Jinshanling Great Wall

Along this section, there are some sites you should not miss the following sights: 
 The General Tower (Storehouse Tower) is the essence of the defensive system, known as the "Most Representative Enemy Tower". It is 10 meters (11 yards) long, and 11 meters (12 yards) wide. There is a stone staircase leading to the top of the tower. On the upper story is a sleeping den, while a storehouse can be found on the lower storey. There are complex constructions outside the tower. To its north are beacon towers, branch walls, buttress walls, and horse blocking walls. Barrier walls stand to its east and west. Beacon towers were used to detect and transfer military information. The branch walls protect the General Tower, the Zhuanduokou Pass and the Shalingkou Pass from being attacked. Buttress walls stop enemies from attacking the General Tower directly. The horse blocking wall prevents cavalry from approaching the Great Wall. The barrier walls are to defend against enemies ascending the wall to attack the General Tower.
 The Small Jinshan Tower measures 12 meters (13 yards) long, 11 meters (12 yards) wide, and 8 meters (26 feet) high. There is a stone arched door on the east and west side of the tower. There is one shooting hole on the east, four on the north, and three on the west and south. A storehouse is on the upper storey, with two windows and one door.
 The Big Jinshan Tower is 12 meters (13 yards) long, 8 meters (9 yards) wide, and 36 feet (11 meters) high. The base of the tower is paved with seven tiers of stone slabs. There is a stone arched door on the east and west. There are two shooting holes on the east and on the west of the tower, and four shooting holes on the south and north. A stairway in the east leads northward, which consists of ten brick steps. On the second storey is a delicate storehouse made of bricks and woods. The most striking feature of the Big Jinshan Tower is that the gates are pretty difficult to find.
 There are thousands of bricks with characters. The bricks are engraved with the time when they were made and the troops who made them. For example, the characters on a brick read "In the Six Year of the Wanli Period, By the Zhenlu Cavalry Battalion".
 As a highlight of the architectural art of the Great Wall, the Kylin Screen Wall can be found on the Small Pot Tower (Xiaohu Tower) between the East Five-window Tower and the Three-window Tower. It is a precious screen wall with exquisite relief sculptures. It is made of 15 blue bricks. The Kylin Screen Wall is 2.5 meters (2.7 yards) long, and 2 meters (6.6 feet) high. The kylin is standing on auspicious clouds, with its mouth open and tongue sticking out. It is very vivid and interesting. Because there are no stone stairs leading up to the top of the tower, visitors rarely see the Kylin Screen Wall. Therefore, it is well-preserved. Nowadays, a copy can be found beside Jinshan Gallery inside the scenic area, so that visitors can see the mysterious screen wall easily.

 There are three gates: the Middle Gate, the Front Gate (West Gate), and the East Gate. Shuttle buses run the routes 'Middle Gate - the core scenic area' and 'Middle Gate - East Gate', and a single trip ticket charges CNY 10 per person.

 From November 16th to March 15th, visitors are not allowed to enter from the East Gate and only the Front Gate is available, but they can still exit from the East Gate before 15:00.

 The Front Gate is closer to famous watchtowers like General Tower, Small Jinshan Tower and Big Jinshan Tower, hence more popular among visitors.

 If you don't want to climb, a cable car is available from the Front Gate to Small Jinshan Tower. A single ride takes about 16 minutes.

Schedule of the Cableway	8:00- 17:30
Fee of the Cableway	CNY 40 for a single trip CNY 60 for round-way ticket

Jinshanling Great Wall Map (Click to enlarge)

 Route 1: You may hike from Zhuanduokou Pass, via General Tower, to Shalingkou Pass. The distance is about 3km (2 miles) and it takes about 1.5 hours to finish the journey. Afterwards, you can go down the mountain from Shalingkou Pass.

 Route 2: You may also start from Zhuanduokou Pass, via General Tower and Shalingkou Pass, to Small Jinshan Tower. After that, you may take a cable car down the mountain. The distance is about 4 km (2.5 miles), and it takes about 2 hours to complete the hiking.

 Route 3: Start hiking from Zhuanduokou Pass, via General Tower, Shalingkou Pass, Small and Big Jinshan Towers to Houchuankou Pass. The whole journey is about 5 km (3 miles), and it takes hikers around 3 hours to finish it. After the visit, you may go down the mountain from Jinshan Horse Track.

 Route 4: Start hiking from Shalingkou Pass, and go by Small and Big Jinshan Tower, Houchuankou Pass, Eastern Five-window Tower, bricks with characters, and Kylin Screen Wall. Finally, you may go down the mountain and exit through the east gate. The route is about 7km (4 miles), and it takes about 4 hours to complete.

The best periods to visit Jinshanling Great Wall are April, May, September and October when the temperature is moderate and the scenery is the most beautiful. One thing to mention is that in early April, the mountains slopes are covered with beautiful apricot flowers in full blossom, making it a sea of apricot flowers. The Apricot Festival is held this time annually.

→ Take the east section of subway line 14 to Laiguangying Station, get out from Exit A 
→ Take bus no. 858 to Luanping Coach Station. The bus departs from 07:00 to 16:30 with an interval of about an hour; ticket fare for a single trip is CNY 33, and it takes about 2 hours on the way. The bus returns from 06:30 and 16:00, also with a frequency of about an hour. 
→ After arriving at Luanping Coach Station, hire a cab to Jinshanling Great Wall directly, costing CNY 40-60 and taking around half an hour.. Notably, the Marathon Race is held in late April annually. If you are energetic enough, you may take part in the full marathon, half marathon, or 10km race. It will certainly leave you with a wonderful experience.
See detailed Great Wall Marathon
  Inside the scenic area, there is a camp site at the foot of the mountain. But you need to pay for it: CNY 150 for camping and admission fee, or CNY 200 for camping, admission, and tent rental fee. Camping on the Great Wall is not allowed. Alternatively, there are some hotels and farmhouses nearby, where you can stay overnight too.
 There are some restaurants near the Front Gate, where you can taste some local delicacies.
 

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