Huangyaguan ( Huangya Pass ) Great Wall is located 130km to the east of Beijing and 30km in the north of Ji County ( or Jixian County) in Tianjin. Huangyaguan Great Wall is a restored section of the Great Wall of China including a military fortress. It is a by-product of the massive rebuilding and revamping of the Great Wall of China in 1980s.

This section of Huangyaguan Great Wall used to be 54km in length with 52 guide-towers and 14 beacon-towers connected to Jiangjunguan Pass Great Wall (now in Beijing region) in the east and to Malanguan Pass Great Wall, extended to Panjiakou Pass Great Wall(Tangshan Hebei Provicne) in the west. It was originally built in 556 in Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577).

Huangyaguan ( Huangya Pass ) Great Wall on the Great Wall east of Beijing

It was rebuilt with bricks and towers by Qi Jiguang (November 12, 1528 – January 5, 1588), the commander in chief Qizhen Garrison, one of the nine garrisons responsible for the frontier defense and the building of the Great Wall from Beijing to Shanhaiguan. Hiking westward from Huangyaguan Great Wall, you’ll get to Badaling Great Wall and eastward to Shanhaiguan Pass.

From Sept, 1984 to Sept, 1987, the repair work of Huangyanguan Great Wall was carried out. As a result, a total 3025m section of the Wall was restored and rebuilt with a completion of 20 watch towers and one fortress, one of the longest restored section of the Great Wall of China.

Huangyaguan Great Wall Contact Information

2) Long-distance bus: take the bus from Beijing Sihui Long Distance Bus station to Jixian County. Operated every ten minutes from 06:30 to 19:30. While in Jixian County, you are supposed to take a taxi or van to the Huangyanguan Great Wall at the cost of about RMB50.

When reaching the main entrance to Huangyaguan Great Wall, we are told that there are two sections of the restored great wall with the pass or the castle in the middle nestled in a valley flanked by Banlagang Mountain (Half a Clinder Mountain) in the west and Wangmaoding Mountain in the east.

We are further advised to hike the east section since the west section is very easy for hiking with only 3 or 4 towers, suitable for kids and senior hikers. Ok, we prefer the east section for exploring Huangyaguan Great Wall.

The east section of Huangyaguan Great Wall is also known as Taipingzhai Great Wall, 2152m long with its east linked to the steep ridge of Banlagang Mountain and its west connected down to Huangyaguan Pass, or the castle in the valley. So to climb the east section, we have to drive up to the fortress of Taipingzhai Great Wall with a sea-level of 900m , then hike about 2152m down to the pass.

One and half hour 2150m hike from Taiping Zhai to Huangya Pass (also known Bagua Labyrinth Castle).

Our hike starts with the fortress of Taipingzhai (900m sea-level). Our Buick Van driver Zhou takes us to the parking lot below Taipingzhai Fortress along a zigzag mountain cement road.

Our one and half hour climb covers a 2150m long wall winding up and down the ridges with a destination at the castle – Bagua Labyrinth.

We hike westward. While to our east direction, the wall winds up and meets the steep top of Banlagang Mountain serving as a natural barrier.

Now we are on the water gate wall leading to the castle with the west section of Huangyanguan Great Wall looming overhead in a distance.

We walk down to the castle and take a picture of the grand pass tower of Huangyaguan Pass.

Hassle-free Tianjin 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 Tianjin guided tours:

Any questions, just drop a line.