Huanghuacheng Great Wall
Huanghuacheng Great Wall Key Words:
Features: wild, uncleared, original
Officially not permitted to hike
Hiking Area: Jintang Lake Sections and Huanghuacheng Reservoire Section
Hiking Time: 2 - 3 hours
Hiking Level: intermediate
Distance: 80km from the downtown Beijing
Cable car: not available
After lunch, we go on with our 5-day Great Wall hike trip to our third stop - the Huanghuacheng Great Wall. The 40km mountain road drive takes 40 minutes from Changping County to the Jiuduhe Township where the main section of the Huanghuacheng Great Wall is located. Actualy the Huanghuacheng Great Wall is officially banned for the tourist hike either to protect the wild section of the Great Wall or prevent possible risk of hiking the uncleared section. People tend to taste"a forbidden fruit". So still some brave tourists, led by local farmers or tour organizors, come to the Huanghuacheng Great Wall for a wild hike. Now it is a time for the Olympic Games. The local government poses strict control over the trek on the wild Great Wall. There are some public security guys on the Great Wall to wade off the potential tourists. So our aim for coming here is only focused on seeing the Huanghuacheng Great Wall instead of hiking.
The Huanghuacheng Great Wall used to be one of the strongest wall in Beijing. It was built by General Cai in Ming Dynasty ( 1368-1644). Its construction took many years to accomplish. Some traitorous officials scolded that he had spent so much money in building the wall. The emperor was very angry with General Cai. Later he ordered General beheaded! Years later, the emperor asked his ministers to check the wall and realized that he had treated General wrongly. The wall was extremely fortified. The emperor asked the craftman to carve two Chinese characters - "Jin Tang" by the wall, literally meaning"Gold Soup" - the firm and strong. The Huangcheng Great Wall is often called"Jintang Great Wall". The lake by the wall is called Jintang Lake. To see the Huanghuacheng Great Wall, you have two good places to start, the Huanghuacheng Reservoir Section and the Jintang Lake section.
Huanghuacheng Great Wall at the Reservoir Section
We first go to the Xishuiyu Village of Jiuduhe Township where the Huanghucheng Reservoir is located. The Huanghuacheng Reservoir cuts the Great Wall into three sections. We walk along the reservoir for 2 hours and enjoy the different views of the broken Ming Dynasty Great Wall.
Walking around the reservoir is a fun too!
We meet a lot of local holiday makers walking around the reservoir. It is a great fun, another kind of mountain hike. Many young people are practising team building there. If you feel tired, you may take a speed boat back to the entrance.
Huanghuacheng Great Wall at the Jintang Section
After finishing the hike tour at the reservoir section, we settle down at a nice farmhouse not far from the Xishuiyu Village under the Huanghuacheng Great Wall at the Jintang Section. Next morning we also visit the Huanghuacheng Great Wall at the Jintang Lake section. We find the two Chinese words"Jin Tang" on the cliff.
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