Simatai Great Wall Tourist Area

This guide to the Simatai Great Wall Tourist Area outside Beijing starts with a soldier's brick stamp underfoot, part of General Qi Jiguang's sixteenth-century accountability system for the crews who rebuilt this stretch of wall near the Gubeikou pass. It follows why this section has never once been rebuilt since, unlike the patched-up wall in most photographs, and traces the climb up the steep Heavenly Ladder toward the narrow Sky Bridge ahead. Look for the twin lotus carvings on the tower at the top.