7-day Great Wall Backpacking Trek from the Ocean to Beijing

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We will make the 4-hour drive to the Old Dragon's Head and Shanhaiguan Pass, the First Pass Under the Heaven. We will start our hike at Old Dragon’s Head, also known as Laolongtou.
 

We will enter the Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum, where we will learn about the history and military strategy of this section of the wall and display military relics. After dinner, you will tour the Old Town of Shanhaiguan.  
 

INCLUDED

Meals: B, L, D 

Accommodation: Shanghaiguan Hotel or similar

We'll explore Jiaoshan. The Jiaoshan Peak is two miles away from Shanghaiguan. Though relatively diminutive in size, this is the first actual mountain the Great Wall passes heading west, known as “the first mountain of the Great Wall.” Jiaoshan ancient wall provides you a sense of historical vicissitude. The wall appears more and more crumbled and deformed as you forge ahead. We will drive to Dongjiakou Great Wall and overnight there. 

Walk: 9 km

Hours: 4

INCLUDED

Meals: B, L, D 

Accommodation: Shanghaiguan Hotel or similar

We will make the short trip to the East Qing Tombs.  which is among the finest, best-preserved, and largest of the extant tomb complexes in China. Five emperors, four empresses, five imperial concubines, and one princess are arrayed based on the traditional concept of placing the most senior and most distinguished in the center.

We will also walk the Huangyaguan Great Wall and the fortress where there is a Bagua pattern, a specially designed labyrinth designed to confuse and entrap the enemy.  

INCLUDED

Meals: B, L, D 

Accommodation: Huangyaguan Hotel or similar

Today we'll start with Peace Fort (Taipingzhai) that begins from Banlagang Mountain in the east and arriving at Guafu Tower (Widow Tower) in the west. There are six watchtowers, one battlement, and one shortcut leading to the wall.  
 

Waking westward, we will get to the steepest segment of this section, the Huangya Sky Ladder.  This long stairway stretches to the top of the ridge, seemingly leads to the sky. Climbing over the ladder, we will reach the primitive Great Wall built in the Northern Qi Dynasty, marking the end of the  Huangyaguan section. 

We will drive to Jinshanling to sleep tonight.
 

Walk: 8.5 km

Hours: 4

INCLUDED

Meals: B, L, D 

Accommodation: Huangyaguan Hotel or similar

 Our hike will start from Simatai, and we will make our way west along the Wall into Jinshanling. It is the classic Great Wall that can make every hiker thrilled. The Wall runs from a deteriorated wild state to the restored in the end to allow hikers to compare the differences between the two wall status. 

Tonight, we will camp on the Great Wall in an ancient watchtower.  
 

INCLUDED

Meals: B, L, D 

Accommodation: Camping on the Wall

Gubeikou is mostly Wild Wall. It was first built during the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-557) and rebuilt in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The Wall zig-zags for about 40 kilometers with 172 watchtowers, 14 beacon towers, 16 passes, 3 water passes, 3 barbarians, and 6 fortresses along with it. 

In 1933, the Chinese army fought against Japanese invasion troops at Gubeikou. In the four-month-long battles, they killed over 5,000 enemy soldiers at the price of 9000 Chinese soldiers died. You can see that Gubeikou is not merely a relic, but it remained a battlefield in the modern world. 

We will transfer to Jiankou in the late afternoon. 

 
INCLUDED

Meals: B, L, D