Mutianyu Great Wall

III. Landscape features

1. Zhengguantai

The tower Zhengguantai, located at Mutianyu, is very rare because it is a combination of three watchtowers in one. There are several sections in its northwestern part, known as the "cow horns edge", "arrow" and "Eagles flying face up", which are steep, towering, and undulating, and resemble a soaring dragon.

Also known as Mutianyuguan, or Three Buildings, this series of three watchtowers was built in the Ming Yongle 2nd year (AD 1404). They are lined up together, in two layers. The middle one is relatively big and the others are smaller. The floors of the three watchtowers are connected, forming a main hall in the centre with rooms to the side, a very rare Great Wall construction.

2. Dilou Towers

There are many Dilou towers, or defensive watchtowers, in the Mutianyu Great Wall. There are four between the 1st Muzi Terrace (Dajiao Tower) and the fourth Muzi Terrace (Zhengguan Tower) less than 500 meters apart; from the 1st Muzi Terrace to the 20th Muzi Terrace, there’re 25 buildings including watchtowers, battlements and wall units, and bedrooms within 3000 meters. It’s unusual to see a Dilou tower every one hundred meters in the Great Wall.

3. Double Crenels

The Mutianyu Great Wall has crenels or indentations on both sides of the Wall. The rest of the Great Wall has crenels on the outer wall, but the Mutianyu stretch has crenels on both sides so that soldiers could fight against the enemy in two directions. This means the Mutianyu Great Wall has strategic importance in the history of battle.

4. Branch City

There are both outside stretches and inner stretches at the Mutianyu Great Wall. A so-called Branch City refers to a branch stretch built and connected to the main stretch of the Wall. The outside stretch connects to the 11th Muzi Terrace Wall; and the inner stretch, called the “Bald Tail Side”, extends to the south from the Big Horn Tower.

5. "Ox Horn Edge”

This part of the Mutianyu Great Wall winds its way from north to west. At the No. 20 Watchtower, it climbs straight up the hillside to the north high cliff top, 1039 meters above the flat south, and meets a tower at the top of the mountain. It then turns along the cliff edge straight down through the valleys along the opposite ridge. Finally it winds its way down westward. With its twists and turns, it resembles a horn, vigorous and strong, and is known as the “Ox Horn Edge".

6. “Flying Eagles face up”

One side of this part of the Great Wall is cliff, and the other is a steep rise of 70 degrees. The Wall climbs to the peak from one side of a cliff and drops about 10 meters to the other side almost straight down. Each step is only a few fingers wide, and one can hardly fit in a foot. That's why it is described as “Flying Eagles face up”, meaning it's very lofty and cragged.