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Simatai located in north of Miyun County, 120km northeast of
Beijing, is the steepest section of the Great Wall. With a total
length of 19km, Simatai Great Wall was built in the Hongwu Reign
of the Ming Dynasty originally and was strengthened by General
Qijiguang and General Tanlun. There are 91 combat towers along
the section among which 34 are in their integrity, 25 have collapsed
and 32 only leave the bare bases. This section is on the list
of the First Rank of the World¡¯s Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO.
In 1987, Simatai Great Wall received its first visitor after
carefully repaired.
Particular characteristic
This section of the Great Wall holds the access to Gubeikou,
an important pass in the eastern part of the Great Wall. Snaking
on the razor-sharp ridges, it¡¯s famous for craggedness and
exquisite. It contains single and double walls as well as the
wall in a trapezoidal shape. The watchtowers are round of oblate
in shape and composed of two of three floors with the roofs
varying as flat, domed and boat¡ªawning¡ªshaped.
The Ladder to the Heaven narrows down the mountain leaning against
the slope with a 90-degree gradient. The fifteenth tower was
named as Fairy Tower, which is exquisite in structure and famed
in fable. Wangjinglou (Watching Beijing) Tower next to the Fairy
Tower is sanding 986 meters above the sea and forms the summit
of the Simatai section of the Great Wall. Mounting the tower
at night one can see lights shimmering faintly in downtown Beijing.
It ¡®s also the reason why the tower was named as Watching Beijing
Tower.
The Single Wall, or the ¡° One-side Wall¡± of this section is
inimitable. The ridges are pretty narrow and the military position
is very important, ancient people built a wall as thick as two
bricks to connect the towers to strengthen the defense capabilities.
About one meter from the ground there are two rows of embrasure
openings on the single wall. The parapets are effective in repelling
if the enemy mounts the Great Wall.
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