 | Beijing Great Wall (Badaling) Reviews | Tips 21 - 30 of 70 |  |
There are different sections of the Great Wall namely Badaling, Mutianyu (with cable car), Simatai (older section of the wall with bricks stamped with dates of when they were manufactured). I visited Badaling's West Wall. I learned castle terms like parapets, merlons (raised parts of the wall used as protection to hide from enemies; gave the wall a saw-tooth look) and crenels (gaps in between merlons). An intriguing custom that I saw was attaching padlocks to a chain in one section of the wall. The padlocks (with inscriptions of Chinese names) and tied with a red ribbon, symbolize everlasting love and are usually attached to one long chain by amorous couples.
Please bring wipes/tissues since most of the time you'd be holding on to the rusty handrail as you descend/ascend the Great Wall. Bring water and moisturizer as it gets too dry in that altitude Leave a Comment
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I can't imagine anyone visiting Beijing without seeing the Great Wall of China.
So anyway, I'll put my two cents worth in about my tour trip to the Wall. I knew ahead of time that the Badaling section was wicked commercialised, but I really didn't care.
In a tour, you'll most likely only get about an hour and a half to explore the wall, take some pictures and spend your money on cheesy tourist gifts that line most of the Badaling section of the wall.
The more difficult side is to the left and the easier side is to the right. I can tell you this much.....in a foreign country where their language and written characters seem so bizarre and hard to understand, there is one universal symbol....
for PAIN.
Some of the stairs on the left side, take the word "steep" to a new level but you can only go just so far until you have to turn around, as there is a guard positioned at the end to keep people from traveling on beyond, where the more undeveloped section of the wall continues.
Although I just stuck to the short tour of Badaling, I was told it isn't too difficult to get a tour guide for the more difficult sections of the wall at Mutianyu or Simatai. Just ask your tour guide or the tour desk at your hotel. Leave a Comment
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The wall is much higher than it looks. We climbed the many steps to the first platform . Its important to remember ...what did we see at the top of our climb?? ...yet more sairs to the next platform ...so on an so on...for many many miles. No need to try to reach the end ...
Our legs were aching for days and we only climbed a minute part of this incredible wall.
It is a must do though and the view of the Wall is wonderful from the top.
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Visiting the Great Wall is a really obligatory thing to do in China. I went to a place called 'Badaling' to see it, it's the 'classic' (very tourist) place for seeing the Great Wall, but there are also others, that might be more interesting. I heard 'Mutianyu' is quite nice, you can take the lift to get up the hill there and then slide it down on the way back, that sounds like fun! I climbed up the stairs to the highest point of the Great Wall (the highest at Badaling at least), which is a matter of honour if you're Chinese. A little tip: when you climb up all the stairs you sweat a lot, so it's a good idea to take some water with you. Otherwise, the less burdened you are, the better!
What I think is most impressive about the Great Wall is the fact that it was man-made hundreds of years ago, the historical impact it has and of course the beautiful mountain view you have from it. Leave a Comment Directions: To get to Badaling you can either take a very expensive hotel-organized trip for around 300 Yuen(which I had to do unfortunately)or you can try to get there by yourself with one of the numerous buses
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As the guides say, this is very crowded but still worth the visit. I took a tour bus from the corner of the block SE of Tianneman square (160Y for great wall, lunch and Ming Tombes - about 8 hours in all leaving at about 8:30am). When you get there you can go left or right. Right seemed to be much more popular than left bt that's the way I went. Very steep climbing for about one km to the summit. Most people turn arround and come back the way they went. However, I think it is more fun to continue down the other side with almost no people (very steep in places though) until after about 700m you can exit to the right and return in about 10 minutes to the parking lot making it a nice round trip. I would allow about 2 hours. Water can be purchased at the bottom for less than 50c - more expensive higher up but don't accept the price that you are asked for as it is at least double what they will take. Its a agood work out! Address: Badaling
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Badaling Great Wall. Not so crowded during the winter but it sure is chilly and windy there. Be sure to bring in warm jackets and ear muffs and gloves during the winter. It still is a great experience though to climb the great wall. Leave a Comment
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Badaling is located at Yanqing County, more than 70 kilometers northwest from the center of Beijing City. It is a mountain pass of the Jundu Mountain. Badaling is at the highest point of north end of the Guan'gou gorge, in which the Juyongguan Pass lies. In the history, the function of Badaling was to protect the Juyongguan Pass. Leave a Comment
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