Dongjiakou Great Wall

Dongjiakou Great Wall

The Dongjiakou Great Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Dongjiakou Great Wall stands atop the towering mountains in the northeast of Zhucaying Town, Funing County, Hebei Province, 38 kilometers from downtown Qinhuangdao. It is one of the important fortresses of the Jizhou-section Great Wall, built upon the memorial proposal of Qi Jiguang, a renowned military general of the Ming Dynasty, and serves as the northern wing fortress protecting Shanhaiguan—the “First Pass Under Heaven.” The Dongjiakou Great Wall was rebuilt on the original foundation of the Northern Qi Dynasty Great Wall. Constructed in the 14th year of the Hongwu reign during the Ming Dynasty (1381 AD), it was initially a second-grade border wall. In the 5th year of the Longqing reign (1571 AD), Qi Jiguang renovated it into a first-grade border wall. On the steep and rugged mountain ridges, there are 36 watchtowers, 28 battle platforms, and 16 beacon towers, stretching a total length of 8.9 kilometers, with the highest point at an elevation of 556 meters, along with three fortresses. Originally, apart from the fortresses, the rest of the structure was fairly well-preserved. This section of the Great Wall was built along steep granite ridges, twisting and turning with majestic momentum. Its comprehensive and multi-layered military defense facilities, including a network of beacon towers, fully demonstrate the unique character of the Ming Dynasty’s Great Wall defense system.

After slumbering for over 600 years, the Dongjiakou Great Wall fortress welcomes visitors. The highway from downtown Qinhuangdao to the Dongjiakou Great Wall spans over 40 kilometers, with vehicles able to reach the foot of the wall directly. Mountain trails lead to various fortress sections of the wall, allowing visitors to ascend the highest watchtowers and beacon towers in just over an hour, taking in the majestic views of the Dongjiakou area's Great Wall and the breathtaking landscapes of the surrounding mountains and valleys.

According to research, the main reason the Dongjiakou Great Wall fortress has been relatively well-preserved is that after its construction, Qi Jiguang relocated 3,000 “fire-lancers” from Jinhua Prefecture in Zhejiang to guard it. To stabilize morale, those soldiers brought their families and settled here to protect the wall. Dongjiakou is a typical village inhabited by descendants of Ming Dynasty frontier guards. As the offspring of these guards, the villagers of Dongjiakou have long regarded the ancestral Great Wall as a treasured legacy. Today, the descendants—surnamed Chen, Li, Geng, Sun, Zhao, and Zhang—comprise 123 households and 439 people. Additionally, the area’s rugged terrain, dense thickets, presence of wildlife, and sparse population have also contributed to the well-preserved state of the Dongjiakou Great Wall.