Weekend Getaway from Beijing - Gubei Shui Zhen (Gubei Water Town)

A road trip with friends, we took off to Gubeikou Town in Miyun County on a Saturday morning.
A 3 hour drive, we arrived there in time for lunch. The Gubei Water town is surrounded by mountains and water.

The two main attractions here are the Water Town and the Simatai Great wall. The water town has an elegance of a Chinese ancient village,
There are rows of houses, old streets and Hutongs. After sunset, the whole town is lit up. You can also see the Simatai Great wall lit up in the background.

We stayed at a folk inn which was a 15 minute drive away from the Gubei Water town. The rooms were small but clean and the bathrooms had to be shared. Since we went with friends , we occupied an entire inn for ourselves. We cooked our own lunch and did Barbeque for dinner.
There are places to stay inside the Gubei Water town as well, including 5 star hotels and small boutique hotels.

On Sunday morning we drove up to the Jinshaling Great wall for hiking.  This part of the Great Wall has retained it's original look since construction hundreds of years ago.
It is not crowded, and has a great view. We took the cable car back down and after taking a break to eat some snacks and fruits returned to Beijing.

Tips:
Gubei Water town is a nice weekend trip from Beijing.
They also offer trips to the Great wall at night , as well as a trip to view the Great wall at sunrise.
Easiest way to get there is to drive.
In Winter , when the water is frozen, they have ice biking as well as Ice sculpture festivals.