TOUR A6: Shixiaguan Great Wall Hike
and Walk on Sacred Way

Between 7-8am you will be picked up at your hotel (or a nearby area) by your English-speaking guide and driver, and from there we will drive to the Shixiaguan Great Wall. It is about 70km away, and will take us approx. 1.5 hours of driving.

Shixiaguan (Stone Gorge) Pass, 5km southwest of the Badaling section of the Great Wall, is one of the most intact parts of the whole Great Wall. In spite of serious damage, the winding wall set in the lofty mountains reveals its grandeur. However, a castle in Shixiaguan was pulled down during the Great Leap Forward. Nevertheless, the wall remains relatively intact because of its strategic location. Shixiaguan Pass was originally built in the reign of Ming Emperor Wanli (about 1600 AD), which was then a key pass guarded by a large number of soldiers. There are sites such as official residences, the ancient castle, clay walls and brick walls in the village. Most of the villagers know stories about the site as well as the Great Wall.

One of the tales is about the peasant's uprising during the Ming Dynasty. After the founding of Dashun State in Xi'an in 1644 during the reign of Ming Emperor Chongzhen, Li Zicheng was the leader of the peasants from northern Shaanxi Province, who wanted to overthrow the emperors and the Ming Dynasty. Li led his army east to Badaling Pass. While the rebels were trying to think of a way to occupy Badaling Pass, an old man advised them to pretend to lead the army to Shixiaguan Pass. The general of the official army in Badaling was cheated into going to Shixiaguan Pass, which gave Li the opportunity to enter Beijing through Badaling successfully. Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide, ending the Ming Dynasty. Li proclaimed himself Emperor of the Shun Dynasty which was short-lived, as about a month later, his army was defeated by the Manchus, who established the Qing Dynasty.

After another 2-3 hours of hiking, we’ll walk down the Great Wall to have some lunch and recharge our batteries at a local restaurant. In addition to being a restaurant, the establishment is also a jade factory. Following lunch, you can browse around the jade factory’s offerings, while also learning how this precious jewelry is made and formed. After lunch and the jade factory we’ll drive to the Ming Tombs. This is where 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) are buried. This site was carefully chosen for its feng shui principles by the third Ming emperor Yongle (who also moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and began construction on the Forbidden City). The tomb we will visit, Dingling, is the tomb of the Wanli Emperor. It is the only one of the Ming Dynasty Tombs to have been excavated. It also remains the only imperial tomb to have been excavated since the founding of the People's Republic of China. After viewing the tombs, we will head to the “Shenlu”, or the Spirit Way. The Spirit Way leads into the complex, lined with statues of guardian animals and officials, with a front gate consisting of  three-arches, painted red, and called the "Great Red Gate". The Spirit Way, or Sacred Way, starts with a huge stone memorial archway lying at the front of the area. Constructed in 1540, during the Ming Dynasty, this archway is one of the biggest stone archways in China today.

We’ll then start driving back to Beijing. On the way back we’ll stop at the Olympic Park. The Olympic park served as the center of Beijing’s 2008 Olympic games. We will first stop by the Bird’s Nest, which hosted the opening ceremony along with track and field. Due to its unique design it is now one of the most iconic and unique stadiums in the world. Next it is off to the Water Cube, which is situated directly across from the Bird’s Nest. The Water Cube was the location for the swimming and diving portion of the games (where Michael Phelps had his record-breaking performance), and is now currently a water park, which is reportedly the biggest in Asia.  Lastly, we’ll head on over to a nearby silk factory to see the technical process of how silk is made, from silk swarm raising, cocoon sorting, cocoon boiling and cocoon reeling, rewinding and packing. The high-grade silk produced in this factory is the best raw material for the product of high-quality silk fabrics.

Following our visit to the silk factory you will be driven back to your hotel (or a nearby area) at about 6pm, thus ending your tour.