Liujiakou

Chinese: 刘家口
Pinyin: Liú jiā kǒu
English: Liu's home pass
Coordinates: 40°8'29"N 118°56'4"E

Liujiakou

Liujiakou features a rare water gate tower. This tower was constructed across the river. At 10 meters (32.8 feet) long, 9 meters (29.5 feet) wide, and 12 meters (39.4 feet) high, it is the biggest tower in Hebei. The tower has a 6.36-meter (20.9-foot) sluice gate through its center. It is still in very good condition.

The huge water gate tower at Liujiakou

The rest of the wall here is mostly a pile of stones; not much of the brick wall is left. The original brick covering can only be seen in a few places including the watchtowers. For this reason, even though the mountains on both sides of the river slope gently, the surface of the Great Wall here consists of loose stones, and it can be difficult to hike on them.

If you have a choice of which direction to walk from Liujiakou, walk to the west. This direction offers superior scenery. When you reach the top of the ridge, you will see the Heliukou section of the Great Wall ahead of you. This section forms a loop, consisting of an older wall on the north side and a newer wall on the south side, creating a vast circle of wall around the valley below.

To the north of the wall on both sides of the pass there is a distinct ditch running along the wall. Sometimes you will find two parallel ditches.

Liujiakou Great Wall

Location summary: Liujiakou is about 218 kilometers (136 miles) east of downtown Beijing. It is about 71 kilometers (44 miles) west of Shanhaiguan. The path of the Great Wall from Taolinkou to Liujiakou is about 11.6 kilometers (7.1 miles). The path of the Great Wall from Liujiakou to the Lengkou Great Wall in Tangshan, Hebei is about 12.4 kilometers (7.7 miles).

Driving directions: From Beijing, drive east on the G1 Jinghua Expressway for 194 kilometers (120 miles). Exit at S252 and drive north for 34.6 kilometers (21.5 miles). Turn right onto S363 at Jianchangyingzhen and drive east for 10.5 kilometers (6.5 miles) to Liujiayingxiang. Turn left and drive for about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) to Liujiakoucun.