Beijing Badaling-Mutianyu Great Wall

Beijing Badaling-Mutianyu Great Wall

(北京八达岭-慕田峪长城旅游区 běi jīng bā dá lǐng -mù tián yù cháng chéng lǚ yóu qū）

The Badaling Great Wall is located in the northwest of Beijing, and it's a pass of Jundu Mountain. It extends in all directions, therefore termed Badaling.

The Badaling Great Wall is located on the ridge of the northern part of the GuanGou. Here, two peaks come face to face, and there is an alley between the two, strategically placed. Due to the importance of the Badaling, it became the place where military fought. The Badaling became the martial strongpoint from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

The Badaling Great Wall was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Great Wall is no longer a simple high wall, but a rigorous recovery system. Ningxia, Shanxi, Shangxi, Heibei are all in the Great Wall’s path.

Many Guan cities and short walls were built in this important place. Since the Qing Dynasty, the Badaling Great Wall has become more deserted. The city towers to the west of Guan city had severely been destroyed. After the State Department decided to repair it, the Great Wall had been rehabilitated several times.

The Badaling Great Wall resounds in the entire world, and it is the first part of the Great Wall that was open to the public. The Badaling Great Wall is the soul of the entire Great Wall, welcoming tourists from all over the world. It is said that whoever gets to the Great Wall will be acclaimed as the peak of perfection!

Scenic Spot Level: AAAAA

Ideal Sightseeing Season: Early April to Early November

Opening Hours:

April 1 - October 31 6:30-19：00 (no admission after 19:00).

November 1 - March 31 7:30-18：00 (no admission after 18:00).

Ticket Prices:

Tourist season(April 1 - October 31): 40 yuan ($5.91) per person

Tourist off-season(November 1 - March 31): 35 yuan

Middle and Primary School and University students: Half price with a valid ID

Seniors elder than 60: Half price with a valid ID

Minors between 6 and 18 years old: Half price with a valid ID

Address: Yanqing District, Beijing

Telephone: +86-10-69121268

The Mutianyu Great Wall, 70 kilometers from Beijing, has a long history and splendid culture. With its own unique architectural style, it expresses the essence of the Great Wall of the Ming dynasty.

In spring, flowers bloom; in summer, nearby mountains fed with spring water are covered with green; in autumn, red leaves cover the mountain range, and its trees bear fruit; in winter, snow falls onto a pure white world. Thus has Mutianyu become known as the best part of the Great Wall.

The Mutianyu Great Wall is located in Mutianyu Village in Huairou district, with Gubeikou to the east and Huanghuacheng and Badaling to the west. It’s also not far from Juyong Pass, Zijing Pass, and Daoma Pass.

As the poem goes, "west of Bohai fairyland, east of purple and green Juyong", so the steep and towering terrain makes it possible to preserve the Wall at Mutianyu as it was in the Ming Dynasty. In those days it was also a great military barrier and a protection for the capital and Imperial Tombs; thus it has been a hotly contested spot since ancient times.

The Mutianyu Great Wall has four distinct seasons, and tourism activities are carried out all year round. With its range of surrounding mountains, the vegetation coverage rate is more than 96 percent, and the annual average temperature is 11.9 degrees Celsius.

The warm and humid climate helps keep abundant vegetation coverage, so the Great Wall remains nestled in the green mountains and rivers as in ancient times. The atmosphere and the beauty of nature is well blended into one harmonious whole, giving rise to Mutianyu’s reputation as having the most unique beauty anywhere along the ten thousand li Great Wall. There are over a thousand trees close by that are more than a hundred years old.

From the beginning of March apricot trees, peach trees, rhododendrons and other plants start to bloom one after another on the mountains; into the summer, the mountains turn green, with spring water running below the trees; autumn is the time for green pine trees and cypress trees, red maples, oak, and chestnuts, as well as yellow apricot, and golden pear, persimmon and purple pear and plum trees. All different colors of leaves intertwine with the white branches in an autumnal mood. In winter, snow-clad mountains gleam with a northern light.

Zhengguantai

The tower Zhengguantai, located at Mutianyu, is very rare because it is a combination of three watchtowers in one. There are several sections in its northwestern part, known as the "cow horns edge", "arrow" and "Eagles flying face up", which are steep, towering, and undulating, and resemble a soaring dragon.

Also known as Mutianyuguan, or Three Buildings, this series of three watchtowers was built in the Ming Yongle 2nd year (AD 1404). They are lined up together, in two layers. The middle one is relatively big and the others are smaller. The floors of the three watchtowers are connected, forming a main hall in the centre with rooms to the side, a very rare Great Wall construction.

Dilou Towers

There are many Dilou towers, or defensive watchtowers, in the Mutianyu Great Wall. There are four between the 1st Muzi Terrace (Dajiao Tower) and the fourth Muzi Terrace (Zhengguan Tower) less than 500 meters apart; from the 1st Muzi Terrace to the 20th Muzi Terrace, there’re 25 buildings including watchtowers, battlements and wall units, and bedrooms within 3000 meters. It’s unusual to see a Dilou tower every one hundred meters in the Great Wall.

Double Crenels

The Mutianyu Great Wall has crenels or indentations on both sides of the Wall. The rest of the Great Wall has crenels on the outer wall, but the Mutianyu stretch has crenels on both sides so that soldiers could fight against the enemy in two directions. This means the Mutianyu Great Wall has strategic importance in the history of battle.

Branch City

There are both outside stretches and inner stretches at the Mutianyu Great Wall. A so-called Branch City refers to a branch stretch built and connected to the main stretch of the Wall. The outside stretch connects to the 11th Muzi Terrace Wall; and the inner stretch, called the "Bald Tail Side", extends to the south from the Big Horn Tower.

"Ox Horn Edge"

This part of the Mutianyu Great Wall winds its way from north to west. At the No. 20 Watchtower, it climbs straight up the hillside to the north high cliff top, 1039 meters above the flat south, and meets a tower at the top of the mountain. It then turns along the cliff edge straight down through the valleys along the opposite ridge.

Finally it winds its way down westward. With its twists and turns, it resembles a horn, vigorous and strong, and is known as the "Ox Horn Edge".

"Flying Eagles face up"

One side of this part of the Great Wall is cliff, and the other is a steep rise of 70 degrees. The Wall climbs to the peak from one side of a cliff and drops about 10 meters to the other side almost straight down. Each step is only a few fingers wide, and one can hardly fit in a foot. That's why it is described as "Flying Eagles face up", meaning it's very lofty and cragged.

Scenic Spot Level: AAAAA

Ideal Sightseeing Season: Early April to Early November

Address: The Mutianyu Village, Bohai Town,Huairou District,Beijing

Opening Hours:

March 15 - November 16： Monday-Friday 7:00-18：00

Saturday-Sunday 7:00-18：30

November 16 - March 15: 8:00-17：00.

Ticket Prices:

Adult tickets: 40 yuan ($5.91) per person

Half price discount tickets:20 yuan