Summary
Shentangyu is an excellent place for a day trip to the Wild Great Wall from Beijing. It is also suitable for an overnight trip. Shentangyu is a popular place for tourists and vacationers as well as Great Wall enthusiasts. There are many guest houses and fish farm restaurants along the road.
Access
Shentangyu is just about a 30-minute drive from the Huairou urban area. From Highway 111 you turn to the left just before Yanqi lake and follow the winding road through the mountains. There is a turnoff to the right which is marked Shentangyu (神堂峪). The location where the Great Wall crosses the road is actually Guandi (关帝) village, on the way to Shentangyu.
Condition
The Great Wall has not been restored at all here since it was built in the Ming dynasty. One section (between A and B on the map) is highly deteriorated, but the other parts are in quite good shape.
Description
The map shows the road in black and the river in blue.
The easiest place to get on the Wall is on the west side. The entrance at point A is easy to find because the bottom tower is very prominent and the entrance point is almost directly below it (but slightly further to the south). There is a short concrete wall that you can follow up to a foot path that leads to the tower. From here you can follow the highly deteriorated Wall to the next tower at point B. From here, you can continue up the mountain to point C, but the Wall is so badly deteriorated here that at times it’s hard to tell that it was once there. At point C, you join the top Wall and you can walk to the left (south) for a short distance, or to the right (north) all the way to Lianhuachi if you wish to do so. Be aware, however, that the Wall is not at all continuous in this stretch and there is no path to follow at all in many places. This trek is not recommended for anyone other than diehard and experienced Great Wall enthusiasts. The view from point C is outstanding.
There is a spur wall on the east side that is reasonably easy to access and climb. To reach this wall, you must first cross the river and I found two options for doing so. The first option is to use the bridge on the private property of the Red Capital Ranch. I politely entered their main entrance (D on the map) one evening and asked them if they would mind my crossing their property and bridge to reach the Great Wall the following morning. I also explained that I had come to Shentangyu only to climb the Great Wall and it was of great interest to me. I also had a very nice conversation with a few of their staff members, who were extremely friendly. While they were kind enough to agree, there is no guarantee that they will always do so. I should mention that, while I did not stay at the
Red Capital Ranch, it looks like a very fine place to stay and I would be very pleased to have the opportunity to do so in the future. In fact, I had seen
their website before, but I did not realize that their location was at Shentangyu.
The second way to get across the river here is to take a path from the road at E and use a series of stones across the river at F on the map. Be careful if you cross these stones because you don’t want to fall in the water and get wet! Either way you cross the river, you then walk alongside its east side until you reach the entrance to the Great Wall at G on the map. From here there are trails up to the first tower at H on the map. The final approach to this tower is steep rock climbing, so be prepared. From the tower at H to the next tower at I on the map, the climbing is pretty easy although there is heavy brush on the wall with just a narrow path which is often right at the unprotected edge of the Wall. A short distance after the second tower, the Wall becomes more steep and right before the point where it joins the top Wall, at J on the map, it is extremely steep, and many bricks are loose, so be careful. The top Wall is known as Shentangling (神堂岭) and it follows a very steep ridge. Its condition varies from place to place. Once you reach this Wall and again take in a fabulous view, you can proceed to the right (southwest) for a short distance along the top of a very steep ridge, or to the left (northwest) towards Hefangkou. While the Great Wall is more or less continuous for this span, it’s a very precipitous area and climbing in many places is very challenging.
The next way to reach the Shentangling wall on the east side is to cross a low and wide bridge at K on the map. You can then follow a well-maintained, switchback path to almost all the way to the top of the ridge. This path ends at L on the map, and while it is quite easy to follow, the last bit from L to the actual top where you can get onto the Wall involves hard-core rock climbing, so again, be prepared if you intend to take this route. From the top of this path, you will enjoy a good view of a small fortress almost directly to the south. This fortress can be approached from point M on the map. Do not attempt to approach from the north side as you will reach a private estate and, when I did so, the residents, while not unfriendly, directed me to go around the other side, and then locked the gate behind me when I left. The fortress is not open to the public but it’s interesting to see from the outside.
All access to the Great Wall as described above was free of charge as of September, 2008.
While I stayed at a farm house at point N on the map, which was quite nice, there are many farm houses in the area, some slightly closer to the Great Wall. The one I used is at a relatively high elevation and has an upstairs terrace with a dining area and a nice view of the area including the Great Wall. Likewise, there are many trout farms with a variety of fresh fish in the area. At point O on the map is one that I tried which was very good and attracted quite a crowd at lunchtime.
Spur wall to Shentangling on the east side; second tower (I on map) in center