Dajingmen

Chinese: 大境门
Pinyin: Dà jìng mén
English: Big Capital Gate
Coordinates: 40°50'40.08"N 114°53'9.43"E

Dajingmen

During the Ming Dynasty, a large pass known as Dajingmen (Big Capital Gate) was built at the northern end of Zhangjiakou City in between the east and west Taiping Mountains. Dajingmen features a huge, arched opening measuring 12 meters (39 feet) tall, 9 meters (30 feet) wide and 13 meters (43 feet) deep. There are two iron gates, over which there is a large plaque with four impressive characters 大好河山 (Magnificent Mountains and Rivers) inscribed on it. Dajingmen was restored in 2006-2007 and is now officially open to visitors.

From Dajingmen, the wall leads for vast distances both to the east and to the west.

To the east of Dajingmen, the wall is not actually connected to the restored Dajingmen gate. To reach it, you will need to cross the Qingshui river bed further to the south, and then look for a trail that starts about 250 meters (800 feet) south of the wall. The trail leads up the side of the mountain and joins the wall, continuing alongside it on the south side for about 370 meters (1200 feet) before crossing over a collapsed place and then proceeding alongside on the north side. The path then continues for about 1200 meters (400 feet) before crossing back to the south side. There are at least three trails leading back down the mountain at this point. You can continue to follow the wall, but the easy-to-follow path ends here. If you continue to follow the wall towards the east, you will begin to notice ditches that are dug on the north side of the wall. These ditches provided material for constructing the inside of the wall and created an additional barrier to potential attackers. At a distance of about 56 kilometers (35 miles) from Dajingmen, the wall branches. Basically, one branch of the wall from here continues directly to the east while another branch goes to the north, loops around, and turns back to the south. At about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north (left) of the junction, and about 55 kilometers (34 miles) east of Zhangjiakou City, you will reach one of the highest elevations of the entire Great Wall at about 2130 meters (6960 feet). Further along, as you near the northernmost point of the loop, you will join a Qin Dynasty Great Wall which runs along or near the Ming Dynasty wall on and off for more than 26 kilometers (16 miles). Another path of the Qin Dynasty wall is located not far to the north of this one. You will also pass several Qin Dynasty fortresses along the way. Continuing straight (east) at the junction, instead of taking the north loop, would provide the shortest path, but this wall is not continuous. It is more or less continuous for about 46 kilometers (29 miles) before you reach a gap of about 23 kilometers (14 miles). If instead you took the north path at the junction, you would reach the same point after some170 kilometers (105 miles) of wall that, while not continuous, does not have any large gaps. From here the wall continues southeast towards Beijing. You would reach the Beijing Knot, where the outer wall joins the inner wall at Jiankou, after about 58 kilometers (36 miles) along the wall.

The Ming Dynasty stone wall at Zhangjiakou

To the west of Dajingmen, the wall connects directly and there is an easy path that follows the wall on its south side for 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) before ending at a road crossing. Continue following the wall for an additional 24 kilometers (15 miles) and you will reach a junction with a Qin Dynasty Great Wall. The walls actually run parallel for a distance of about 1100 meters (3600 feet) to the west before the Qin wall ends. Further to the west, it's possible that the Ming Dynasty wall was built on the existing foundation of the Qin wall. From the junction point, the Qin wall continues to the northeast towards, and beyond the northern loop to the east of Dajingmen. There are more parallel spans of the Qin Dynasty Great Wall further along, and the Ming wall continues to the Datong area, 183 kilometers (114 miles) away, and beyond.

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou Dajingmen Great Wall

Zhangjiakou under the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival holiday's full moon