Review: Gubeikou Wohushan Great Wall Review

[Bryan]

Summary

The Wohushan (Wohu Shan or Crouching Tiger Mountain) Great Wall is one of my favorite few places to visit the Great Wall. Wohushan is officially open and tickets are inexpensive, but there are not a lot of tourists here at all.

Access

Wohushan is reached via Gubeikou. You can get to Gubeikou from Beijing by taking the Jingcheng expressway. It takes approximately 2.5 hours to reach Gubeikou. Gubeikou can also be reached by train. But the Gubeikou rail station (T on map) is tiny and you won’t likely be able to find transportation there, so you may have to walk. It’s a pretty long walk from the rail station into town.

Once in Gubeikou, the Wohushan Great Wall is easy to reach. The entrance is just across the main bridge on the west side of the river. From the main entrance, there is an easy-to-follow trail that leads you to the Great Wall in about ten minutes.

Condition

No rebuilding has been done on this section of the Great Wall since the Ming Dynasty. The parts closest to the entrance are in a highly deteriorated condition, and the condition improves as you walk further to the west. Some towers and sections of the Wall are in nearly perfect condition, but most of them show some signs of aging.

Wohushan Great Wall viewed from the south

Description

Like the rail station, the Wohushan Great Wall is on the west side of the river. From the Jingcheng expressway, walk to the west across the main bridge near the center of town. After reaching the west side of the bridge, continue walking for about five minutes and you will see the entrance to the Wohushan Great Wall on your right. The ticket booth is at A on the map, and the entrance is at B on the map.

From the entrance, there is a well-marked trail that leads to the Great Wall near the river. Along this trail, you will pass a temple that has had several names in its long history, including Ciyun Temple, Qianjian Temple, Wanshou Pavilion, Wanshou Temple, and, most recently, Luzu Temple. This temple is marked C on the map.

Wanshou Temple or Luzu Temple

Shortly after this temple, there is a side path that leads off to the left (north) that leads to the remains of a brick kiln that was used to create bricks used in the Great Wall in this area. It’s not a well-marked or heavily-used trail and the kiln is not easy to find.

Continue along the main path for a few minutes more and you will reach the Wall at the point of a very deteriorated tower (D on map). The Wall continues down (east) from this point (E on map), but you can’t climb down to it from here. It can be reached from a side path back along the trail you just walked down if you want to try, but it is highly overgrown and difficult to follow.

Wohushan Map (red: Great Wall, yellow: trail)

Turn to the left (west) and begin climbing up. At this point, you are actually climbing up Wanshoushan or Longevity Mountain. You will reach the summit of Wanshoushan (F on the map), and then climb back down to a valley. Most of the path is alongside the Wall, and in fact the Wall is so deteriorated that it would be impossible to walk upon it. The last part of the descent into the valley (G on map) is probably the most difficult part of the entire climb. Be sure you stay on the indicated trail in this area. Next, you begin the long climb up the actual Wohu mountain. The path alternates between being next to the Wall and being upon the Wall. The higher you climb, the better the view gets. The condition of the Great Wall generally improves along the way too, with some exceptional areas. There are some sections where there is a well-worn trail alongside the Wall, but it is also very possible to walk atop the Wall as well if you prefer. Of course, walking alongside is more secure. You may prefer to go up one way and down the other. If the weather is clear you can see the entire Panlongshan Great Wall and, as you get higher you can begin to see Jinshanling. Once you near the summit, you can see as far as the Simitai ridge to the east. You can get spectacular photographs showing tremendous distances along the Great Wall in a most fantastic setting. From the highest point (H on the map), you can see a great distance in all directions. It seems like you can see Great Wall segments and towers almost everywhere you look. It’s a most amazing place. I measured the elevation here at 665 meters (2180 feet), not especially high but the highest point around by far.

Further down and to the West, there is a long gap where no Great Wall exists. It’s easy to see why. The two peaks following the summit are extremely precipitous and you won’t want to try to climb them, so the only realistic choice is to turn around and come back the way you came.

View beyond the summit

Overall, I find Wohushan very impressive. It reminds me of a mirror image of the Simatai ridge. In fact, it’s quite unfair (but possibly advantageous to you) that Simatai is so much more popular than Wohushan, and it’s interesting to compare them:

• Access — The main entrance of Wohushan is just two minutes drive from the Jingcheng expressway, while the entrance of Simatai is about fifteen minutes away. Reaching the Wohushan Great Wall from the entrance is an easy, level walk, while reaching the Simatai Great Wall requires some hiking, even if you use the cable car.
  
• Permission — Both Wohushan and Simatai are officially open, but while the highest parts and the summit of Simatai are closed and guarded, all of Wohushan is open to the public.
  
• Condition — Wohushan retains its original, authentic appearance, while Simatai has been restored in some areas.
  
• Views — While both Wohushan and Simatai offer excellent views, the views of the distant, sprawling Great Wall are better from Wohushan.
  
• Crowding — Wohushan has very few tourists; Simatai has many.
  
• Vendors — Wohushan has no locals following you and trying to sell you souvenirs; at Simatai, they’re hard to avoid. But be sure to bring any refreshments you need with you at Wohushan because, unlike Simatai, you won’t find them along the Wall there.
  
• Hotels and restaurants — Wohushan has one nice hotel near its entrance, which has a nice restaurant. Simatai has several hotels with restaurants, but they are not as nice as the one at Wohushan.

Wohushan Great Wall

[chinoook]

Thanks to Greatwallforum's recommendation I visited Wohushan. I agree, it is one of the best places close to Beijing to visit the Great Wall. When I walked there no other people were in that section. I had the possibility to see a lot of birds and enjoyed the silence very much.
A good idea is to visit this section in combination to a trip to Chengde (you will need at least two days for that trip, but you see one of the most beautiful and exciting GW sections as well as the marvellous town of Chengde.


-chinoook