The Great Wall of China:Jiankou Great Wall
The Jiankou Great Wall is located in Huairou County, 73 kilometres north from BeijingCity. It connects with Mutianyu Great Wall ten kilometres to the east, and with Huanghuacheng Great Wall to the west. This section was built in 1368 during the period of the Ming Dynasty.
The Jiankou Great Wall is constructed of large white hill rocks which makes it very noticeable from a distance. The major section of this Great Wall is built along a mountain ridge with large cliffs on each side, and due to the lack of repairs, it is now one of the most dangerous sections of the entire Great Wall.
There are several scenic sites that tourists must see, one of which is the enemy observation tower known as "The Eagle Flies Facing Upward". This observation tower appears extremely high as it was built on a mountain which forms the highest section of the Jiankou Great Wall. Therefore, when an eagle flies there, it can only do so facing upwards before reaching the top of the tower.
The "Sky Stairs" is another famous scenic spot. At this location of the Wall the stairs go practically straight up, and they are so narrow that it is barely possible to obtain a foothold.
Other scenic areas include the Beijing Knot (the meeting point for three different converging sections of the Great Wall); the Nine-Eye Tower (a watchtower with 9 holes like eyes); the Zhengbei Tower (a good place to watch the sunrise and the sunset) and, the Cloud Stairs (a section of the Jiankou Great Wall which rises like a staircase into the white clouds), and many other enemy observation towers.
Tourists standing on the top of the Jiankou Great Wall will always experience different scenes in all directions regardless of the hour or the seasons or the weather.
There are no admission costs or tickets required to climb the Jiankou Great Wall nor to visit the Mutianyu Scenic Spot.
Tourists can also visit Wofo Mountain Resort, where there is an Ancient Dragon Pool which is formed by springs at the foot of the mountain, and which contains the biggest breeding place for the famous rainbow mountain trout in the North of China. This rainbow trout when eaten fresh is delicious and even the fish bones can be used to make a soup.