When it comes to the Great Wall, people usually think of the Badaling and Juyongguan sections first. Meanwhile, in Pinggu District, long stretches remain closed to the public. And here's the good news: the Jiangjunguan section is expected to open to visitors as early as the end of 2026, becoming Pinggu's first section of the Great Wall to be accessible to the public.

A stock photo of the Jiangjunguan Great Wall

[Photo via the Publicity Department of the CPC Pinggu District Committee]

Pinggu District currently has 273 remaining sites of the Ming-Dynasty Great Wall, spanning 53.67 kilometers across six towns and townships, including Jinhaihu Town and Huangsongyu Township. Among them, Jiangjunguan is the first major pass on the east of the Beijing sections of the Ming-Dynasty Great Wall.

The Jiangjunguan Great Wall was built during the reign of the Emperor Yongle (1403–1424) of the Ming Dynasty and is located in northeastern Pinggu. Its most iconic landmarks include the 6-meter-high base of Zhengbei Tower and a 10-meter-tall majestic rock that resembles a general. It was listed among the fifth batch of China's National Key Cultural Heritage Sites in 2001. Research shows that this is the only stretch of Beijing-based Great Wall that is made solely of rocks, with no added bricks, retaining the rugged, rustic charm of an unrestored "wild Great Wall".

Although it marks the point where the Ming-Dynasty Great Wall first enters Beijing and boasts beautiful scenery along the way, the section has never been open to the public, making Pinggu the only district in Beijing that contains the Great Wall section not open to the public. In recent years, Pinggu has been steadily carrying out emergency preservation work and archaeological excavations on the Jiangjunguan section. As early as 2002, a renovation project was launched there, during which cultural relics such as stone mines and iron cannons were unearthed, and the hiking trails were repaired. According to the current plans, the Jiangjunguan Great Wall is expected to officially open to the public as early as the end of 2026.

A stock photo of the Jiangjunguan Great Wall

[Photo via the Publicity Department of the CPC Pinggu District Committee]

(Source: Beijing Fabu)