Shunli Shanhai Hotel

THE SHANHAI PASS

by alyf1961

There is a Chinese saying, “he who has not been to the great wall is not a true man”. The Shanhaiguan pass connects northern China to north-eastern China.

The First Pass under Heaven is actually the east tower of the Shanhai Pass, called Zhendong Tower. It is 13.7 meters (44.95 feet) high with two floors.
The tower has an inscribed board, which hangs horizontally above the gate. It is over 5.3 yards long and 4.9 feet high. Five characters boldly stand out - 'Tian Xia Di Yi Guan' (The First Pass under Heaven). These characters were inscribed in 1920 by imitating the handwriting of Xiao Xian who passed the highest imperial civil service examination in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Beijing-Great Wall of China pt1

by mad4travel

There are a number of places you can travel to from Beijing to see the wall. Predictably, the part nearest to Beijing at Badailing is the most manicured and crowded. I went to Simitai which is further away and much more rugged.

The Great Wall which most tourists visit today was built during the Ming Dynasty, starting around the year 1368 and lasting till around 1640. The Government ordered people to work on it with great loss of life. It has been calculated that over 8 million people died working on it, the equivalent of 1 person per metre!

The Great Wall starts on the eastern end at Shanhai Pass, near Qinhuangdao, in Hebei Province, next to Bohai Gulf. Spanning nine provinces and 100 counties, the final 500 km have all but turned to rubble, and today it ends on the western end at the historic site of Jiayuguan Pass located in northwest Gansu Province at the limit of the Gobi Desert and the oases of the Silk Road.

The part of the wall I visited was at Simitai, two hours drive from Beijing. The area is quite mountainous and the wall is perched on the mountain ridge snaking off into the disctance. You can walk up or take a cable car and funicular railway about 4/5ths of the way up and then walk. It is very steep and in the hot and humid weather also pretty exhausting, but worth it!

Great Wall Map

by o00o

"Great Wall Map"

The map shows the Wall running from Jiayu Pass of Gansu Province to Shanhai Pass of Hebei Province. Representative sections of the Great Wall built in Ming times are situated near Shanhai Pass, Gubeikou and Juyong Pass.

2 trips to China

by sakurita

Canton
Shanhai

Comments, trips ideas, routes and adventures are listed HERE.
There are so many pictures we couldn't upload them all. The entire photo gallery is http://masato-sakurako.com.