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8 kilometers
at the southeast of Bakeshiying of Luanping County in
Hebei Province is Jinshanling Great Wall. Starting out
in the east at Wangjinglou, the Wall stretches westwards
for 10.5 Kilometers to Longyukou. The wall was built during
the Ming Dynasty,the period of Emperor Hongwu (1368---1398),and
was repaired for more than once during the reign of Emperor
Hongzhi and Zhengde. But the most extensive reinforcements
and renovations were carried out in the reign of Emperor
Longqing and Wanli, by General Qijiguang¨s army when he
governing Jizhou. Jinshanling Great Wall winds its way
along the ridges of the mountain, forming a magnificant
and complicated constructure. Compared with other Walls
,it is a section that is relatively well protected. In
1988,the PRC and the State Council listed it as a major
cultural relics under state protection.
It is a section of the Great Wall under the control
of Gubeikou, and there are 5 mountain passes and 67 different
enemy broadcasting stations. It is based on huge rectangular
slab of stone and built with bricks, and each bricks weighs
12 kilograms . In the smooth terrain, the wall is 5 ---8
meters high ,the base is 6 meters wide and the top is
about 5 meters; In the sheer terrain, the cliffs cut the
outside of the wall. On the top of the Jinshanling Great
Wall, it has crenel walls on the outer side and parapet
walls on the inner side. Each crenel wall is about 2 meters
high with crenels in higher part , shooting stone holes
in lower parts and battery platforms on the wall. Parapet
walls were built with watching holes and shooting holes.
No enemy tower was built on the highest point on the Wall,
and on the way to enemy tower are rows of barrier walls
about 2.5 meters high, Each barrier wall has 3 or 4 watching
holes. This kind of constructure is unique within the
control of Gubeikou. It was used to defend enemy towers
from invading. At the approach of enemy troops, the soldiers
could fight against them by occupying the barrier walls.
Some towers were built without walls because of the sheer
precipice in some parts . in some parts where the ridge
of the mountain is narrow, the wall is only 4 meters wide
and only a single outer wall was built with shooting holes.
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