Hiking by Gubeikou’s Haowang Tower, on a through hike from the Jinshanling Great Wall. (June 2021)
I’ve probably hiked this part of the Great Wall at least fifty times, and I actually don’t mind because there’s plenty for a curious person to look at—construction methods, additions and modifications, secret arches, etc., etc.
My first visit to Gubeikou was in 2007, before the Jingcheng Expressway was finished, when the only way to get here was to follow the old national road all the way out. Back then f.k.a. HJ and I had travelled out to try the hike from Gubeikou over to Jinshanling. (An aside about Jinshanling: I’d visited that part of the Great Wall two years earlier, in 2005, when I DJ’d at the infamous Great Wall party that resulted in China Daily articles titled “Wild orgies leave the Great Wall in mess, and tears”, and “No more rave parties at the Great Wall”.)
Anyways, I’ve borrowed some of f.k.a. HJ’s photos from that first visit and collected a bunch of photos that I’ve taken over the years on various hikes, and the photos in this post will cover pretty much all of the Gubeikou ‘Panlongshan’ Great Wall. I’ve included shots of some of the more unusual or interesting features of the wall here, and also some 1930s-era photos I found.
This is part of a series of three Gubeikou posts—the others being the Wohushan Great Wall on the west side of Gubeikou, and one that covers the main general and historical info about the Gubeikou Great Wall, with photos from the village and the North Gate and loop of Great Wall around there. (I’ll link to the last one when it’s finished.)
The Gubeikou ‘Panlongshan’ Great Wall is on the east side of the river at Gubeikou.
The photos in this post are separated into three sections: the General’s Tower part, the Haowang Tower area, and the Top Section. On the above map you’ll see labels for the General’s Tower, Haowang Tower, and 24-Eyes Tower, which is the highest tower on the top section.
The General’s Tower part
If you’re starting at the North Gate and middle loop of Great Wall at Gubeikou and heading for the Panlongshan section you’ll arrive at the main line of Great Wall not too far from the General’s Tower. The photos below are roughly in the order you’d see them if you were hiking through from Gubeikou’s North Gate.
A lot of the General’s Towers you find on the Great Wall were command posts for Ming Dynasty generals. The General’s Tower at Gubeikou is a bit different—named not for a Ming-era command post, but for a General of the Chinese army who was pulverised by a Japanese grenade in this tower during a close-quarters melee in the 1933 Battle of the Great Wall.
View towards the General’s Tower at Gubeikou. The General’s Tower is the big one on the right, and I’m going to refer to the one on the left as the Exploded Tower. (January 2010)The wall in the lower left quarter of the photo is the main line of the Gubeikou Great Wall. This photo was taken from the hill trails between the middle loop and the main line.The Great Wall near the General’s Tower at Gubeikou.Springtime view of the Great Wall near the General’s Tower. (April 2019)Summertime view of the General’s Tower. (September 2016)The main line of the Gubeikou Great Wall descends towards the Chao River valley. (2010)On hill trails near the General’s Tower at Gubeikou. Approaching the main line of the Gubeikou Great Wall. Both rammed earth and rubble fill can be seen where the outer casing of bricks has fallen away.On to the main line of wall.Looking back at along the trail, with Hexi Village and the Chao River valley seen in the background.A similar angle from January 1940. (Source North China Transportation Archives)A view from the other side, taken from the hills by the river in the background of the preceding photos. The General’s Tower section and main line of the wall is on the far left of the above photo; the North Gate and loop are on the right side.Summer shot of the tower at the left in the preceding photo. (September 2015)
Interesting feature #1
There’s a circular bore in a square foundation block beside the tower in the above photo. It looks like it collects water. But it could also have been the base for a narrow pillar?
A circular bore in a foundation block. The approach to the General’s Tower at Gubeikou. (2010)The approach to the General’s Tower at Gubeikou. (2015)
Interesting feature #2
Very close to where I was standing to take the preceding two photos are several holes knocked out of the battlements, used as makeshift firing holes during the 1933 Battle of the Great Wall. There’s another larger firing hole by the Exploded Tower, too. This demonstrates how the wall and towers were placed to view and control the approaches on nearby hills, useful in both ancient and more modern times.
A view through one of the makeshift firing holes.Another of the firing holes.Little H made it to the Exploded Tower. (June 2022)The author strikes a pose. (October 2016)Inside the Exploded Tower. (February 2015)Looking back to the Exploded Tower. (June 2021)The other side. (2010)(April 2022)The General’s Tower. (2010)Hiking up to the General’s Tower.The General’s Tower has a frame to keep it together, and a lightning rod. (September 2016)Little H sneaking. (2022)Stairs inside the tower lead to the top.
Interesting feature #3
The General’s Tower has an octagonal inner chamber, a uncommon design.
Photo taken before the repairs to the roof. (February 2015)
Interesting feature #4
Stamps in the bricks used to build the wall sometimes served as a ‘makers mark’ for quality control and in some cases can also be used to date the construction. At Gubeikou—especially in and around the General’s Tower—there are bricks with various imprints. One reads “Seventh Year of the Wanli Emperor”, which was 1578 AD. (Internet points are available if you can help me translate any of the other stamps.)
This large stamp reads 墙子路[?] (Qiangzilu-something). This (I think!) means the brick was fired at Qiangzilu, and transported to Gubeikou from there—a walk of about 50km. There’s Great Wall at Qiangzilu, too—a fort and Great Wall at a pass in the northeastern part of Miyun District. (Qiangzilu Great Wall is marked on the big map at the end of this post.)A MURDER HORNET nest inside a Great Wall tower. I know someone who was stung on the head by one of these hornets, and she said she couldn’t feel her face for a couple of hours. (August 2020)(September 2015)Looking back at the approach to the General’s Tower at Gubeikou, with the Chao River valley seen in the background. The river valley is the easiest travel route through the mountains, and from the fort in the middle the wall is extended up into the mountains on either side to prevent anyone sneaking around. (2010)From the General’s Tower, views toward the top section of the Gubeikou ‘Panlongshan’ Great Wall. (August 2020, iPhone SE)Same spot, worse camera. (February 2015, iPhone 4S)Same spot, near exact framing. A clearer comparison would show some of the repairs made in the five years between the photos. (August 2020, iPhone SE)Springtime on the Gubeikou Great Wall. Same spot as the previous photo, but looking back along the trail to the General’s Tower.This paved park track is a faster way up to the General’s Tower.
Interesting feature #5
I found some old photos of the Gubeikou Great Wall that were taken during the 1933 Battle of the Great Wall, and then I found some re-photography of those photos, and then I did my own re-photography of the re-photography after I figured out the locations near the General’s Tower.
Soldiers carrying shells near the General’s Tower. (I think I found these photos on www.thegreatwall.com.cn but can’t find the exact page anymore.)Found the spot.My attempt at it.Soldiers gathered near the General’s Tower. Found the spot.My attempt at it.
Just past the General’s Tower is a pass in the wall. Repairs and a general clean up in 2023 (or thereabouts) revealed the remains of a large tower and small gate that were previously obscured by the foliage. Getting some better photos of this pass is on the to-do list.
Hiking down to the pass, and then on towards the ‘Precarious Tower’. (May 2024)The gate in the pass.
Haowang Tower area
After getting on to the main line of Great Wall you can follow it all the way up to 24-Eyes Tower. On the way you’ll pass Haowang Tower. Haowang Tower is at the top of the other main park trail here.
A Great Wall tower in precarious condition. (2010)A closer look at the precarious tower. (April 2019)An old photo of the precarious tower. (1940-ish, source silkroads.org.cn although uncredited, original probably North China Photography Magazine)Haowang Tower is the closest tower to us here, and 24-Eyes Tower is the one on the highest point of the far hills.Hiking by Haowang Tower, on a through hike from the Jinshanling Great Wall. (June 2021)(October 2019)Little H nears Haowang Tower. (September 2021)Swoops of wall at the Gubeikou ‘Panlongshan’ Great Wall. (2010)
Here come some of the photos from that first visit in 2007.
The other side of Haowang Tower. (September 2007)(2007)(2010)Haowang Tower at the Gubeikou Great Wall. A metal frame was added to stop the roof collapsing. (June 2021)Just past Haowang Tower. (2021)
Interesting feature #6
Just past Haowang Tower is a short stretch of wall where the outer casing of bricks has fallen away to reveal a section of rammed earth and rubble fill in the base of the wall. Interesting if you’re curious about Great Wall construction techniques I guess. Or if you’re looking for proof that Great Wall workers were buried inside if they died in a construction accident. (I’ve never found any human bones, so …)
A closer look at the layers of rammed earth.The rammed earth fill changes to rubble fill. The rubble fill is usually built up in layers, too.
Panlongshan Great Wall top section
The highest tower on the Panlongshan Great Wall is 24-Eyes Tower (elevation approx. 450m). The wall continues along the ridges to the Jinshanling Great Wall and the Simatai Great Wall. Between 24-Eyes Tower and Jinshanling the path along the wall is blocked due to a neighbouring military area.
The top section is where you find most of the intact towers on this part of the Great Wall.
Views of the top section of the Gubeikou ‘Panlongshan’ Great Wall from a spot somewhere near the General’s Tower. (2010)Views back to the General’s Tower from a spot near the start of the top section. (2007)Starting the hike up to the top section at Gubeikou, with 24-Eyes Tower seen on the hill in the background. (2007)One of the towers on the top section of the Gubeikou ‘Panlongshan’ Great Wall. The General’s Tower is visible in the middle distance, and the Wohushan Great Wall can be seen in the far distance. (2016)Same tower, clearer capture. (October 2019)A bit further on. (2007)One of the large towers on the top section of the Gubeikou ‘Panlongshan’ Great Wall. (September 2015)Hiking up to the large tower. (November 2019)Little Little H by the large tower.Snackin’ in the tower.The other side of the large tower. (2007)(June 2021)Closer shot of the large tower. (2007)
This large tower has two accesses from the Beijing side of the Great Wall: the large arch you can see in the side of the tower, and also a stairway that comes up just to the side of the tower.
The approach to 24-Eyes Tower. (June 2018, iPhone SE)
Interesting feature #7
Near one of the towers in the preceding photo is a secret door. Well, not really secret, but if you’re not looking for it you’d walk right over it and not notice. To me it looks like it would be part of a path from the Gubeikou camp and main pass down by the river up to this top section of the Great Wall.
A view of the ‘hidden’ arch in the Great Wall, from the outside of the wall. (September 2025)The secret door is a hard-to-spot hidden arch in the wall. Inside that arch, two smaller arches—maybe stairs, originally?—have been filled in with bricks. (November 2019)The smaller arch on the west wall of the hard-to-find arch.The smaller arch on the east wall of the hard-to-find arch.A closer look at the filled-in stairway in the secret arch. (September 2025)On the other side of the tower is a small doorway, which is how you’d get up on the Great Wall after coming through the larger arch in the base on the other side.A closer shot of the small doorway, taken from the window in the preceding photo.
From here it’s a short walk to 24-Eyes Tower.
24-Eyes Tower. (2021)Near 24-Eyes Tower. (2010)24-Eyes Tower. (Six windows each side, 24 in total … but now only two-and-a-half sides of the tower still stand.) (December 2017)After 24-Eyes Tower the path on the wall is blocked.The view down from 24-Eyes Tower. (February 2015, iPhone 4S)The view east from 24-Eyes Tower, with the towers of Jinshanling visible in the middle distance. (2010)The wall near 24-Eyes Tower is blocked off, preventing entry to the ‘danger zone’. (September 2025)From the wall just past 24-Eyes Tower.From the path beside/outside the wall.Inside 24-Eyes Tower.A look at the frame that supports the remaining two sides of 24-Eyes Tower.
Interesting feature #8
In the northwest corner of 24-Eyes Tower is a pillbox built during the 1933 Battle of the Great Wall. (This was previously mistaken for a rubbish bin; we cleaned it out on cleanup hikes several times.)
The pillbox inside 24-Eyes Tower.
The pillbox offered a protected line of fire out towards a nearby hilltop, a hilltop from which attackers would have had a prime spot for taking potshots at anyone inside the tower, as you’ll see in the following photos.
The pillbox is sited at the corner of the tower nearest to where this photo was taken.From the top of the nearby hilltop.The wall follows a ridgeline from 24-Eyes Tower down to the Chao River, then back up the steep ridge on the Wohushan side of the river.The aforementioned nearby hilltop is the little bump on the ridge behind the tower in this photo.
The three sections of Great Wall at Gubeikou: Wohushan (to the west of the Chao River), Gubeikou camp and pass (in the middle), Panlongshan (to the east of the Chao River).The Gubeikou Great Wall is part of a line of Great Wall that crosses an area of lower hills between higher mountains in Beijing’s northeast.
To-do
There’s still a bit more to do to finish this post in proper style.
Photo of the pillbox in 24-Eyes Tower ✅ (2025/09/18)
Photos of the overlapping windows and inner walls in some of the towers (Photos taken 2025/09/18, yet to be processed)
Get better shots of some of the other towers on the top section (Photos taken 2025/09/18, yet to be processed)
Better photos of the repaired minor pass and little gate
Some more photos of the secret arch and the trail that leads up to it ✅ (2025/09/18, although no photos from the trail that leads up to it, the trail being hopelessly overgrown)
Explore what looks like another secret door near the Exploded Tower
Photos of some of the bullet holes (Took photos 2025/09/18 but they’re all blurry)
Photos of more of the stamps in the bricks, including the one that says “Seventh Year of the Wanli Emperor”
Actually hike the main line of wall down towards the river, and get some photos of that part of the Great Wall
Better angles of the rephotography photos so I can overlay them and make an animation that fades between old photo and new photo
