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Great Wall Is Must-See for Every Beijing Visitor

Walking on Wall Is Highlight of China Experience for Most Tourists

Jan 20, 2009 Cheryl Probst

Walking on the Great Wall is a must for visitors to China. Though the wall is thousands of kilometers long, most people will visit one of the sites near Beijing.

To go to China and not walk on the Wall is to not have visited China at all. It is simply a must-see sight for all visitors. There are several sites in the Beijing area which make it easy for visitors to fulfill the experience of a lifetime.

The sites range from the super-crowded Badaling to the rugged Simatai. It all depends on what kind of Wall experience visitors are seeking.

Badaling Wall Close to Beijing

Badaling is close to Beijing, which makes it convenient for visitors on a tight time schedule. The majority of tour buses go here. Badaling is also where the Chinese government takes visiting foreign dignitaries. Badaling is not as steep as some of the other sites, and it does have handicapped access. Independent tourists can also get there easily by public bus. Badaling is home to the impressive Great Wall Museum. The museum traces the history of the Great Wall from Jiayuguan in the west to Shanhaiguan in the coastal east. These factors add up to a lot of visitors, but it is possible to avoid some of the crowds with planning.

Simatai Wall Is Awe-Inspiring

On the other end of the spectrum is Simatai, said to be one of the most rugged sections of the Wall. There is something awesome about seeing the Great Wall snake along over the mountain tops. To see this awesome sight is to truly appreciate man’s greatest engineering feat. Wall visitors with plenty of time may want to consider walking between Simatai and Jinshanling to the east. The walk takes five to six hours; some visitors like to camp out overnight along the way.

Mutianyu is between Badaling and Simatai crowds and steepness. It’s also located between the two sites, and is easily reachable in an hour or two drive from Beijing. The three sites have cable cars to whisk visitors to the Wall. And like the other two, it has been restored.

Great Wall Is Not Great Defense Mechanism

The Great Wall of China was built two thousand years ago. It is tamped earth in western China, where it began. Stones and bricks were used in the east. It was built as a defense mechanism, but didn’t really work that well for this purpose. The Great Wall is not continuous, and invaders had only to seek out a break in the Wall and pour through it. There are many offshoots of the Great Wall, especially in the greater Beijing area, the city the Chinese most wanted to protect. This is why it is so convenient to visit the Great Wall from Beijing today.

Badaling, Simatai and Mutianyu are open year ’round, usually beginning at 8:30 a.m. The cable cars may not always run in the winter. The Great Wall Museum is closed on Mondays.

The copyright of the article Great Wall Is Must-See for Every Beijing Visitor in S Asia/China Travel is owned by Cheryl Probst. Permission to republish Great Wall Is Must-See for Every Beijing Visitor in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Great Wall at Badaling