Great Wall at Huangyaguan Pass

The Great Wall at Huangyaguan — Yellow Cliff Pass — is one of the most dramatically sited sections anywhere on the wall's 21,000-kilometre length. The fortifications cling to near-vertical ridges in the Yanshan Mountains, with watchtowers perched on peaks that look barely wide enough to stand on. The scale of the engineering effort required to build here, in the 6th and 16th centuries, is immediately apparent.

What makes Huangyaguan worth the three-hour drive from Beijing is the combination of dramatic scenery and relative quiet. On a weekday you can walk for an hour or more without meeting other tourists. The wall surface is partially restored and partially original, with sections of crumbling brick alternating with reconstructed walkways — a more honest mix than the heavily commercialised wall at Badaling. Bring good shoes; some sections are steep enough that chains and handholds have been added to assist the climb.

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Yellow Cliff Pass has been a military chokepoint for over 1,400 years. The Northern Qi dynasty first fortified it in 550 AD; the Ming dynasty massively rebuilt it in the 16th century under General Qi Jiguang, the same commander who redesigned and standardised much of the Great Wall across northern China. The pass guarded the main route from Beijing northeast into Manchuria.