Review: Juyongguan Great Wall Review

[Bryan]

Summary

Juyongguan is an interesting Great Wall location. It’s very easy to get there from Beijing. The Great Wall comes down to the level of the parking lot in two locations, so no climbing or cable car is needed to reach the Wall. It’s a good location for hiking. But if you want to see the authentic Ming Dynasty Great Wall, you should look elsewhere because Juyongguan looks like a new construction rather than a cultural relic.

Juyongguan Great Wall

Access

Juyongguan is the most easily reached Great Wall location from Beijing. It’s right off of the Badaling expressway to the north west of the city.

Condition

Juyongguan was restored to a high standard and is therefore in very good condition.

Juyongguan Great Wall

Description

Juyongguan is basically a large fortress rather than part of a long wall. It is situated in the same valley as Badaling but farther south, closer to Beijing. The Juyongguan Great Wall is basically a large circle which is bisected by the valley and climbs steeply up the mountains on each side of the valley. The main Juyongguan tourist area is in the valley in between the two points where the wall crosses the valley. This makes it convenient to hike either half of the circle or the entire distance. The circle is approximately 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) around.

Yuntai (Cloud Terrace)

Near the center of Juyongguan you will find a marble structure known as Cloud terrace, or Yuntai. This is a rare survivor from the Yuan dynasty and was built in 1365. Among its exquisite carvings are a Dharani Sutra in six different languages: Chinese, Mongolian, Sanskrit, Tangut, Tibetan, and Uighur. The rare Sanskrit is of immense interest to language scholars due to the exact translation in other, more well-known languages.

Sanscrit engravings inside of Yuntai

Juyongguan was restored in the period of 1991 – 1993. Juyongguan also features extensive tourist facilities making it convenient but unnatural. It is still an interesting place to visit because of the unusual design and architectural characteristics. Any serious Great Wall enthusiast should visit Juyongguan at least once.

Juyongguan Great Wall


Juyongguan Great Wall