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Jinshanling
Greatwall
 The
wall that straddles the ridges of theJinshanling
Mountains, about ten kiloinetreseast of
Gubeikou, is generally regarded asthe most
scenically impressive section of the10,000-Li
Great Wall.
Looking out from the top of
the wall oneis overwhelmed by the visual
panorama. Tothe south are layer upon layer
of mountainswith sparsely scattered villages
hidden intheir valleys. To the southwest
the MiyunReservoir is wreathed in patches
of mist andvapour. To the north lies a soft
greenblanket of undulating mountains, overwhich
the Great Wall slithers lazily, following
the terrain, interspersed with forts andtowers
standing out in bold relief.
Towards its eastern end the
wall climbssteeply up a mountainside. At
the top, 982metres above sea level, rests
a fort 14.4metres long, 8.2 metres wide
and ninemetres tall. From there, it is said,
one cansee the lights in Beijing at dawn
under aclear sky, and for this reason it
is also knownas the "Tower for Observing
Beijing". Byday the whole of the garrison
district ofGubeikou comes within one's field
of vision.Looking out from this tower, more
thanfrom any other vantage point, the viewerbegins
to comprehend fully the awesomelength of
the Great Wall.
The tower is a brick structure
built on afoundation of huge stone slabs
each weighing more than one ton. How these
stoneswere ever brought up the precipice
hasremained a mystery.
To the east of the tower is an unscalablemountain
too high to build a wall on. But anumber
of forts are built half-way up. To thewest
the tower is linked to a fort by a stretchof
stone wall more than 50 metres long. Thewall,
because it is built on a ridge with asharp
drop of more than 100 metres on eachside,
is less than half a metre wide, andwalking
along it is risky even for an experienced
mountaineer. The ridges further tothe west
are increasingly wider, and aresurmounted
by two-metre high parapets ontheir outer
side. Uncrenellated, the parapetsnevertheless
have many openings at different heights,
from which archers could shootwhile standing,
kneeling or lying down.
 There
are a great many forts on the wall,arranged
at intervals of 50 to 100 metresdepending
on the terrain. By the middle ofthe Ming
dynasty many new weapons, including flintlock
muskets and cannons, hadbeen developed,
so General Qi Jiguang hadhis builders erect
the forts within easy reachof each other.
This allowed the defenders tolay down a
crossfire and effectively block allthe approaches
an enemy would be likely touse.
The forts vary considerably in shape andstructure.
Some of them are square, someoblong and
some right-angled. Some of theirroofs are
flat, some are arched, and one hasupturned
eaves at its corners. The numberof archery
openings differs, ranging fromtwo to five.
Some of the forts have a centralwell for
hoisting water. Some forts havebrick shelters
built on their roofs, for thesentries to
use in bad weather.
Forts used as headquarters by front-linecommanders
are usually larger in size andnestled somewhere
deep in a ravine. Theyinvariably have annexes
like storehouses,troops' living quarters,
enclosure walls andouter ramparts.
Most of the forts along the
wall havethrough corridors connecting the
two sections of the wall walkway. But although
thisallows for the rapid deployment of walldefenders,
it also serves the enemy oncethey have climbed
up. So every now andthen one of the forts
has no' through passage. In order to get
from one section of thewall to the other,
one has to descend astairway to the ground
floor and return tothe roof by another stairway.
Again, to helpfrustrate an attacking force
that has mountedthe wall, some of the forts
have one entrancelevel with the pavement,
and the other oneand-a-half to two metres
higher. Some of theforts have no stairways
between floors.Removable rope ladders were
employed, sothat defenders could continue
their resistance from the upper floor until
reinforcements arrived.
 Because
of the dense distribution of fortsalong
the Jinshanling Great Wall, alarmmessages
could be relayed by drums, gongs,bugles,
signal flags or the second floorapparatus
for smoke or fire signals.
There are many ravines and gullies northof
the Jinshanling wall that could be exploited
by an enemy mounting sneak raidsor a surprise
attack. Hence many of the fortshave passages
allowing defenders easy access to the outside,
enabling patrols to bedeployed and counter-raids
organized.
Viewed as a whole, the Jinshanling GreatWall
is a perfect example of the defensivestrategy
of the Ming dynasty, which calledfor the
erection of fortifications in depth,entrenchment
high and low, and solid defence of every
inch of land. Moreover, it ischaracterized
by a rational layout, meticulous and adroit
calculation in design, andclever architectural
variations. The visitor isas deeply impressed
by the talent and resourcefulness of the
builders as he is overwhelmed by the magnitude
of the project.
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