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Jinshanling Great Wall
140 kilometers at the north-east end of
Beijing City, there is a section of the Great Wall, called
Jinshanling Great Wall. It is 90 kilometers to the Mountain
Resort of Chengde. A tablet with the Chinese inscription
of "Jinshanling Great Wall" was set in this section.
On the right is the full view of the Jinshanling
Great Wall. Its east end connects to the Simatai Great Wall.
Jinshangling Great Wall got its name because it was built
on the bigger and the smaller Jinshan Mountains.
The Jinshanling Great Wall was initially
built from 1368 to 1389 in the Ming Dynasty, and in 1567
or 1570 rebuilding of the Wall was mainly directed by General
Qi Jiguang. Poems and tablet writings can be found on the
Jinshanling Great Wall left from the time Qi Jiguang directed
building of this section of the Great Wall.
The total length of this section is about
eleven kilometers (6.8 miles), and the scenic spot of the
Jinshanling Great Wall has an area of 32 square kilometers.
The Wall is about seven to eight meters high and five to
six meters wide, which is made of brick and stone. The Jinshanling
Great Wall has an elevation of 700 meters. Watching Beijing
Tower is on the highest position, from which you can see
Beijing. The Jinshanling Great Wall is second only to the
Badaling Great Wall in its completeness.
There are more than 100 enemy towers along
the whole Jinshanling Great Wall. Built stably and elegantly,
different towers have different structures and appearances.
Please see the left picture - it is one of the enemy towers.
Rows of 3-meter-high Barrier Walls were built leading to
the enemy towers to protect the towers. Some of the towers
are storerooms as well. They were used to store food, hay
and weapons.
Two of so many enemy towers are bigger
Jinshan and smaller Jinshan. There is a legend about them.
It was said that the two towers were built by 3000 soldiers
from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces led northward by
Qi Jiguang. In order to remind themselves of their hometowns,
the names of bigger and smaller Jinshan Islands in Zhenjiang
City, which is in Jiangsu Province, were used to name the
two enemy towers.
As there are relatively few tourists at
Jinshanling Great Wall, it is a good place to explore on
foot.
In early mornings of spring and summer
you can see a remarkable view - "Cloud Sea" below
you from the Wall.
The Jinshanling Great Wall has never been
repaired. You are safer when you visit this section of the
Great Wall than other parts. It is safer as the service
in this section of Great Wall includes that one tour guide
is responsible for one tourist, for his/her safety actually.
When needed, the tour guides will go hand in hand to protect
the tourists.
An 800-meter long cable was built to entertain
the tourists. Also a 3-kilometer section of the Wall was
rebuilt and is bathed after dark in colored light, making
a splendid "Night Great Wall".
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