The Simatai Great Wall

The Simatai Great Wall is located in the northern country of Beijing City, and is about 120 kilometers apart from the urban distant. Here the mountain ridge is like a knife edge, the peculiar and danger can be anted as the first. This place was out of my schedule. Visiting here was a serendipity in my 2 days Beijing Xian tour. In the plain area sector, the city wall is not only thick, but also high, the female wall was built in the outside of the city wall’s surface, there are shoot holes and battlements in the outside wall. In the high topography one, there are only outside walls, not have the battlements and female walls.The shoot holes in the outside walls arranged so dense that it is divided into three rows, which could let the solider shoot in the gesture of standing, kneeing and crouching.

There are only built the 40 centimeter width one wall, for it is difficult to attack and also very different to construct the city wall. Between the two towers on the back of the hill, which like a knife edge, one side great wall, the shape just like a Chinese charter “gong” (弓) a single person hided himself behind wall, on which there were lots of arrows like a castle. The local people called here “Yannantong “which meant that is was difficult for the swallow to pass through.

Talk about this, people can’t help asking, since the location is so strategically situated, why did they built the Great Wall? One place, called Mountain Kulong at the foot of the hill. There is a cave, directing to the inside pass. Although entrance to a cave has only dustpan’s size, may take a person abreast too. It needs to be very prudent to defenses. Building turret and the Great Wall here, can occupy a commanding position, controls the overall situation.

There was originally a hot spring in the Simatai reservoir, with boiling water. The reservoir drowned the hot spring, bit spring source papered again in a place not far from the bank of western slope. People built a pool here to bathe. In contrast, there was a cold spring in eastern slop, with piercing water. Owing to the coexistence of the hot spring and cold spring, which make the water half hot and half cold. Till the severe winter, the inner of the reservoires still moves in the ripple and foggy. The colder it is, the heavier the mist is. When we visited The Great Wall then circled in cloud and fog, which is another splendid scene.

Staying in Beijing is impressive and fantastic and hope our Xian tour is full of fun as well.