A Pinggu District ramble that follows wooded trails, passes abandoned or lightly-inhabited villages, and crosses short rundown stretches of Great Wall.
The mountains in the north of Pinggu District are big enough to hold villages up in hidden valleys. Many of these villages are partially abandoned due to lack of water, or because the valleys have been leased by businessmen hoping to turn the area into a park.
Our walk begins from the entrance of one of these parks. We'll stop to buy tickets for you, and then head on in, passing the big hotel they've built. Maybe this time there will be some people staying at the hotel! On previous visits we've only seen hotel staff hanging about.
During the war, the Japanese army forced residents in one of the mountain villages to destroy a nearby section of the Great Wall and carry the bricks down to the village as a demonstration of loyalty to Japanese forces. That's where the name of the hike comes from.
We'll climb up on to the wall and stop for a lunch break. If you've got a bit of extra energy we'll take you up to the remains of a big round tower. It’s just a pile of stones now, but perhaps part of the wall that the villagers were forced to pull down.
We follow the general path of the wall until we reach the valley that marks our turn off, following an old field path through fallow, terraced fields, passing abandoned stone houses on the way to a concrete road that marks the upper bounds of another of the parks in the hills.
We’ll arrive at a spooky, crumbling building that was once a hotel. Take a look inside … if you dare!
On the way to the end we'll pass a village with an interesting back story. The village is named Paomachang, which roughly translates as ‘horse running field’, as in a racecourse.
Cost: ¥420 / ¥380 for members
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