The Zhenbei Platform, seven kilometres north of Yulin city, is the largest surviving beacon platform tower on the Ming Great Wall — a four-storey rammed-earth and brick structure thirty metres tall, built in 1607 on a commanding hilltop above the Hongshan River. "Zhenbei" means "pacifying the north," a name chosen to signal the military purpose of the garrison it housed. The surrounding sections of the Great Wall still run east and west from the base of the hill, broken in places but recognizable as a continuous line across the desert landscape.
The platform itself can be climbed to the top, where the views north across the Mu Us Desert are extensive — flat, sandy land dotted with scrub, with the Inner Mongolia border not far beyond. The contrast between the massive scale of the fortification and the emptiness of the landscape it was meant to control is striking. To the south, the old town of Yulin is visible in the valley.
A small museum at the base covers the history of the garrison and the wall in this section, with displays on the practicalities of Ming border defence. The entrance is a short taxi ride from central Yulin.