The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China was built to protect and defend China. It was continuously built from 3rd century BC to 17th century AD as a great military defense project. Under Qin Shi Huang, sections of earlier fortifications were joined together to form a united defense system against invasions from the north. It became the world's largest military structure and the longest wall with an official length of 21,196 kilometers or 13,170 miles.
The Great Wall of China is the country's premier landmark. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site and is one of the new seven wonders of the world.
The Great Wall of China is divided into several sections.
1. Mutianyu - great for first time visitors and families with small kids. It features fully restored walkways.
2. Badaling - this is the most visited section and the most popular, it is highly commenrcialized that it has a Great Wall Museum, cinema and accessible paved paths.
3. Jinshanling and Simatai - This section has both paved, rugged paths famous for hiking activities.
4. Jiankou - It is closed to visitors for safety reasons due to steep ruins, also for preservation.
Historians estimated that over 1 million people died during the building of the Great Wall of China over its 2,000 year-construction history. The structure is often referred to as the longest cemetery. Modern surveys including ground penetrating radar, have confimed human remains embedded within parts of the wall. Workers, largely soldiers, convicts and peasants, died from exhaustion, hunger, cold and brutal conditions.
1. Mutianyu 45 CNY
Shuttle Bus 15 CNY
Cable Car (roundtrip) 140 CNY
2. Badaling 40 CNY
Cable Car (roundtrip) 100 to 140 CNY
3. Simatai 40 CNY
4. Jinshanling 65 CNY
There are also tours available from Klook, Get Your Guide, Trip.com and others
How to get here?
First choose your section. There are direct buses going to Mutianyu section. There are also fast and reliable high speed trains from running from Beijing North Station and Qinghe Station direct to Badaling section. Most of the visitors join the group tours like us.
