The village of Cuandixia, located about 60 miles from Beijing, is well-known for its accidental architectural preservation and dusty mountain scenery. It's becoming a little too touristy over the past few years, but is still a nice getaway from the city.
Great destination, although too many learner-licence first-weekend-out crowd cars seem to pack the narrow village road. North of the village 5-10km is the trailhead to Huangcaoliang. Great place to stay if you’re looking for nature, alpine meadows, and less travelled sections of the Great Wall. The Mentougou party head has not yet developed this section into a tourist site, so visit while you can.