BJ01-04: Great Wall Adventure

Our guide will pick you up at your hotel at 08:00 and escort you to the Badaling Great Wall which is the best-preserved Great Wall section and well demonstrates the essence of the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). On the way, we will also make a stop at Juyongguan Great Wall for photo taking. It is one of the three impregnable passes of the Great Wall of China, together with Shanhaiguan in Hebei Province and Jiayuguan in Gansu. There you can have a distant view of winding ramparts stretching to the mountaintop from the pass city at the bottom of the valley.

Since restaurants near the Badaling Great Wall cannot meet our service standard, we do not provide arranged lunch today. You are suggested to have a hearty breakfast at your hotel or prepare some snacks for lunch. After that, we will continue the Beijing Great Wall day tour to another famous Great Wall section, Mutianyu, whose most attractive feature is the dense watchtowers. We will take the cable car to go up and down, and the round-trip fare is included in our price. Then we will transfer you back to the hotel to conclude this Great Wall of China day trip. 

Meals: No meals, advice freely available

Most remaining watchtowers and ramparts of Badaling Great Wall were reinforced during the Ming Dynasty. As an important outpost along the northern border of the capital city, walls there were built of bar-stones with an average height of 7.8 meters (26 feet) and a width of 5.8-6.5 meters (19-21.3 feet). Once entering the gate of the scenic area, you will see the Badaling Pass in front of you, which was founded in 1505. The pass separates the Great Wall into northern and southern parts with 12 watchtowers along the northern section and 7 towers distributed along the southern side. Among them, the eighth tower of the northern side, which is 1,500 meters (1,600 yards) away from the pass city, occupies the highest position of this area and can provide you a panoramic view of Badaling. Note that stairs between No. 3 South Tower and No. 4 South Tower are the steepest with a slope of nearly 70 degrees. Early in the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577), emperors had commanded the construction work of the Great Wall at Mutianyu. Later in 1368, this Great Wall section was rebuilt under the supervision of General Xu Da and finally became what it is today in 1569, connecting Beishicheng Great Wall on the east and Jiankou Great Wall on the west. Along the opening wall there are 23 watchtowers every around 100 meters (100 yards) and three of them were built side by side at the Zhengguan Terrace. Besides, the Big Corner Tower located at the eastern end of Mutianyu stands at the highest peak and is the best viewing point of the whole scenic area.