Albeit a heavily restored section of the Great Wall, Jiǎo Shān does nevertheless offer an excellent opportunity to hike up the Wall’s first high peak; a telling vantage point over the narrow tongue of land below and one-time invasion route for northern armies. The views are fabulous on a clear day.
It’s a steep 20-minute clamber from the base, or a cable car (索道; suǒdào ) can yank you up. To leave behind the crowds, continue beyond the cable car station, to Qīxián Monastery (栖贤寺; Qīxián Sì) or even further to Sweet Nectar Pavilion (甘露亭; Gānlù Tíng).
Bus 5 (¥2) goes here from the train station, but it's an easy, 3km-walk (or cycle) north of town. Just follow the road straight on from Shānhǎiguān's North Gate.
More fun than just following the road, though, is to approach Jiǎo Shān on an original, overgrown stretch of earthen Great Wall, which still creeps its way through farmland from Shānhǎiguān to Jiǎo Shān. Most of its Ming brickwork has long since been pillaged, but there's still a scattering of bricks, including a couple of collapsed watchtowers. To take this route, walk straight on from North Gate and then, after the bridge that goes underneath the highway, take the first right and follow the road for a couple of hundred metres. Turn left up the pathway beside the iron bridge and clamber up the wall beside you wherever you feel you're able to – there's at least one overgrown path that leads up to the top. You can walk on this earthen wall all the way Jiǎo Shān, where you'll have to clamber down to the ticket office to enter the restored section.
