Mutianyu Great Wall

Bird's view of Mutianyu Great Wall

Mutianyu Great Wall, 73 kilometers away from Beijing in Huairou District, connects with Juyongguan Great Wall on the west and Gubeikou Great Wall on the east. The open area to tourists is about 2250 meters long. Mutianyu Great Wall is equipped with a world-class cable car, the first cable car built along the Great Wall. China Dream Stones City, Lu Ming Recreation Zoo and the Slide Way are the three newly established scenic areas, which encompass the great wall culture, stone culture and entertainment of Mutianyu Great Wall.

Two shuttle bus lines go to Mutianyu Great Wall starting from Dongzhimen Station. You take shuttle bus No. 916 from Dongzhimen Station and get off at Huairou International Conference Center Station. The ticket is about CNY11.00 Yuan per person. Then take a local cab to the foot of Mutianyu Great Wall at a cost of about CNY20-30.00 Yuan. Bus No. 916 run from 5:30-18:00 at an interval of 20 minutes every day. The other shuttle bus, No. 936, reaches the foot of the Wall directly. The ticket is CNY16.00 Yuan per person. Bus No. 936 run from 6:00-14:00 at an interval of one hour every day. One way takes about 2.5 hours for both Buses No. 916 and 936.

Mutianyu Cable Car

Sliding way

At the foot of Mutianyu Great Wall, there are two ticket offices near the parking lot not far from each other, one on the south and the other on the north. The entrance fee is CNY35.00 Yuan per person. There are about 20 watchtowers along the whole opened tourism area which is about 3,000 meters. This is the section with the most densely distributed watchtowers. The 20 watchtowers were named as No. 1 Building to No. 20 Building from east to west in order. Being different from other sections of the great wall, you would climb a distance of mountain path totally composed of steps to get onto the wall. You can take the cable car instead of climbing and the ticket is CNY35.00 Yuan per person for one way, CNY50.00 Yuan for round way. It takes you up to No. 14 Building directly. Apart from cable car, you can also get down the wall by a sideway for a ticket of CNY40.00 Yuan per person. The sideway is from No. 6 Building to the foot of the great wall directly. If you go up by cable car and get down by sideway, the joint ticket is CNY 55.00Yuan per person.

Tourist map at the foot of the wall

China Dream Stones City

If you choose to climb up step by step, there two ways available, south and north footpaths. At the half of the both ways, there will be two fork ways. The two fork ways of south path lead to No. 6 and No. 8 Buildings respectively, while the two of the north path lead to No. 8 and No. 10 Buildings respectively. If you want to visit the all 20 buildings of the wall, you could climb along the south footpath. By choosing this way, you will pass by the China Dream Stones City after you purchase your ticket. The City is just on the way to your climbing footpath. A free visit is included in your ticket. The city covers an area of a collection of more than 20 thousand weird stones weighing up to 4,500 tons. Climbing along the south footpath step by step, you will find two fork ways at the half way. Choose the right one which stretches to the No. 6 Building. There are signs beside the path telling you how many steps you have climbed. It takes about 30-40 minutes and you need to climb more than thousand of steps to reach the Great Wall. Here you can find the starting point of the slide way down the wall. Standing on Mutianyu Great Wall, you will find its difference from other great walls. There are battlements on the both sides of its wall, while other great walls are with on only one side of their walls. Distinctive from other great walls lying among the bold mountains, up to 90% of the areas around Mutianyu Great Wall are forested. Therefore, you can appreciate difference sceneries in difference seasons when you visit Mutianyu.

The climbing footpath

Mutianyu Pass

Mutianyu Great Wall is not high in altitude but the views are stereoscopic. Climb eastwards from No. 6 Building to No. 5 Building where the Mutianyu Pass is located. Mutianyu Pass is the lowest point of Mutianyu Great Wall with an altitude of only 486 meters. Mutianyu Pass is different from other Great Wall passes. It is composed of three connected terraces. On the top of each terrace, there is a tower respectively. What's more, the gate of the pass is not built on the middle terrace, but on the two side terraces. From Mutianyu Pass to No. 1 Building, it is less than 500 meters, with an increase of 117 meters in altitude. This section is considered to be the steep part of the great wall. There is a short section of dilapidated wall stretching from No. 2 Building. The path is very ruined and a sign beside the wall says that it is forbidden to climb there.

The Heaven ladder of Mutianyu

Mutianyu Great Wall

Reverse your direction along the same way you came heading to the highest point - No. 20 Building. From No. 5 to No. 19 Building, the wall has no big undulation. Mutianyu Great Wall is well preserved and the walls and walkway are in good condition. The whole way on the wall is on a level or with orderly steps. After you climb to No. 10 Building, you will be able to see the rest buildings one by one clearly. Mutianyu Great Wall has pleasant scenery on the both sides of wall, so you can just slow down, taking a breath of the clean air and enjoying the beautiful views leisurely. Please don't worry. You will have enough time to return for your bus. After you climb through the No. 19 Building, you will find the steps leading to No. 20 Building in front of you are very steep. The angle of the slope is up to 70 degrees. Once you stand at the No. 20 Building, you are at the top of Mutianyu Great Wall. The next watchtower in front of you is the well-known collapsed Jiankou Great Wall.

From No. 20 Building, you can return to No. 14 Building to take the cable car down the wall, or No. 10, 8, 6 Buildings to climb down along the footpath, or No. 6 Building to take the slide way. It depends on your physical condition and the time allowance. After getting down, you can take shuttle No. 916 or 936 back to Beijing.

Other resources that may interest you:

 Mutianyu Great Wall Map      Mutianyu Great Wall Photos     Mutianyu Travel Review 

 Recommended Tours including the visit to Mutianyu Great Wall:
Beijing One Day Tour: Tiananmen Square - Forbidden City - Mutianyu Great Wall
One Day Luxury Tour: Mutianyu Great Wall - Summer Palace (Temple of Heaven)
One Day Great Wall Tour: Juyongguan Great Wall - Badaling - Mutianyu Great Wall