Gubeikou Great Wall

Gubeikou Great Wall(古北口长城)is located in Miyun County, 140 kilometers away from downtown Beijing. The main part of the Gubeikou Wall was first built in the Ming Dynasty 1368. It goes for over 20 kilometers and comprises of the four parts: Wohushan, Panlongshan, Jinshanling and Simatai.

In a narrow sense, today's Gubeikou Great Wall is only composed of two parts – Panlongshan Great Wall and Wohushan Great Wall. "Panlongshan" literally means "Coiled Dragon Mountain" while "Wohushan" literally means "Crouching Tiger Mountain".

Wohushan Great Wall is now still completely wild and unrestored, not officially opened to the public while Panlongshan Great Wall is partially opened by the local government. So when people talk about Gubeikou Great Wall,

very often they refer to Panlongshan Great Wall.

The two mountains faces each other with a valley in between from south to north, a strategic passage in the ancient times linking Inner Mongolia and Beijing. Now the valley has been turned into a fast developing Gubeikou Township under Miyun County of Beijing City.

This section has 143 beacon towers. The inside of these towers is different in design. Some towers have a flat ceiling. Some have an arched ceiling, a domed ceiling, or an octagonal. Each tower consists of two floors, six archways, and ten arched doors, allowing garrisoned soldiers to advance and retreat freely.

Gubeikou has long been a town of military importance and a vital passage to the capital city. The Yanshan Range goes from east to west and is divided at Gubeikou, constituting a natural narrow pass here. To the west of the pass are the Chaohe River and the Wohu Mountain, and to the east is the Panlong Mountain. From ancient times, Gubeikou has worked as a road of strategic importance, connecting the southern and northern parts of the Yanshan Range.