Qualla: Simatai

Simatai: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Namiac, CC BY-SA 3.0. "The Great Wall is the best of the Chinese buildings, and Simatai is the best of the Great Wall." Professor Luo Zhewen, one of China's foremost Great Wall scholars, did not make that claim lightly. At Simatai, 120 kilometers northeast of central Beijing, the wall stops being a horizontal structure and starts climbing nearly vertically up the Yan Mountains, passing through terrain so extreme that some sections are barely 40 centimeters wide. This is the Great Wall at its most dramatic, most dangerous, and most unforgettable.

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Image: Namiac | CC BY-SA 3.0

Simatai: Two Dynasties on One Ridge

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Codas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Simatai's original fortifications date to the Northern Qi dynasty, built between 550 and 577 AD as part of the defensive network protecting the northern frontier. But the wall that clings to these ridges today is primarily a Ming dynasty reconstruction, rebuilt during the reign o...

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Image: Codas | CC BY-SA 4.0

Simatai: The Heavenly Ladder and the Sky Bridge

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0. Simatai's most famous features have names that would suit a fantasy novel. The Heavenly Ladder climbs the mountainside at an 80-degree gradient, a section so steep that it feels more like rock climbing than hiking. At its narrowest point, the wall is only half a meter wide. The L...

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Image: Jakub Hałun | CC BY-SA 4.0

Simatai: Towers That Remember

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit F3rn4nd0, CC BY 3.0. Each of Simatai's 35 beacon towers carries a name and a story. Tower 14, the Cat's Eye Tower, gets its nickname from the distinctive window openings in its walls. Tower 16, the Watching-the-Capital Tower, stands at 986 meters elevation -- the highest cultural relic in Beijing. It...

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Image: F3rn4nd0 | CC BY 3.0

Simatai: Closed, Reopened, and Still Wild

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0. Simatai was closed to visitors in June 2010, partly for restoration and partly because the most extreme sections posed genuine safety risks. It reopened in 2014, though access to the steepest eastern portions remains restricted. Tower 12 is typically the last accessible point, ge...

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Image: Jakub Hałun | CC BY-SA 4.0