Simatai Great Wall of China, Simatai Tour Guide, Beijing

Simatai Great Wall

The Simatai Great Wall is situated in Miyun County, 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) northwest of downtown Beijing. It is largely in its original state, as it has not undergone much renovation like other sections near Beijing. This particular section, built in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) long, with the Jinshanling Great Wall to the west.

The wall is characterized by its steepness, the closeness of its watchtowers and variety in its structure. The wall follows the topmost ridge of the mountain, or the precipices and cliffs, sections of the Heavenly Stairway and the Heavenly Bridge being unimaginably breath-taking. The narrow Heavenly Stairway has no parapet and reaches an angle of 85 degrees, while the Heavenly Bridge is only 30 centimeters (12 inches) wide at the top. As safety comes first, visitors are not permitted to climb on them.

A ruined watchtower, Simatai Great Wall in Beijing

The watchtowers are particularly closely distributed on this section of the wall. By the normal standard of building the wall, watchtowers would be built every 500 meters (547 yards). In this 4.5-kilometer wall, there are thirty-five watchtowers, with the minimum distance between towers being only 43.8 meters (48 yards). These watchtowers are symbolic and to be marveled at. The well-preserved General Tower is adorned with relief sculptures with designs of Kylin, a legendary auspicious animal in China. Seen from a distance, the fourteenth tower in the east looks like an elegant cat squatting on the top of a hill. The exquisite and complex Fairy Tower hidden among the trees gives an impression of some concealed beauty. The sixteenth tower, at an altitude of 986 meters (3,235 feet) is also known as the Watch Beijing Tower. It is the highest tower in the Simatai section, and commands a spectacular view.

Single wall at Simatai Great Wall, Beijing

The wall itself has seven modes of construction. Four of these are single wall, double wall, obstacle wall, and parapet. In contrast to the enhanced double wall, a single wall was built in one thickness on the terrifying bluffs and is too narrow to walk on. The obstacle wall and the parapet were built on the coping of the whole wall. The obstacle wall served to prevent the enemy from shooting at the wall-guards and the parapet served as a handrail. Watchtowers vary in shape and size. If you look carefully, you may find even the roof of towers are different, flat, polygonal, or dome-shaped.

In addition, the Simatai Great Wall enjoys the bounty of nature with an unusual lake at its foot. This lake is a combination of a hot spring and a cold spring, and consequently the water of the lake is semi-hot and semi-cold. It is a great pleasure to enjoy boating on the lake.

It is really a tough hike to climb the wall, but it is enormously rewarding. And now cable cars are in use to provide an alternative to the hike, CNY30 for a single trip and CNY50 for a round trip.

Admission Fee:	CNY40
Bus Route:	980 or 970 at Dongzhimen (东直门外) to Miyun Bus Station (密云汽车站), and then change a small bus to the Simatai Great Wall (司马台长城).
Bus Route:	Take a tourist bus from Tiananmen (天安门) or Xuanwumen (宣武门) to the Simatai Great Wall.

Comments and Questions

Is there a bus from Miyun to Simatai?? I took the 980 to Miyun and there was no bus to Simatai -- just cabs.

Reply11/23/2009 8:21:00 PMGarrett , United States

Peter ( Australia ) :11/24/2009 7:31:00 PM

We had a private car taking us all the way from Beijing to Simatai. I cannot remember seeing public buses at the Simatai carpark. Miyun is not too far from Simatai - that's where we had lunch.

i would like to go to simatai great wall (?????) on sunday. can you tell me when the first 980 bus to ?? leaves? Is there a bus schedule online somewhere - chinese schedule is ok.

Reply11/20/2009 8:41:00 PMGarrett , United States

Hao Pengyou ( China ) :11/20/2009 9:43:00 PM

The No.980 bus leaving from Miyun Station starts at 4:00 and ends at 18:30; the one leaving from Dongzhimen Station starts at 5:00 and ends at 20:00.

Garrett ( United States ) :11/22/2009 2:32:00 AM

So there is no bus from Miyun to simatai? you have to take a taxi after you get off the 980 bus at Miyun?

We went up to Simatai yesterday by the newly opened high speed expressway and it took only 90 minutes to get there from Beijing. There is a cable car taking you to level 1, then a mini-train taking you to level 2. You only walk the rest to the top tower and it took us 1.5 hours to walk to the top. The whole trip started at 7:30am and ended by 12 noon. Highly recommended.

Reply10/27/2009 10:19:00 PMPeter Yau , Australia

Garrett ( United States ) :11/22/2009 2:34:00 AM

Peter, were you able to take the bus directly to simatai or did you have to take a taxi after taking the 980?

Will it be problematic to take public transport to Simatai as the bus tours here only goes until October?

What's the route from Beijing to Simatai?

Thank you.

Reply11/6/2009 1:18:00 AMNoelle , Australia

Beijingren ( China ) :11/6/2009 9:14:00 PM

It is easy to go there from Dongzhimen station where you can take the bus no. 980 to simatai.

I saw somewhere on the web that the buses to Simatai run by the official Beijing Hub of Tour Dispatch is only available till mid October. However, I will only be there on 8 Nov. Can someone confirm if this is true? How much is a reasonable price to pay for taxi from Forbidden City to Simatai and how long does it take? Do we just hire any taxi on the road or is there only certain taxi that goes to Simatai? Thanks in advance.

Reply11/4/2009 11:39:00 PMElene Tan , Singapore

Beijingren ( China ) :11/5/2009 8:37:00 PM

Here i suggest that you take the Bus No. 980 from Dongzhimen station to get to Simatai directly.

Good evening,

as the walk between Jinshanling and Simatai requires at least half past 3 hours, are there hotels in Simatai to spend the night?
Are there trips organized to Simatai during week-end 4,5 and 6 of April?

Thank you for your answer

Philippe THADAUME
150.222.705.90

Reply3/22/2009 9:14:00 AMTHADAUME , China

BeijingTrip.com :3/22/2009 10:53:00 PM

We are sorry that there is no trip to Simatai during the those days. As we know, there is a International Youth Hostel in Simatai and the telephone number is 010-69035311. Better to make a reservation first.

Thanks for supporting beijingtrip.com!