 Great Wall at Simatai is about 120 kilometers(44.7 miles) northeast of Beijing in Miyun County. This section of the Great Wall is about 19 kilometers ( 11.8 miles) long with 35 magnificent watch-towers and joins the Great Wall at Jinshanling in the west. The design of this section is ingenious and peculiar, really valuable for the study of military affairs, construction and art of the time.
The unique feature of this section is dangerous and precipitous. Many parts of the Great Wall here were built on sheer cliffs or on steep mountain slopes. It rises and falls sharply but has every essential structure---walls, watch-towers and parapets. Some parts built at an angle of nearly 90 degrees rise up at a sharp climb, so local people call it “ Heavenly Ladder”. an angle of 60-70 degrees, and some parts 90 degrees. Some places are so narrow on the mountain ridges that only a thin wall could be built on the outer side of the cliff and with a barrier wall built on it known as “ single-side wall”. The single-sided wall was built on the top of precipitous cliffs. The “Heavenly Bridge” is a path over a precipice, about 100 meters long and 3 or 4 feet wide, which crosses abysses about 500 meters deep. With nothing to hold on to , the slightest wind will make visitors tremble with fear. So visitors must climb with extreme care. No wonder the Great Wall at Simatai is described as the greatest of the whole length of the Great Wall. There are more than 10,000 bricks on the Simatai Great Wall that bear inscriptions noting the date and maker of the bricks of the Ming Dynasty. Such a large number of inscribed bricks are rarely seen in other parts of the Great Wall, about 1,000 meters above the sea level, a watch-tower is located on a vantage point known as “ Watching the Capital Tower”, People say that in the clear night, one can see the lights in Beijing from this tower, hence the name “ Watching the Capital Tower”. Because the Tower is located on a vantage point and it is also the most dangerous place to reach, visitors must walk over some unrepaired paths, including the “ Heavenly Ladder” and “ Heavenly Bridge” before reaching it and also because of the dangers involved in reaching the Tower. |
