 | Beijing Great Wall (Badaling) Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 70 |  |
 | |  |  | Great Wall (Badaling): Great Wall BADALING | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
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 Address: Badaling, Mutianyu, SimataiWebsite: http://badaling.gov.cn/english/history/history.htm
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| | | | Great Wall (Badaling): Great Chineese Wall (cont) | Tip Rating: | | | | |
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. Address: Badaling, Mutianyu, SimataiWebsite: http://badaling.gov.cn/english/history/history.htm
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| | | | Great Wall (Badaling): The Great Wall, at Badaling. | Tip Rating: | | | | |
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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| | | | Great Wall (Badaling): It's been said before, but it really is GREAT! | Tip Rating:  | | | | |
Climbing the Great Wall was really the highlight of our trip. What an incredible place!
Our tour guide provided us with a little history about how the Wall was made. The emporers of the period were so obsessed with building it that they pulled men away from all other areas of life to build it, including agriculture. The result was there was no food to feed the construction workers. Many died from starvation and exhaustion. Our guide claimed that the Wall is a testament to the Chinese spirit.
We visited the Wall at Badaling. The site is extremely well maintained: no garbage, no loose rocks, hand rails, etc. I realize that those last two are the result of alterations to the site, but I personally will take my safety over 100% historical authenticity!
The climb itself was much longer than I had imagined. I always thought that you climbed a flight of stairs and then you were at the top...! When I got there and looked up the hill, I just about fell over. Jesse and I made a pact to get to the top no matter how tired we got, and we did it!
For those of you coming to Beijing, put this at the top of your list. The climb itself is pretty satisfying. Add to that the view and the history, and you have an all around spectacular activity! Leave a Comment Address: Badaling, Mutianyu, SimataiWebsite: http://badaling.gov.cn/english/history/history.htm
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