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Updated: 2007-04-10 09:46

The Great Wall at Jiankou

Jiankou is hiking Wall, where you'll be clambering over fallen brick and inching your way up steep un-railed mountain faces - take care. The white cliff rock used in its construction makes Jiankou stand out strikingly against the heavily forested hillsides, making it one of the most photogenic Wall sections. You can camp out for the night in one of the towers -but don't forget to take sufficient drinking water with you.

The Great Wall at Huanghuacheng

Overgrown with sweet yellow flowers in the summer and stretching high above a natural spring lake and crescent-shaped water reservoir, this is a beautifully preserved section of the Wall favored by nature lovers all year round. That being said, the paths are far from pristine - this is 420-year-old masonry - but the climb isn't steep until you get higher up, and in some parts the walk is very pleasant.

The Great Wall at Huangyaguan

The Huangyaguan Wall in Tianjin features some unusual architecture and unique watchtower design, the result of strategic imperatives. This was an important pass that required superb defence facilities, and the small city built below (now refitted to accommodate tourists) was fixed with traps and wrong-turns to confuse any invaders who made it through. It's a tough section of the Wall, noted for its peculiarly austere beauty and mathematically precise nature.

The Great Wall at Xifengkou

Characterized by almost obliterated Wall stretches that lie between curiously well-preserved watchtowers, Xifengkou is most famous for a submerged section - depending on reservoir levels, the underwater Wall can be seen as a ghostly silhouette of ancient glories. The Nationalists found this pass as strategically valuable as ever when staging successful resistance attacks here against the Japanese in 1933 - if you look carefully, you can still find bullet holes in the Wall.

The Great Wall at Jiumenkou

The Jiumenkou Wall near Liaoning's Huludao is known for its 100m span across the Jiujiang river - the only part of the Great Wall that resembles, and functions as, a bridge - with nine sluice gates making up the pass across the river. There are two kilometers of easy going and fully restored Wall here to explore, making for a nice afternoon’s climb. This is an easy part of the Wall to conquer.

The Great Wall at Laolongtou

The Great Wall finally meets the sea at Laolongtou - the head of the Wall. This is a level and fully reconstructed section that extends from the beach all the way back to the walled city of Shanhaiguan and straight up the steep slopes of Jiaoshan mountain.

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