Jinshanling Great Wall is a border fortress with unique architectural aesthetics

On the way back to Chengde from Beijing, taking the Daguang Expressway, I was attracted by the majestic Great Wall in the mountains at the Beijing-Hebei border. A quick check on the map showed it was the Jinshanling Great Wall, so I decided to take a look. The Jinshanling Great Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty, initially supervised by Xu Da. Later, in the mid-Ming period, the famous anti-Japanese general Qi Jiguang, while guarding the northern frontier, constructed numerous enemy towers and battle platforms of various shapes. The forms of the towers vary with the mountains, each tower having its own unique style. The tower bases are square, round, or flat, and the tower tops are shaped like boat canopies, domes, four-cornered, or eight-cornered spires. Looking at the continuous rows and clusters, it highlights the aesthetics of war. Under Qi Jiguang's construction, the Jinshanling Great Wall became the most complex and densely towered section of the Great Wall, offering a very unique viewing experience. Jinshanling Great Wall is located north of Beijing, about a 2-hour drive from the city center via the G45 Daguang Expressway. It is open from 05:00 to 18:30 (ticket sales stop at 17:00, last entry at 17:30).