• Simatai great wall

  • Simatai Great Wall - Unlike the sections to be seen at Badaling or Mutianyu that have undergone extensive restoration, the wall at Simatai Great Wall has received very little attention. Here, the wall really looks as one would expect it to look some 500 years after it was built during the Ming Dynasty. The local people are proud of this monument and proclaim that it was as a consequence of visiting Simatai that UNESCO was convinced the wall should be listed as a World Heritage site. It towers over the nearby villages and farmland as it winds its way like the spiny back of a dragon over the sharply clipped peaks of the mountains. Because this section has retained much of its original 500 year old features it offers a quite hazardous passage to those who wish to walk along it. Needless to say, the inherent dangers offer a challenge that is quite inresistable to dedicated hikers in quest of adventure.

    Location of Simatai Great Wall

    It  is some 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north-east of Beijing it is well beyond the reach of the huge crowds of tourists that throng the more popular and accessible parts of the Wall.

    History

    Simatai was started in the early Hongwu years (1368-1398) of the Ming Dynasty. Like many sections of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall visited today, this section was also built under the supervision of General Qi Jiguang. It has not been renovated or restored since those years.

    Famous Section of Simatai Great Wall

    Watching Beijing Tower
    This is regarded as the summit of the Simatai Section of the Great Wall with an elevation of 986 m. It is the highest cultural relic in Beijing. From the tower at night one can see the distant lights of downtown Beijing.

    Fairy Maiden Tower
    This is the most beautiful of all the watchtowers, with a sculpture of twin lotus flowers above the arched doorway. There is a legend that it was the dwelling place for an antelope who had been reincarnated in the form of an angel who fell in love with a shepherd.

    Heavenly Ladder
    Leaning against a mountain slope with an almost 90-degree gradient, this is the way to the Watching Beijing and the Fairy Maiden Towers. Stretching upwards along the steep mountain cliff, the narrowest part is just half a meter wide. It is like a ladder that leads into the heavens.

    Sky Bridge
    With a width of a mere 40 cm, this very narrow 100 m path connects the Fairy Tower to Watching Beijing Tower. Only a very brave, or perhaps foolish, man would want to pass across this stretch of wall. The sides of the ridge on which it sits are so steep that it seems one is walking along a narrow rope bridge.

    Travel Tips:

    Admission: RMB 32 (US$ 4)

    Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. to 4:50 p.m.

    Recommended time for visit: allow two hours, four to five hours if trekking to Jinshanling
        Wear comfortable shoes or trekking gear if you plan to do the hike to Jinshanling

     

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