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Great Wall, Hebei Province
 During the Ming Dynasty, General Qi Jiguang improved the
structure of the Jinshanling Great Wall by making it higher and denser, and by
building double walls at strategic sections. Its gentle gradient makes
Jinshanling a vulnerable spot that is easier to attack but difficult to defend.
At the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall, however, the walls are more solid,
and the watchtowers are taller and more concentrated. Viewed from a distance,
the Jinshanling Great Wall is like a giant dragon, tracing the lines of the
great mountain peaks.
Many Great Wall researchers and cultural relics experts, including Luo Zhewen
and Zhu Xiyuan, have frequented Jinshanling since 1980 and consider it to be of
strategic importance and great aesthetic value.
Photographers' favorite
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Inside an enemy tower at
Jinshanling | Photographers know that the best
place to take pictures of the Great Wall is not Badaling or Shanhaiguan, but
Jinshanling. Since the Great Wall from Simatai in Beijing to Jinshanling in
Hebei is the best-preserved stretch, many overseas visitors choose to visit it.
It is said that there are more foreign Great Wall climbers at Jinshanling than
Chinese. People also say that anyone who has climbed Jinshanling will never be
interested in seeing any other part of the Great Wall since it retains its
original Ming Dynasty appeal and vividly reflects the full ethos of that epoch.
Members of the Great Wall Green Project Investigation
Group, who have walked the entire length of the Great Wall, believe that
Jinshanling is the most beautiful section of the Great Wall. Since it has not
yet been renovated, parts of it are in ruins, giving it a more natural ambience
than any other stretch of the wall, especially those sections that have been
completely rebuilt. Jinshanling is far less crowded than Badaling or the
Shanhaiguan, giving climbers a hint of the isolation that must have been felt by
its ancient defenders.
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