Sunset and Dawn at Jinshanling Great Wall in Summer

Jinshanling is probably the best section of the Great Wall around Beijing for families with kids. The scenic area is built like a large park, with gentle and easy-to-walk mountain trails. Apart from the abundance of bees and flying insects, the overall scenic area is clean, tidy, and well-managed. We chose the Jinshanling Great Wall Hotel at the entrance of the scenic area, which is just a three-minute walk to the park, making it very convenient! The hotel’s hygiene is acceptable, the breakfast is quite simple, but the à la carte dishes for lunch and dinner are delicious! The Great Wall scenic area stops entry at 5 PM, so we entered the park at 4 PM. Right at the entrance, there is a cable car that takes you directly to Xiaojinshan Tower. Following the local guide, we climbed the western towers to watch the sunset, which illuminated each tower. We climbed westward all the way to Liuyan Tower, counting a total of 16 towers. Worried that descending the mountain with kids after sunset might be inconvenient, we descended to the foot of the mountain a little after 5 PM. Actually, the descent was quite easy, so next time we can stay to watch the sunset with the kids. In summary, the western section of the Great Wall has very dense towers, with gentle slopes, making it easy for a seven-year-old to climb without any pressure. We saw many elderly hiking enthusiasts along the way, so this section is suitable for all ages. The next morning, we entered the park at 5 AM. Since the cable car was not yet operational, we walked up to Houchuankou and headed east to watch the sunrise. The eastern section of the Great Wall is steeper and restored to its original state, requiring some physical effort and the use of both hands and feet in some places! Due to the rapidly rising temperature and the oppressive heat, we only climbed four towers to the Guanjiao Tower before flying a drone and returning. We plan to come back in the fall for a more serious climb!