Jiankou
Encyclopedia
Jiankou is a section of the Great Wall of China. This section is a photographic hotspot due to its unique style, steep mountains and beautiful scenery. 'Jiankou', is translated as 'Arrow Nock' in English, for the shape of the mountain is like an arrow, with the collapsed ridge opening as its arrow nock.
Jiankou Great Wall located in the Huairou District
73 km north of Beijing
. The Jiankou section of the Great Wall of China is located between the Mutianyu
--ten kilometers to the east--and the Moshikou sections of the Great Wall of China. The Jiankou section of the wall was constructed in 1368 during the period of the Ming Dynasty
. It is made of large white rocks which can be seen from a great distance.
This section of the Great Wall of China has fallen into disrepair and this, along with its location along a mountain ridge bordered by jagged cliffs and steep drop-offs, makes the Jiankou segment of the Great Wall of China potentially dangerous to climb. The section is more easily reached from villages like Xizhazi (西栅子) and Jiushuikeng (旧水坑) at the north side of the wall, locally known as Hou Jiankou (后箭扣), than from the south, called Qian Jiankou (前箭扣). The climb from the north goes up just over 100 meters in about a one kilometer hike, where as from the south the climb is about 450 meters up over a horizontal distance of also one kilometer.
There are many scenic sites along the Jiankou Great Wall of China, one of which is the watch tower known as "The Eagle Flies Facing Upward" (鹰飞倒仰 / 鷹飛倒仰). This tower appears extremely high as it was built on a mountain which forms the highest section of the Jiankou Great Wall. The eagles can only do so facing upwards before reaching the top of the tower when they pass through here.
The "Sky Stairs" is another famous scenic spot with a precipitous stair whose angle of elevation is 70 to 80 degrees. The stairs are so narrow that it is barely possible to obtain a foothold.
Other scenic areas include the Beijing Knot (the meeting point for three walls coming from different directions), the Nine-Eye Tower (a watchtower with three layers, and nine holes which look like nine eyes on each side), the Zhengbei Tower (a good place to watch the sunrise and the sunset), the Cloud Stairs (a section of the Jiankou Great Wall which rises like a staircase into the white clouds), and many other watch towers.
Jiankou Great Wall located in the Huairou District
Huairou District
Huairou District is situated at northern Beijing. Huairou District, covering an area of 2,557.3 square kilometers, is divided into 2 subdistricts of the city of Huairou, 12 towns and 2 ethnic rural townships with a population of 296,002...
73 km north of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. The Jiankou section of the Great Wall of China is located between the Mutianyu
Mutianyu
Mutianyu is a section of the Great Wall of China located in Huairou County 70km northeast of Beijing. The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is connected with Jiankou in the west and Lianhuachi in the east...
--ten kilometers to the east--and the Moshikou sections of the Great Wall of China. The Jiankou section of the wall was constructed in 1368 during the period of the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
. It is made of large white rocks which can be seen from a great distance.
This section of the Great Wall of China has fallen into disrepair and this, along with its location along a mountain ridge bordered by jagged cliffs and steep drop-offs, makes the Jiankou segment of the Great Wall of China potentially dangerous to climb. The section is more easily reached from villages like Xizhazi (西栅子) and Jiushuikeng (旧水坑) at the north side of the wall, locally known as Hou Jiankou (后箭扣), than from the south, called Qian Jiankou (前箭扣). The climb from the north goes up just over 100 meters in about a one kilometer hike, where as from the south the climb is about 450 meters up over a horizontal distance of also one kilometer.
There are many scenic sites along the Jiankou Great Wall of China, one of which is the watch tower known as "The Eagle Flies Facing Upward" (鹰飞倒仰 / 鷹飛倒仰). This tower appears extremely high as it was built on a mountain which forms the highest section of the Jiankou Great Wall. The eagles can only do so facing upwards before reaching the top of the tower when they pass through here.
The "Sky Stairs" is another famous scenic spot with a precipitous stair whose angle of elevation is 70 to 80 degrees. The stairs are so narrow that it is barely possible to obtain a foothold.
Other scenic areas include the Beijing Knot (the meeting point for three walls coming from different directions), the Nine-Eye Tower (a watchtower with three layers, and nine holes which look like nine eyes on each side), the Zhengbei Tower (a good place to watch the sunrise and the sunset), the Cloud Stairs (a section of the Jiankou Great Wall which rises like a staircase into the white clouds), and many other watch towers.