Huangyaguan Pass Great Wall

Selected as one of the 'Ten Sights in Tianjin', Huangyaguan Great Wall is located in the mountainous area, 28 km (17 miles) north of Ji County, Tianjin. It stretches for about 42 km (26 miles), consisting of 66 towers (52 guard towers and 14 beacon towers). Most of the rocks on the mountain of the eastern section of the great wall are yellow brown, hence the name Huangyaguan (the pass of yellow brown rocks).

Huangyaguan Great Wall was built in 557, the 7th year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty (550 - 577), and reconstructed in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) by the famous general Qi Jiguang. When Qi Jiguang transferred here as a local officer, he found that the great wall was built with rubble and not that firm, so petitioned the government for the reinforcement of the great wall. Therefore, the Huangyaguan Great Wall we see now is covered with Ming-dynasty bricks. The whole great wall was built on mountain ridges with cliffs on both sides, very magnificent, so it was reputed as Impregnable Pass of Northern Jin.

Huangyaguan Pass has a very solid defensive system. About 1 km from the pass, there situated a watch tower named the Phoenix Tower, which is the largest round watch tower along the great walls in China and works as the first defensive line of the pass. It is a watch tower as well as a battle tower. The second defensive line of Huangyaguan is the great wall itself, for the wall is too high and thick to the break down. The third defensive line is an Eight-Diagram City (Ba Gua Cheng, 八卦城) in the pass. Covering an area of 40,000 square meters (9.9 acres), the Eight-Diagram City centers upon a Taiji Platform and all the surrounding constructions are arranged according to the directions and signals in the Eight-Diagram, including the 36 crisscrossing streets and rows of old-style houses. Now people have built a 30,000-square-meter maze amusement park in the city, making the city more mysterious.

In the Huangyaguan Pass Scenic Area, apart from the Huangyaguan Pass, Taipingzhai is the other major scenic spot. It is located in the Xiaoping'an Village, about 10 km (6 miles) southeast to the Huangyaguan Pass. Taipingzhai is well known for the diverse material and structures of the abutment on the great wall: some of the abutments are made of rocks and some are made of bricks, some of them are hollow and some are solid, and some are square and some are round. In Taipingzhai, there is a famous tower named Widow Tower. It is said that when Qi Jiguang ordered to reconstruct the great wall, 12 soldiers from Henan Province sacrificed their lives during the reconstruction. The 12 wives of the soldiers were very sad when they came to find their husbands dead, but all of them decided to finish their husbands' job, so they built a tower with the pension given by Qi Jiguang. People named it the Widow Tower to commemorate these women and their love of their husbands.

Huangyaguan Pass and the Taipingzhai are connected by the Water Pass (Shui Guan 水关, not the Shuiguan in Beijing). The Water Pass was built between 1403 and 1424 in the Ming Dynasty. It is 75.5 meters (83 yards) long and 12.15 meters (40 feet) high. Together with the steep cliffs and rushing water, the Water Pass became another important military defensive line to the Huangyaguan Pass.

Coming to Huangyaguan Pass, you can not only learn about the culture of the Chinese Great Wall but also enjoy exciting international games. Since 1999, the Huangyaguan Great Wall International Marathon Game has been held here every May. Besides the Marathon, there is a Great Wall Climbing Game on Huangyaguan Great Wall every year, and all the competitors are children from all over the world. The organizer of the game, also the organizer of Tianjin International Children's Culture and Art Festival, aims to spread Chinese Great Wall culture through the game.

 Huangyaguan Great Wall Transportation: 
a. At Beijing Sihui Long-distance Bus Station take a bus to Tianjin Jixian County and get off at Nanlou in Jixian County (蓟县南楼). The bus departs every 15 minutes from 06:00 to 19:30. From Nanlou, take a taxi to Huangyaguan Great Wall;
b. From Tianjian Railway Station, take the train to Jixian Railway Station (the train departs at 07:27 and 08:37). From there take a taxi or a mini bus to Huangyaguan Pass;
c. From Tianjian North Railway Station, take the train to Jixian Railway Station (the train departs at 07:40 and 08:47), and take a taxi or a mini bus to Huangyaguan Pass
d. At Tianjin Hebei Long-distance Bus Station, take the bus to Jixian Long-distance Bus Station, and then take a taxi or a mini bus to Huangyaguan Pass.