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Stretching for 4,770m among the rolling mountains, Badaling section of Great Wall is dotted with 19 strategically located watchtowers, which were used to protect the capital against attack in ancient times, bringing Badaling the name of "key to the north gate."
On the top of the wall is a road paved with square bricks, wide enough for six horses or ten soldiers to march side by side. On both sides of the road, outer parapet and inner parapet were set.
The outer parapet is crenellated with merlots almost two meters high. The crenels were used as peepholes and the embrasure below each crenel was used as a loophole. The inner parapet, which is 1 meter high, was used to prevent the horses and gharries from overturning on the mountains.
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It has always been my dream to visit the Great Wall of China. The section of the wall that I was so fortunate to visit is known as Badaling. When embarking on your long walk upon the wall, proceed to the right side if you want to take the easier route. The left offers a more challenging hike up the wall. I did a little bit of both. Don't get to excited and go up to fast, or else, you could get winded quite easily, especially if you are not in shape. haha. Bring adequate shoes, your camera, and drinking water. Be careful when coming back down for it can be quite steep. In some areas, coming down is harder than going up. For the animal lovers, there is a horse and a camel located on the right side of wall (easy side). They are photogenic and would love to take a picture with you. By the way, I talked to people who did both sides, and they all told me that they didn't think the right side was easy...so, perhaps, depending on the individual person, both sides are hard. Perhaps my enthusiam didn't cause me to take notice. I didn't find either side to hard. For those people who are adventureous, perhaps they would like to venture on to the less known parts of the wall that remain unrestored and badly weathered...anyhow, no matter where you visit, you are guarenteed to have spectacular panoramic views. Leave a Comment
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This is the ultimate of any China tour.
I was impressed that the wall was like a dragon snaking up and down the rolling hills. The walk from the bus park to the wall was short enough but sloppy. The steps of the walls was steep and I cannot imagine how the soldiers could run up and down quickly fighting off the invading barbarians.
Another surprise was the graffiti on the every brick of the walls. Some must be centuries old and part of history. I bought a T-shirt that said "I climbed the Great Wall of China". I did huff and puff as long as I can until it was time for the tour to leave.
Be careful if you go in winter. A friend reached there and it was already dark and could only feel the wall. So start early if you are going to the wall in winter.
Once you have been to the Great Wall, you have been to China.
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Regarding question on forum about time walking up the Badaling Great Wall:
It really depends on how far you want to go up Badaling and if there is someone waiting for you at the start of the Wall. I coordinated with my guide about when to come back down.
The Great Wall is very very long and I think there's only a few people who have walked the whole expanse...but Badaling is a fairly localized part of the wall and I think I did go up and then down through a few towers in about an hour and a half. It is pretty tiring, specially as you have to pass all those people who are huffing along the way. I could have gone even further up through the Wall and God knows where it will end, but my private tour guide and car were waiting for me and I just gave them a time on how long to wait for me. Besides, I had to see many more sites around Beijing. If you want to see how a person (me) ends up huffing after climbing the Great Wall, I have included a video of it here in VT.
There's some vandalism on the Great Wall, and so preservationists encourage no vanadalism and leaving no thrash in the area. I hope it does last several more centuries... Leave a Comment
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I may not be spelling the small villages name right. But it is phonetic and close enough. The best way to get to Badaling is to hook up with a tour company. Most of the hotels will offer them. Since the wall is a good distance outside Beijing, you may not want to drive there yourself, especially if you don't know the area.
Once you reach the Badaling gate, you must climb either one of the two sides up the mountain. The view is spectacular, and you have an appreciation for what it must have taken to build it. Plus, on the way, you see the wall everywhere! It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It just blows you away how mamouth it is.
Whoever said that capitalism would never thrive in China is a liar. The bottled water or ice cream at ground level is roughly a buck. It changes to 6 bucks at the top! Bring your own.
Also, if you have trouble doing steps, stay down at ground level. Some of those steps are 3 feet above the next, and 4 inches deep (to step onto). A fit 29 year old, even I had some difficulty, and barely managed to make both sides. If you can make it though, the guard houses at the top of the hill are soooo cool! Leave a Comment Address: Remote BFE, past the middle of nowhere.Directions: Take a tour that goes there, or get good directions.
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********NOTE: Heard from my friends in Beijing that the authorities have increased the entrance fees to all historical sites by double! Hence it may cost RMB 80 to enter the Great Wall from 1 Dec 2004. Hope to confirm this soon!***********
One of the most popular, and "easier" parts of the Great Wall is at Badaling. It took us around 50 mins to reach Badaling from central Beijing by taxi, but we left at 6.30am when traffic was stil very light.
You need to pay RMB40 entrance fee (USD 5) and the climb up the wall and back takes around 2 hours. There are souvenir shops and coffeehouses at the great wall entrance in Badaling, incl good toilet facilities.
Plenty of souvenir stalls, even on the wall itself. There are also photographers with camels and horses, and chinese costumes.
The area's very windy especially in winter so wrap up nice and warm (it's usually 5-7 deg cooler than the city). Army coats and russian style hats are available for rent at the souvenir stall Leave a Comment
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The Badaling Great Wall is a good section to see the Great Wall. It was the earliest section to be opened to the tourists. Here you will see what you have seen in books, magazines, and on television -- the image of the famous Great Wall. The walk on the wall can be tiring since the wall follows the contour of the mountains -- so it's like ascending and descending mountains. Leave a Comment Directions: Located about 70 kilometers northwest of Beijing.
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Commune by the Great Wall is a private collection of contemporary architecture. it is a valley near Badaling section of the Great Wall in which contemporary Asian architects displey their work.
Visit of the Commune makes a nice one day trip out to the outskirts of Beijing. The entrance fee is 120 RMB (12 EUR) and includes private guided tour of the area, visit of 3 selected houses and visit of the Club House with coffe/tea for free...
It is also possible to hire a house there - the Commune is also a very posh hotel.
Place is open from 9 am to 6 pm.
Be sure to choose a suny day for a visit!
Oh, there are also beautiful views of the Great Wall from the valley and from some of the houses... Leave a Comment Address: 50 km northwest of Beijing, BadalingDirections: 5 km from the Badaling (the Great Wall). Take bus no 919 (8 RMB) to Badaling. Argue past the gate (they will try to sell you ticket for the wall - you DON'T need it), continue on the road for next 5 km. There are signs (a red star) pointing the way.Website: http://www.commune.com.cn/english
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Badaling Section of the Great Wall is the most touristic section of the wall, but it deserves a visit in spite of the thousand tourist you'll find along.
It's just an hour ride from central Beijing. As you aproach to the site, you leave the even terrain of the city and begin the steep mountains. From that moment you star to feel the magnificent of the Great Wall, because the construction site is in middle of the mountains, in very rough landscape.
Certainly a marvel. Leave a Comment
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I became a real man on the 18th September 2006! Famous Chinese quote:”You are not a real man until you have climbed the Great Wall"...
I climbed the Great Wall at Badaling (80km north of Beijing). The portion of the wall was built during the Ming Dynasty and has a total length of nearly 4km. Badaling opened for tourists in 1957 after a heavy restoration.
Guidebook says that you might meet many other tourists at Badaling, but I don't think the place was very crowded. There is a staircase up to the beginning of the wall, and from there you can go right or left. Most people went right, so I went left and kept walking until it was not possible to walk any further. Here were no tourists at all...
There is a fantastic view of the surrounding landscape from the wall. Another “must see in Beijing/China”…
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