Your guide will meet you around 8:00 am at your hotel. It will be 2.5 hours of drive from Beijing to Jinshanling and West Simatai.
The West Simatai Great Wall is separated into eastern and western halves by a valley, with a rainbow-like chain bridge over the valley. The hills in the west are sloping gently, with 20 watchtowers remaining in good shape. The Simatai section of the Great Wall is one of the few sections to retain the Great Wall's original appearance. Incorporating various characteristics of other sections of the Great Wall, Simatai also displays some unique features of its own. It is often described with the following five words: perilous, dense, diverse, artful, and peculiar.
The Great Wall at Jinshanling is one of the Great Wall's best-preserved parts with many original features. It got its name because it was built on the Greater and Lesser Jinshan ('Gold Mountain') Ranges. The Jinshanling Great Wall has not been repaired since 1570. It is a remote and relatively isolated section of the Great Wall. As there are relatively few tourists at Jinshanling Great Wall, it is an excellent place to explore on foot.
According to one hiker, this is what you should expect to find at Jinshanling:
"Meticulous detail is evident in the construction of the wall. Everywhere consideration has been given to deterring and defeating invading armies. The uneven steps meant to slow down advancing armies should they make it onto the wall. The narrowing curves and paths would bottleneck and slow them down, limiting the invaders to moving single files, making them vulnerable to the defending army. Far down the mountain, each brick was crafted by thousands of workers and carried up the mountain on mules' backs. The architecture and engineering a feat that would challenge us even today."
When we finally reach the Jinshanling park, we'll stop by a local farmer's restaurant for a late lunch before we head back to your hotel in Beijing.