Hiking the Wulonggou Great Wall is an amazing combination from Wild Great Wall, forest, small rivers, and fields with beautiful rock formations. In these remote mountains only shepherds and there flock roam and only few families live in these ancient mountain villages. It takes a 4 hour train ride to reach this majestic great wall which makes it unspoiled and extremely well preserved.
Day 1 (4km)
Train + taxi from Beijing west to Wulonggou Great Wall.
A short hike up the Great Wall will reward us with a stunning sunset view on various parts of the Great Wall.This mountain ridge will be our place to camp the first night.
Day 2 (12km)
We hike walk for a while on the great wall and than go downhill towards a beautiful small river where we can refresh en refill or water bottles. A short but steep hike will bring up a magic long stretch of Great Wall. Most of this day we will do excellent hiking on the great wall, have lunch under some fruit trees and by sunset set camp in 1 of the watch towers.
Day 3 (15km)
Enjoy a splendid sunrize from the highes point of this great wall and hike down trough mountain fields with beautiful rock formations. A steep downhill hike trough the forest will bring us to a small river in the valley where we can refresh and relax bit. From there we head for the train station and back to Beijing.
Day 4 arrive in Beijing at 3.30 am
What to bring:
*Day 1 we camp next to a small river so beer can be chilled ;-)
*Day 2 is one without shadow so dont forget to bring enough water, sun screen and a hat.(water bottles can be refilled at river where we camp on day 1)
* It's always good to bring some snack like energy bars, nuts,... to give you extra energy during the day.
* At the meeting point we will provide you with lunch packets, tents and sleeping bags so a medium size backpak is needed.
* Its best to wear some long trousers to avoid to many scratches when we are hiking up the Great Wall trough low bushes.
Backgroud info
Wulonggou Great Wall is situated on the bank of the Wulong River, which is 40 kilometers northeast of Laiyuan County. Being controlled by Zijingguan Lu, Zhenbao Zhen, it stood as an important pass of the Ming Wall. Swift current rushes forward and steep mountains stand around there. The 20-kilometer-long Wulonggou wall starts its way from Jinshuikou, Laishui County on the northeast to the southwest. It snakes with the lie of mountains, via Wulonggou to reach a small stream east of Suijiazhuang Village....
Wulonggou Great Wall is situated on the bank of the Wulong River, which is 40 kilometers northeast of Laiyuan County. Being controlled by Zijingguan Lu, Zhenbao Zhen, it stood as an important pass of the Ming Wall. Swift current rushes forward and steep mountains stand around there. The 20-kilometer-long Wulonggou wall starts its way from Jinshuikou, Laishui County on the northeast to the southwest. It snakes with the lie of mountains, via Wulonggou to reach a small stream east of Suijiazhuang Village. The wall serves as a common boundary of Wulonggou and Futuyu Pass. Walls of Wulonggou and Xiazhujiaoshi are the best-preserved sections. Crenels of most sections have been preserved intact. The base is 4.55 meters wide and the top reaches 3.9 meters in width. The wall measures 3 to 6.7 meters in height. The interior of the wall is made from a mixture of lime, clay and sand as well as crushed stones. It is covered with crude rocks and pointed with lime. Among the 54 watchtowers, 42 of them are well kept. They were built at the intervals of 200 to 500 meters, and most are situated on the southeast of Xiazhujiaoshi Village. All bases are built upon stone slabs foundations. The two-story platform is made of bricks. On the top of it crenels and Loulu (Pufang) are built. Winding corridors are built inside of the watchtowers that are supported on a number of brick arches. Watchtowers are mostly consisting of two gates and twelve arrow-discharging openings. A brick staircase or a wooden ladder from the interior leads up to the upper story of the tower. The ground floor provided space for soldiers to live and store food. The upper story was for watching enemy movements and for shooting and defending. Both the width and length of it are 12 meters. The total height of it is 11.5 meters. On the outer side of the wall, a square-shaped stone beacon tower was built on the peak of the hill. It is 4 meters wide and 5 to 6 meters high.
Wulonggou Castle is located on the inner side of the wall. It was initially built in the 15th year o Cheng Hua (1479) and went through renovation in the 24th year of Jia Jing (1545) in the Ming Dynasty. Mountains are used as the western wall of the castle. All of the other three sides of the wall face Wulong River. The castle is an irregular rectangle in shape. It measures 200 meters from north to south, and 150 meters from east to west. Both the wall and gate are made of bricks and stone slabs. There are forts on the wall. Gates are opened on the south and west wall. Wengcheng is built on the top to provide shielding. The south-facing Nanwengcheng is called " Yi Jing Men " and the south-facing Xiwengcheng is called " Zhen Shuo Men “.
Wulonggou Wall has been relatively well kept. Most sections are still in the original state. Like a gigantic dragon’s body, it winds up and down along the mountain ridges and valleys. It is fantastic. Magnificent watchtowers and crenels scatter artistically along the wall .Its unique architectural style is amazing. The magnificent wall, dense forests and range upon range of hills set each other off beautifully. One man well says, “The densely wooded surrounding mountains are like a gigantic dragon.”
In 2001 Wulonggou Wall was declared to be key historic relics under state protection by the State Council.