Hiking Route: Jiankou-Mutianyu Great Wall Section

Jiankou Mutianyu Location

Jiankou - Mutianyu Great Wall is one of the famous Great Wall hiking routes. In recent years, Jiankou becomes more and more famous because of the unique “Wild” taste.

 

The center of Jiankou Great Wall is located in Badaohe County Huairou District, connecting Mutianyu Great Wall in the east and Huanghuacheng Great Wall in the west. It is famous for high,steep and magnificent. Without open to the tourists, this part is a wild Great Wall as the most beautiful part of Ming Dynasty Great Wall, a wonderful destination for photographers.

Jiankou is one of the most magnificent Great Walls sections and enjoys an international fame for many years. And for Jiankou Great Wall hiking, here is a travel blog to let you know more about it.
 

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A General Planned Itinerary Will be

Day 1: Start from Beijing downtown and arrival No.5 Xizhazi Village in the afternoon, and plan to hike from Beijingjie (北京结) to Yingfeidaoyang (鹰飞倒仰), Heaven Ladder (天梯) section, and then, back to No.5 Xizhaz Village for dinner and stay overnight there.
Day 2: We planned to hike from Heaven Ladder (天梯) section to Mutianyu Section. And then, down to the Great Wall and take the No. 867 Bus back to Beijing.
Note: this hiking route is for senior hikers, generally the moderate hiking route will from Jiankou to Mutianyu (Jiankou - Small Potala Palace - Suobolou - Zhengbeilou - Niujiaobian - Mutianyu)

Detailed Tour

Way to Beijingjie (Beijing knot, 北京结): no terraces so be careful when hiking this part.



Beijingjie (Beijing Knot, 北京结): There is a little pine here as the symbol of Beijingjie. On Beijingjie, there is a flat ground that can be used for camping or having a rest.


From Beijingjie, on the east direction is Yingfeidaoyang (鹰飞倒仰), and on the west direction is Xiangshuihu (响水湖). We continue to hike to the east direction for catching wild Great Wall taste.

Yingfengdaoyang, in Chinese 鹰飞倒仰, meaning an eagle flying belly up. This section does not refer a mountain. It is consisted of 3 to 4 mountains, and the layout of these connecting mountains is looked like an eagle flying with a belly towards the sky posture.


This section also should be careful. When climbing up, there is a 5 meters high cliff. So it should be very very careful when climbing here. And don’t wear cap because it may block your eyesight to find the safe route to climb.

Down to the section from the other side, there is another 5-6 meters high cliff and the Tianti (Heaven Ladder). When down to the Tainti, there is a route on the left, this route will lead you back to No.5 Xizhazi Village. After that, today’s hiking ends.
Note:Itinerary in Day 1 is the most dangerous section for Great Wall Hikers. We don't cover this part in our Jiankou-Mutianyu Great Wall hiking route.

From Tianti Section, on the east direction is Jiankou, Zhengbeilou, and Mutianyu. Let’s begin! The route to Mutianyu direction is no as steep as the Yingfeidaoyang Part. But we also should be careful because the whole part of Jiankou is more dangerous than the rest parts of the Great Wall. After a long-distance hiking, we finally arrival Jiankou Part. Jiankou Part is named because the shape of this Great Wall. See the following picture.


After Jiankou part, there is a 10-meter bluff waits for us. It may be a chance for us to exercise rock climbing. Although it is almost a bluff, just be careful and slow down the speed, and we can overcome this part. This part is called “Small Potala Palace”.


When climbing up this part and walking for a while, we will arrival Zhengbeilou (Zhengbei Tower, 正北楼). It is a landmark to tell us that we are close to the Mutianyu Section.


Continue to hike for another few hours, we will meet Niujiaobian (牛角边). Niujiaobian is a part of the Great Wall started from a half of one mountain and stretched across the top and and ended in another mountain on the half. This part is forbidden to go through. So we need to change into a small route along this wall.


After about 5-minute walking, there is a slope which will bring us back to the Great Wall. After 10min walking, we will arrival the westest point of Mutianyu Great Wall. Keep hiking towards Mutianyu, we will meet more and more foreign visitors.

The end of this hiking tour.