I decided that before I disappeared off to the south of China for my travels with Siqi, I would make a final visit to the Great Wall and go for another trek from Jinshanling (金山岭) to Simatai (司马台). Conveniently, Ajun, our friend from Hong Kong had not yet been out to the wilder parts of the Great Wall and decided to come along with me and Siqi too.

Once again, we took the train to Gubeikou (古北口) in Hebei province and stayed at our favourite homestay there where we were warmly welcomed (the food was delicious). We got an early start to a slightly misty day and took a minibus out to Jinshanling where we bought our tickets.

As the day went on, the sun got hotter and hotter and finally burnt through the cloud leaving us with beautiful views along the “spine” that makes up the Great Wall of China. Luckily, there are plenty of locals en-route who had hiked up there during the early hours with big crates full of ice cold refreshments – which you had to barter for. We eventually made it to Simatai but this time did not have enough time to do the full climb up to the top, instead taking the zipwire down to where the cable car is and catching a bus back to Beijing.

Despite this being my third visit out to Gubeikou and that particular section of the wall, I’m showing no signs of getting fed up of it – in fact, I’m already looking forward to my next trip! This little excursion is very practical for anybody living in Beijing – it takes three or four hours to get to Gubeikou, there is plenty of time to walk and take photos on the Great Wall and the accommodation is very affordable. Here’s a quick (rough) budget:

• Train out to Gubeikou – 15 yuan
• One night’s accommodation with evening meal – 30 yuan
• Minibus to the great wall – 45 yuan for the bus
• Jinshanling Great Wall Ticket (no discount) – 50 yuan
• Drinks on the wall – 5 Yuan for bottled ice tea
• Simatai Great Wall Ticket – 40 yuan adult, 20 yuan student
• Zipline – 40 yuan
• Transport back to Beijing – 20 yuan (no travel card), 11 yuan (travel card), 8 yuan (student travel card)

All in all, for students, you could be looking at paying less than 250 yuan for a weekend away in the chinese countryside!

entertainment for the road

kitchen and water pump

time to eat

toothbrush monster

brain tofu

my favourite cat

still a kid really

monkey boy

scared

stretch

hiding from the sun

bumpy road

time for a rest

not walking any further

holding up the arch

fortified wall

hold on tight

rough road

steep climb up

on a mission

yuanyang window

not going anywhere

very steep

perfect place for a handstand

stop taking pictures dammit

long way down

scared stiff

up above the world so high

what's on the other side

come a long way

arabian ajun

lush greenery

smiley face

two grannies on the wall

weaving through the workers

refurbishing the wall

dandelion clock 1

rocky road on

overgrown section of the wall

before the wall

across to simatai

you've gotta pay to cross

the three musketeers

simatai great wall

ropeway

yippee

middle of nowhere

girls on the ropeway 25

tangled up

boat to the town

simatai

From China Vista:

The Longqing Gorge Natural Scenic Area is located 10 kilometers northeast of the county seat of Yanqing. Known as “Lesser Lijiang river outside the Great wall” and “The Small Three gorges of China,” it is one of Beijing’s top 16 tourist sites. Longqing Gorge covers an area of 119 square kilometers. The main scenic spots include the largest dam in Northern China-a concrete dam more than 70 meters high. Here tourists can see waterfalls in summer and icefalls in winter.

Whilst there wasn’t quite enough water about for there to be any waterfalls where the dam is, the gorge itself was beautiful despite the general Chinese tourist tack near the start (such as the whopping great yellow dragon with escalators inside at the entrance). The water is a lovely deep alpine blue colour and there are steep mountains and cliffs on either side of the channel.

We took a boat trip upstream and were dropped off at the foot of a mountain which we climbed up to get a brilliant birds eye view down on the gorge. Unfortunately we were a bit pushed for time as we had to make sure we didn’t miss the bus – otherwise it would have been nice to hire a rowing boat for an hour or two and venture further upstream (maybe go for a swim too). You can also do bungee jumping here and or go for a ride on a cable car – but it’s expensive and you actually get a better view (and fewer annoying tour groups) from walking up the other mountain yourself!

If you’re in Beijing and are looking to get out to the surrounding countryside for a breath of fresh air, Longqing Gorge is certainly somewhere worth considering.

way up

gorge entrance

by the water

dragon escalator

big dragon

me by the dam

dragons mouth

tunnel

feed the fishies

cablecar

on the boat

siqi sunbathing

cruising along

fine day

aerial circus

by the waters edge

overlooking the gorge

hurry up

pavillion with a view

the gorge

siqi at the top

deep gorge

back to base

chilling out

waiting for the shuttle