Huailai Zhenbian Ancient Town

Huailai Zhenbian Ancient Town

Zhenbian Town is located in the mountainous southern region of Huailai County, Hebei Province, at an elevation of 842 meters. It borders Changping District and Mentougou District of Beijing, situated 82 kilometers from Beijing's Deshengmen and 56 kilometers from the county seat. Constructed during the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty, it has a history of nearly 500 years and is an important stone-built town in the northwest of Beijing, as well as a provincial-level key cultural relics protection unit. During the Anti-Japanese War, it served as the location of the joint county government of “Chang (Ping), Wan (Ping), and Huai (Lai).” The village Party branch of Zhenbian Town was the “first rural Party branch in Huailai County.” The town features a street layout of “three main streets, six lanes, and seventy-two hutongs,” with well-preserved unique courtyard residences, as well as structures such as the Great Buddha Temple, the Temple of the God of Wealth, a theater stage, and the ruins of the joint county government. Outside the town, there are over ten temple ruins including the Goddess Temple and the God of Wealth Temple, as well as ancient pine and cypress trees that are nearly 500 years old. About five kilometers from the village, there are attractions such as the Great Wall sample border and remnants of the Great Wall, along with natural landscapes like Ladder Pot, Luoda Tian, Zhangluo Water, and Dressing Table.

Except for the relatively straight eastern wall, the other three walls of Zhenbian Town follow the irregular terrain of the western mountains. The original wall was 4 meters wide, 2.5 meters at the top, 4.5 meters high, with a perimeter of 1,732 meters, all built from hewn stone. The original north, middle, and south corner towers on the western wall were all equipped with iron cannons for defense. There were three city gates on the east, south, and north sides, with the south and north gates each having two barbicans. Outside the southern gate, there was an archway and ancient locust and pine trees over 500 years old. At the northern gate, there was originally a turtle-shaped pedestal stone tablet recording the founding of the town. The central axis of the town had a double-decked brick-and-wood drum tower connected to the three main streets leading to the gates. With the drum tower at the eastern gate as the axis, six larger lanes were distributed, each with dozens of smaller hutongs, forming the so-called “three main streets, six lanes, and seventy-two hutongs” network, which provided convenient transportation for residents. Within the town, asymmetrically placed temples, theaters, and a 120-meter-deep ancient well could be found; the inhabitants were descendants of early Ming migrants and frontier guards.

Zhenbian Town was an important defensive facility of the Inner Three Passes of the Ming Great Wall. In August 1368, troops led by Xu Da of Zhu Yuanzhang entered the Yuan capital, marking the fall of the Yuan Dynasty. The remaining Yuan forces, led by the Yuan Emperor, retreated to the Mongolian grasslands, where they recruited soldiers and launched predatory attacks and occupations on vast areas under Ming control—this continued for many years. To defend against invasions by the cavalry of the Wala tribe, the Ming court not only used appeasement tactics to win over Mongol nobles but also established nine garrisons, built military posts, and constructed the Great Wall. In particular, the Chang Garrison section of the Great Wall, due to its “extremely critical” position among the Inner Three Passes and its importance as a “link between Xuan and Liaoning, standing as a tripod with the Three Passes,” and as a “support for the capital,” received special attention. At that time, within less than 230 kilometers of the Great Wall, there were 28 castles, 250 hollow watchtowers, 169 border guard towers, 79 passes, 73 fort villages, 2 towns, 3 forts, 13,762 infantry and cavalry troops—Zhenbian Town being one of these crucial defensive strongholds.

According to records in reference works such as the “Great Dictionary of Chinese Place Names” and the “Jifu General Annals”: “Zhenbian Town is located 100 li west of Changping County in Hebei, bordering Wanping County. It was built in the fifteenth year of the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty, stretching across the mountains from east to west. A garrison battalion was stationed there, and later another town was added to its west, called Zhenbian New Town. In the early years of the Qing Shunzhi era, a military commander was stationed there, later replaced by a regional commander. The old town has now been abandoned.” The Zhenbian Town we see today is actually the Zhenbian New Town from the Qing period. At that time, the town was guarded by middle army commander Chen Yingkui, patrol commander Yang Wendong, and Pan Chengwu, among others. During the Republic of China period, the town was still under the jurisdiction of Changping County, Beijing, and after the liberation, it was assigned to Huailai. Zhenbian Town is situated deep within the Jundu Mountain Range. The village area contains many scenic spots, such as Brush Rack Mountain, Grinding Navel Mountain, and the northwest’s Guangtuo Mountain and Niujin Mountain, all with elevations above 1,450 meters and an average elevation of 1,200 meters. Even Dongwa Mountain, just 300 meters opposite the town, reaches nearly 1,000 meters in elevation. The Great Wall tourist road connecting Hebei and Beijing runs north-south past the east side of the town.

Transportation Guide

Scenic Area Address: Zhenbian Village, Ruiyunguan Township, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province

Transit Routes: Take a bus from Huailai County bound for Ruiyunguan, then transfer to a minibus to reach the site.