbiancheng, still another fortress town, this one with deteriorated but clearly visible walls on each side of the valley. The Zhenbiancheng fortresses are covered in the Bijiashan section that follows.

Dayingpan Great Wall
Photo by Luan Qi

About 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) to the east of Henglingcheng is another walled fortress town called Changyucheng. This fortress is smaller than Henglingcheng and has a perimeter wall of about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) in circumference. This wall is not in as good a condition as Henglingcheng.

Location summary: Dayingpan is about 62 kilometers (38 miles) northwest of downtown Beijing. It is about 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) southwest of Shixiaguan, about 10.3 kilometers (6.4 miles) west of Huangtaizi, and about 11 kilometers (6.9 miles) northeast of Bijiashan. The path of the Great Wall from Dayingpan to Bijiashan is about 19.6 kilometers (12.2 miles).

Driving directions: From Deshengmen City Gate near the Jishuitan subway station on the north side of Beijing, drive north and northwest on the G110 Badaling Expressway for 75 kilometers (46.6 miles). Exit at the X415 county road and drive south for about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) to Dayingpan.