Hiking photos - Zhenbiancheng Great Wall, 2010/04/04
Zhenbiancheng is located in a remote and beautiful area that is surrounded by mountains. Nearby are many sites of historical interest - Ming Dynasty-era walled military outposts, stretches of Great Wall, small villages, and wartime battlefields.
For this hike we started off with a walk up a valley trail to reach the Great Wall, and then followed the wall up and along a ridge before walking out down another valley. After snacks and drinks on the roadside, we took a short drive to visit 'old' Zhenbiancheng, a Ming Dynasty-era walled border outpost that is now a bustling little village.
Statistics: 5 hours in total, with 4 hours of walking over approx. 9km; start height 801m, finish height 825m, highest point 1370m. Roughly 12,500 steps (by pedometer measure). Estimated 2047kCal burned (offset by 20 bottles of beer consumed post-hike).
![View of Brushrest Mountain, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/01-zhenbianchengwall20100404-brushrest.jpg)
As we began the hike, we had views of the distinctive peaks of Brushrest Mountain on our left.
![Zhenbiancheng Great Wall, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/05-zhenbianchengwall20100404-wall.jpg)
After an hour's climbing, we arrived at the Great Wall, continuing after a short rest.
![Hills and valley, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/06-zhenbianchengwall20100404-hills.jpg)
With the Great Wall situated high on a ridge, we had great views of the surrounding area - mountains, valleys with terraces, small townships, with more Great Wall in the distance.
![Zhenbiancheng Round Tower, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/07-zhenbianchengwall20100404-roundtower.jpg)
We saw several distinctive round-shaped towers along the way.
![Zhenbiancheng Great Wall, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/13-zhenbianchengwall20100404-wall.jpg)
The stretch of wall we followed was quite rugged.
![Zhenbiancheng Great Wall, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/15-zhenbianchengwall20100404-wall.jpg)
We continued along the wall, heading north.
![Descent, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/17-zhenbianchengwall20100404-descent.jpg)
After a last tricky descent, we followed a hard-to-find trail down into a valley.
![Fields, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/19-zhenbianchengwall20100404-fields.jpg)
At the foot of the valley were fallow fields, overgrown with tall grass.
![Snack time, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/20-zhenbianchengwall20100404-snacks.jpg)
After our traditional post-hike snacks and drinks, we took a short drive down the road to 'old' Zhenbiancheng.
![Zhenbiancheng town gate, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/21-zhenbianchengwall20100404-gate.jpg)
One of the four old gates to the walled military border outpost of Zhenbiancheng. Zhenbiancheng roughly translates as 'Control-the-border City.'
![On top of the city walls, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/22-zhenbianchengwall20100404-gate.jpg)
We took a stroll along some of the city walls and explored the streets before heading back to the city.
![Zhenbiancheng streets, Beijing Hikers Zhenbiancheng Great Wall hike, 2010-04-04](jpg/24-zhenbianchengwall20100404-streets.jpg)
The main street of the town cuts through the old walls.