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Zhuangdaokou Great Wall Pass

Saturday, April 2nd, 2022

Today is the second day on our 5-day Great Wall Tour. One important hiking plan this morning is to cross Zhuang Dao Kou Great Wall Pass (Archway)) from Zhuang Dao Kou Village to Er Dao Guan Village.

Hike from Zhuangdao Kou Village to Er Dao Guan Village

Zhuangdaokou Great Wall Pass is located on the mountain sandwiched by Zhuang Dao Kou Village down in the south and Er Dao Guan Village up in the north.

So to walk through the Zhuagdaokou Great Wall Pass, we are required to hike south from Zhuang Dao Kou Village, climb up to the mountain valley, pass through the Great Wall through the gateway (Zhuang Dao Kou Pass), then continue to trek on the mountain north of the Great Wall, before we reach Er Dao Guan Village down the mountain.

The Zhuang Dao Kou Village Signboard ( the left side leading up to the village)

The walk from Zhuangdao Kou Village to Er Dao Guan Village through the Great Wall pass takes approx. 1 and half hours.

Zhuangdaokou Great Wall

Zhuangdaokou Great Wall spanning between Zhuang Dao Kou Village and Er Dao Guan Village is actually part of Huanghuacheng Great Wall. Zhuang Dao Kou Village is located directly at the foot of the Zhuang Dao Kou Pass of the Great Wall, hence the name of Zhuang Dao Kou Village.

Er Dao Guan Village literally means “Second Great Wall Pass Village”. It is located at the foot of the ancient pass of the second Great Wall paralleling the Huanghuacheng Great Wall to the north. The second Great Wall was built aimed at increasing the defence power of the Huanghuacheng Great Wall in Ming Dynasty.

Accompanied by my co-worker Xiao Hao, I started the maiden hiking trip. We reached the entrance to Zhuang Dao Kou Village at 10:00am. A huge signboard stands at the fork indicating the road to the village on the right side.

Through Zhuangdaokou Great Wall Pass

Walking along the dirt path in the village. Zhuangdaokou Village is under the jurisdiction of Jiudu Town of Huairou District, Beijing. Now it has 110 households with 305 villagers.

A zigzag trail leading up to the Pass from the village

Passing through the village, we soon found the route up to the Zhuangdaokou Great Wall Passt. It was an unpaved train, dusty, sandy and stony.

The four eyes are met as if they knew each other in before

On the way up to the Zhuangdaokou Great Wall Pass, happened an interesting thing that a village dog swaggered following us. Village dogs are often seen running about the roads or streets in the villages, receiving less affection than their urban counterparts.

A lonely village dog seeking a potential master’s love

We tried to forget the dog, speeding ours steps marching towards the pass. Twenty minutes later, the Zhuang Dao Kou Great Wall Pass is in sight. You can easily walk up the Great Wall on the right side if you are interested in the Great Wall hiking.

I turned back and found the dog still following us.

Look back at the Zhuangdaokou Great Wall

To our pleasant surprise, the dog is still following us despite of the snow mountain road. What a poor dog!

The dog is still following us despite of the snowy mountain road

Xiao Hao again bends over to say hello to the dog

Then, next happened an unbelievable thing! The dog jumped up to a soil mound and posed in front of us like a film star with the Zhuangdaokou Great Wall as a backdrop! I have no time to waste shooting him!

We continue to walk along the muddy trail leading to Er dao Guan Village. Over one hour’s hike, we spot the signal tower and we know the Er Dao Guan Village is below the tower. We are happy that our crossing this time is close to success!

Below the signal tower is Er Dao Guan Villag

The dog is still with us. This time he is guiding us the way to the village. It seems the dog is quite familiar to this area.

The dog is guiding us the way to the village.

Soon we are walking close to an archway, which leads to the heart of Er Dao Guan Village. The dog has successfully finished his hiking too!

This is Er Dao Guan Village – our hiking destination. So, where is the Dog? And what’s his future destiny?

Tip: Hassle-free Beijing Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Beijing guided tours:

Beijing Day Tour
Beijing Tour Packages
Beijing Winter Tour
Beijing Autumn Tour
Great Wall Tour
Car Rental in Beijing
Beijing Tours
China City Tours
China Tour

ABCs of Huanghuacheng Great Wall

This section of the great wall is about 1000 meters long and connecting Zhuangdaokou Great Wall in the west and Jiankou Great Wall in the east. Now it is a quite challenge to climb the wall in some parts.

There have been no stone steps or no smooth path found on some parts in this section of the Great Wall in Beijing. At the time of my writing, Huanghuacheng Great Wall is not yet officially opened to travellers. Those who hike this section of the Wall have to be responsible for their own safety.

There is a lake and a reservoir below Huanghuacheng Great Wall. The reservoir is called Huanghuacheng Reservoir with some parts of the Huanghuacheng Great Wall submerged under it, hence the nickname of Huanghuacheng Water Great Wall.

The lake is called Jintang lake with a good spot where you can take a photogenic view of the Great Wall higher hugging the mountain. Both the Huanghuacheng Reservoir and Jintang Lake have cut through Huanghuacheng Great Wall.

How to Get to Huanghuacheng Great Wall

So people may start your Huanghuacheng Great Wall hike either from Huanghuacheng Reservior or Jintang Lake.

To get to Huanghuacheng Great Wall by bus, you need to take Bus 916 from Dongzhimen Transportation Hub to Huairou District and get off at the stop of Nanhuayuan Block 3 （南华园三区), then walk about 100m and change for the special bus line from Huairou to Huanghuacheng Water Great Wall （怀柔—水长城公交专线）.

Some of the Huanghuacheng Great Wall photos below:

Huanghuacheng Great Wall high above the Jintang Lake.

Huanghuacheng Great Wall from Jintang Lake

Huanghuacheng Great Wall viewed from the Reservoir.

Tip: Hassle-free Beijing Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Beijing guided tours:

Beijing Day Tour
Beijing Tour Packages
Beijing Winter Tour
Beijing Autumn Tour
Great Wall Tour
Car Rental in Beijing
Beijing Tours
China City Tours
China Tour

Old Zhaojiatai Village

The origin of the old Zhojiqtai Village goes back to Ming and Qing Dynasties with a history of over 600 years. There is an old saying that “Zhajiatai Made of Iron, Beijing of Paper”.

As an isolated village in the deep valley of the mountains, the old Zhaojiatai Village was prone to the looting from the bandits. The villagers were quite united and they established their own village militia force. The great thing they did was digging tunnels under the village connecting every households to protect possible robbing from the bandits.

Today though the old village has been actually “abandoned”, all theses ancient tunnels are still there telling people the long history of Zhaojiatai Village. These tunnels helped the local village a lot during the anti-Japanese War in 1937.

One old villager says if the Ninth Army of Guomingdang fought the first shot at the Japanese Army at Lugouqiao on July 07, 1937, then Zhaojiatai Village fired the second shot at the Japanese Army on August 08, 1937.

The old Zhaojiatai Village fought back the a contingent of the Japanese soldiers who pursued the Chinese Ninth Army that withdrew and passed through the ancient path near Zhaojiatai Village. The battle went on for a whole day without any result. The Japanese army had to leave, hence the old saysing “Zhajiatai Made of Iron, Beijing of Paper”.

One year later, heavily armed, the Japanese army again attacked Zhaojiatai Village. The Japanese soldiers burned down over 200 houses. The whole village evacuated to the surrounding village till the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. It is a pity that many of the old Ming and Qing Dynasties houses were burned and collapsed.

The old village doesn’t have much arable land provided it is located in the mountainous area. Beside the small amount of arable land, many of the local villagers raised domestic animals like horses, donkeys for transport business.

Apart from transport trade, the village also operated small coal mines as well as producing a rare ore for man-made diamond saw blades.

Most of the houses in the Old Zhaojiatai Village are made of stone bases, brick walls and inner wood structures. All the tiles on the house roofs are made of sliced and thin stones. There are still some people living in the village who are paid to take care of the “abandoned villager”. Some of the villagers have rent their houses to the urban residents who come here for serenity and peace.

New Zhaojiatai Village

The total evacuation for the whole old village to the present new village takes about 8 years starting from the year 1996. No arable land, no mountains to grow plants. Then how to make a living for a village that has been moved to the downtown of Tanzhe Town.

With the financial support from the local government, about 100 two-storey villa type houses are built for each family in the new village. Each household uses the villa type house to offer accommodation and dining for visitors who stay overnight in Tanzhe Town. Usually the family member live on the first floor and the tenants stay on the second floor.

So, now the official name of the new Zhaojiatai Village is “Zhaojiatai Folk-Custom Tourism Reception Village”. The local villagers have the smart slogan “Sightseeing at the Old Zhaojiatai, Eating and Staying at the New Zhaojiatai”.

Well, follow us to travel the Old Zhaojiatai Village and eating and staying at the new Zhaojiatai Village.

On March 16, 2011, after visiting Tanzhe Temple, it was almost 5:00pm. We were looking around for a hotel in Tanzhe Town. We were surprised to find that there were no hotels in the town!

Later we were told the whole village in the town named “Zhaojiatai Village” offers accommodation and dining. Very tired and not willing to return to the downtown Beijing, we had to accept the village inns.

The two-storey houses in the new Zhaojiatai Village.

All the 100 houses well arranged section by section like linked villas.

We selected Mrs. Wang Fengxia’s house for our overnight stay. She looks kind and helpful. With all their three children working in the city of Beijing, she lives with her husband in the two-storey building.

We select Mrs. Wang Fengxia’s house for our overnight stay.

We stayed in the room on the second floor.

This was our living room where we drank tea and watched TV, feeling we were at home.

This was the living room on the first floor where we had our dinner prepared by the hostes.

Our village dinner prepared by the host – Aunty Wang.

The breakfast the next morning was super!

The old village is 8km northwest of the new village with a very good asphalt road linking the village. We passed two other villages before we reached the old village. Now we were passing Nanxin Village.