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Simatai Great Wall

A collection of photos from various visits to the Simatai Great Wall, plus maps and general Simatai Great Wall info.

What’s in this post?

The Simatai Great Wall is near the eastern end of a nearly continuous line of Great Wall that runs from Gubeikou to Hei Pass, blocking the Chao River valley and the passes in an area of low hills in a gap between higher mountains.

A map that shows the position of the Gubeikou Great Wall, Jinshanling Great Wall, and Simatai in north-east Beijing.
The Simatai Great Wall is part of a line of Great Wall that blocks an area of lower hills between higher mountains in Beijing’s northeast.

The Great Wall at Simatai was first built back in the Northern Qi Dynasty, expanded and reinforced during the Ming Dynasty, repaired again and opened to tourists in 1990, and then made part of a massive tourist attraction in the 2010s.

The east side of the Simatai Great Wall peaks on a jagged ridge, with steep and skinny walls climbing to towers atop high cliffs, and some of those cliffs are so steep it seems like a wall would be entirely unnecessary. I don’t have photos of those parts (I haven’t been able to get up there yet) but I do have some information about a raid by a “Twice-Scorned Mongol Woman” that resulted in the orders for those extra fortifications. (More on that further down.)

Here’s a basic introduction to the Simatai Great Wall that I wrote for Beijing Hikers.

The Simatai Great Wall is an excellent example of what the main sections of Great Wall looked during the peak of the Ming Dynasty—solid foundations cut from local rock and topped by brick battlements, with large, closely-spaced towers that feature interesting architectural touches.

The wall here was repaired and opened to tourists in 1990. Before then, its main construction periods were in the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577, likely just a low line of rocks and stones), the early Ming Dynasty (late 1400s, built on top of the older Northern Qi wall), and the later part of the Ming Dynasty (1570s, in the style that is seen today).

Interesting architectural features include single-sided walls that cross narrow ridges, and towers with multiple levels, different floor plans, different numbers of windows, and different designs for the roofs and doors.

In 2010 the whole area below the Simatai Great Wall was closed down for its transformation into the Gubei Shuizhen. Currently only the first ten towers on the east side of Simatai are open to visitors, which means the most famous (and dangerous) parts – Fairy Tower, Wangjing Tower, the Sky Ladder – are off-limits.

Simatai Great Wall and the Gubei Shuizhen Lantern Festival Fair (www.beijinghikers.com)

That covers most of it pretty good.

Below is a collection of photos that shows nearly all of the Simatai Great Wall—the top of the west side, the middle of the west side, the first ten towers on the east side, and then a few more from near Towers 11 and 12 on the east side.

You’ll see some shots from a January 2023 visit, a few from a hike in from the Jinshanling side in June 2021, plus a couple borrowed from HJ, who had extremely nice weather on a 2009 visit to the top section of the east side of Simatai.

The photos from 2023 and 2021 were taken with the Leica D-LUX 5 and the old iPhone SE; photos from 2009 were taken with HJ’s huge Canon-something-or-other DSLR.

Simatai Great Wall west side

Between the eastern end of the Jinshanling Great Wall and the western end of the Simatai Great Wall there’s a stretch of 3-4 towers that is a sort-of no-man’s land between the two ticketed areas.

From Jinshanling’s East Five-Windows Tower (the official eastern end of the Jinshanling Great Wall) you can hike out for a look. You can go three towers out without getting in trouble; past the fourth tower you’ll probably be met by the guards at the Simatai end and asked to head back.

Views of Simatai from the eastern end of the Great Wall at Jinshanling.
Three towers out from Jinshanling’s East Five-Windows Tower, with a good view of the jagged ridge at the top of the Simatai Great Wall. (June 2021)
Views of Simatai from the eastern end of the Great Wall at Jinshanling.

Before 2010 you could continue down the wall to Simatai’s west side.

In 2023 we visited the west side on a ‘site inspection’.

The middle section of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall
The middle section of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall. (January 2023)
A tower on the middle section of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall
The middle section of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall
The middle section of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall
The middle section of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall
A Great Wall tower on the west side of the Simatai Great Wall.
Looking over to the east side of the Simatai Great Wall.
Looking over to the east side of the Simatai Great Wall.
Looking over to the east side of the Simatai Great Wall.

Simatai Great Wall east side

The next lot of photos were taken on the way up the east side of the Simatai Great Wall.

The old suspension bridge at the Simatai Great Wall.
The suspension bridge over the pass. (January 2023)
The old suspension bridge at the Simatai Great Wall.

Before 2010, if you were coming down from the west side of Simatai, you could pay a 5 RMB toll to the bridge guy and continue up along the Great Wall on the east side.

Not any more. Simatai’s west side isn’t open for visits, and the paths to the bridge are blocked.

Nowadays, to get on to the east side of the Simatai Great Wall, you hike up from the Gubei Shuizhen, following the path beside the reservoir. (Or you take the cable car straight up to the top section instead of doing all the stairs.)

The reservoir at Simatai.
The top dam of the reservoir.
The Eighth Route Army at Simatai in 1942.
In 1942, members of the Eighth Route Army marched in through the pass, pre-reservoir. (Photo zh.wikipedia.org)
Views of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall.
From Tower 2 on the east side of the Simatai Great Wall, looking over to the west side. The high towers in the back belong to the Jinshanling Great Wall. (2009)
Views of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall.
In 2023.
Views of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall.
Views of the west side, from a bit higher up. (2009)
Views of the west side of the Simatai Great Wall.
A similar angle. (2023)
The reservoir and Gubei Shuizhen.
Looking down on the reservoir, with the Gubei Shuizhen seen beyond the lower dam.
The reservoir and Gubei Shuizhen (2009)
A similar angle from 2009, with a view of the empty fields where the Gubei Shuizhen would be built.
The one-sided wall at Simatai.
Continuing up the wall, you come to the ‘one-sided’ wall, one of the aforementioned special features.
The one-sided wall at Simatai.
Towers on the Great Wall on the east side of Simatai.
Towers on the Great Wall on the east side of Simatai.
Towers on the Great Wall on the east side of Simatai.
2009.
Towers on the Great Wall on the east side of Simatai.
Views towards the Jinshanling Great Wall.
Views west. (2009)
Views towards the Jinshanling Great Wall.
From nearly the same location. (2023)
Views towards the Jinshanling Great Wall.
Towers on the Great Wall on the east side of Simatai.
A tower on the top section of the Great Wall on the east side of Simatai.
Near Simatai’s east Tower 10.
Simatai’s east towers 10 and 11.
Almost at Tower 10.
Simatai’s east towers 10 and 11.
Towers 10 and 11. (2009)
Simatai’s east towers 10 and 11.
The same location in 2023. (The tree to the right of Tower 10 has grown nicely!)
Simatai’s east towers 10.
Through the door of Tower 10. (2009)
Simatai’s east towers 10 (2023)
The door of Tower 10 is now blocked, with a guard on duty.
Simatai’s east Tower 11.

This was as far as I got in 2023.

In 2009, HJ was able to get a bit farther along.

Simatai’s east Tower 11.
Tower 11.
Hills on the Beijing side of the Simatai Great Wall.
Hills on the Beijing side of the wall.
Hills on the Beijing side of the Simatai Great Wall.
Cliffs, towers, and the Sky Ladder at Simatai.
Cliffs, towers, and the Sky Ladder.
Cliffs, towers, and the Sky Ladder at Simatai.
A sign on the Great Wall at Simatai (2009)
The end of the road.

Interlude: so why build the Great Wall all the way up here?

Because people really did sneak through high mountains to attack the Great Wall guards.

This exact part of the Simatai Great Wall features in an article by Great Wall historian David Spindler titled “A Twice-Scorned Mongol Woman, the Raid of 1576, and the Building of the Brick Great Wall”.

Before the Sky Ladder was built, this particular spot was called Falcon Gap. The basic gist of the Raid of 1576 is that a group of 70 Mongolian soldiers hiked up and through the gap, crossed over the wall (just a low line of rocks and rammed earth), attacked soldiers at Falcon Gap Fort, and then lured more soldiers into an ambush back on the outside of the Great Wall. Work on brick reinforcements to the Great Wall in this area—not coincidentally—started in the year following the raid.

You can read the whole story here (PDF)—it’s extremely well sourced and documented (177 footnotes!) and covers the twice-scorned reason for the raid.

So who’s David Spindler? He’s a seemingly enigmatic independent Great Wall historian who made an extended appearance in Peter Hessler’s informative feature in the New Yorker titled “Walking the Wall”, in which the two do a spot of hiking. (PDF version)

Gubei Shuizhen AKA Gubei WTown

From the Gubei Shuizhen resort there are clear views of the Great Wall running up the ridge on the east side.

Simatai’s eastern ridge.
Views of Simatai’s eastern ridge.
A view of the ridge on the east side, from the main square of the Gubei Shuizhen.
Views of Simatai’s eastern ridge.
Views of Simatai’s eastern ridge at night, with the drone show.
The night show at the Gubei Shuizhen—a drone display below, with the Great Wall lit up in the distance.

If it’s not obvious from the more recent photos, the Simatai Great Wall and Gubei Shuizhen are now set up for an extremely standard tourist visit. Which is totally okay! Little H enjoyed a visit here, checking out the ice sculptures, walking a little bit of the Great Wall, and snacking on candied hawthorns, ice cream, and even a bit of pizza while we waited for that drone show to begin.

Little H and an icy rabbit

Maps

A map that shows the main parts of the Simatai Great Wall
The west and east sides of the Simatai Great Wall.
Sketch map of the Simatai Great Wall Scenic Area (2023)
Sketch map of the Simatai Great Wall Scenic Area (2009)
The 2009 version of the map, showing the previously opened sections.

Notes

Beijing Hikers occasionally does a visit here called Simatai Great Wall and the Gubei Shuizhen.

Simatai Great Wall

Sīmǎtái / 司马台 / Sima Platform (‘Sima’ can be a surname, or a title that means Minister of War)

Simatai info on Wikipedia
Simatai info on Baidu (Chinese language)

A Twice-Scorned Mongol Woman, the Raid
of 1576, and the Building of the Brick Great Wall

David Spindler (2009), Ming Studies, 2009:60, 66-94, DOI:10.1179/​175975909X12589849512419