For adventurers and hiking fans, Simatai section of the Great Wall is more attractive than the other two sections Badaling and Mutianyu. Simatai Great Wall is situated in the Gubeikou Town in the northeast of Miyun County, Beijing. This well-preserved and undeveloped site possesses the most charming scene of the Great Wall. With the breath-taking landscape surrounding the glorious Great Wall, Simatai is the best choice for adventurers and photographers.
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Originally built during the Northern Qi Dynasty and rebuilt in the Hong Wu years of the Ming Dynasty by Qi Jiguang, this section of the Great Wall is the only part of the wall that retains all the original features of the Ming Dynasty wall. The bricks used to build the walls here were stamped with the date on which they were made and the code numbers of the armies that made them. It not only incorporates a variety of styles of other parts of the 10, 000-li-long wall, but also displays some unique characteristics. People who had been there always use the following words to description it: perilous, dense, diverse, ingenuous, and peculiar.
Simatai Great Wall is densely dotted with watchtowers; the nearest two are only 44m apart. The walls are in single, double and trapeze forms and the watchtowers are sometimes round in shape and composed of 2 or 3 floors. Even the roofs of the towers are diverse: some are flat, some cymbi form and some domical shapes. There are two springs called the 'Mandarin Duck Springs' at the foot of Simatai Great Wall. The east one is cold, while the west is warm. The 2 springs join into one lake so half the lake is cold and the other half is warm. In winter, hot steam rises from the lake, forming a marvelous spectacle.
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People who walk along the Simatai Great Wall will appreciate the attractive scenery along the ancient brick wall. And the most interesting thing for people to find is the characters written on the aged wall. Contents on these bricks such as "Made by Qiangzi Camp", "Made by the left camp of Shandong in the 6th year of the Wanli reign" and "Made by the infantry camp of suppressing enemy troops in the 6th year of the Wanli reign" will tell the original appearances and historic records of Simatai Great Wall.
With its fantastic scenery and precipitous topography, the Simatai Great Wall is a remarkable place for sightseeing, hiking and exploration. It has been acknowledged by the UNESCO as one of the World Cultural Heritages.
