Rating:AAAAA
Key Words:World Cultural Heritage,Spring Outing,
Badaling Great Wall was officially opened to tourists in 1958, the earliest section of the Great Wall to be opened to tourists and receives the largest number of visitors
Admission Fee
High Season (Apr. 1 to Oct.31)：CNY 40
Low Season (Nov.1 to Mar.31)：CNY 35
Notes:
1. Children under 1.2m (3.9ft) or under 6 years old and seniors aged above 60 with valid passport proof can get tickets free of charge at the ticket window.
2. Children aged between 6 and 18 enjoy half-price tickets with valid passport proof.
Openning Hours
Apr. 1 to Jun.30：06:30-19:00
Jul. 1 to Aug.31：06:00-19:30
Sep. 1 to Oct.31：06:30-19:00
Nov.1 to Mar.31：07:30-18:00
Note: The online ticket booking ends one hour earlier than the closing time.
Description
Badaling Great Wall is located in Yanqing District, 60 kilometers to the northwest of downtown Beijing. To date, this 3,741-meter section of the Badaling Great Wall has been open to tourists, comprising of 21 city units and enemy units. Badaling Great Wall was built along the ridges of mountains, looking precipitous from the external wall but gently sloped from the internal wall. It is a year-round travel destination. Mr. Zhao Puchu, a famous poet, calligrapher and president of the Chinese Buddhists Association, unveiled the miraculous scene of Badaling Great Wall in all seasons: "We are impressed with the spectacular scenes of Great Wall, as beautiful as pictures. The centuries-old Great Wall has always been so charming in all ages. It is best loved in spring days of blossoming flowers, summer days of green trees, autumn days of sea of red leaves, and winter days of white snows. Looking into the distance, the Great Wall gives expression of infinite passions of old and new."
Badaling Great Wall was officially opened to tourists in 1958. It is a section of the Great Wall opened earliest to tourists and receives the largest number of tourists. In the five decades since it opened, Badaling Great Wall scenic spot, on behalf of the Great Wall of China, was conferred with the World Cultural Heritage license by UNESCO. It was listed among the first batch of important cultural relic sites under state-level protection by the Central Government, the best of the top 10 scenic spots in the country, the best of the top 40 tourism destinations in the country, and the country’s first group of 5A-class tourism scenic spots. In 2007, in the appraisal of the world’s new seven wonders, Great Wall maintained its top position because of its extensive and profound history and culture, and unprecedented prestige in the world.
Scenic spots
Beacon fire towers
The beacon fire towers, built at the top of mountains beyond the Great Wall, were used as communication facilities in the ancient time. Soldiers would burn smokes to report the arrival of enemies. What tourists ascend on the Great Wall are watchtowers, not beacon fire towers. The latter are piers largely constructed with gravels and loess in the very places. When finding out enemies, the soldiers would burn smokes during the day, known as Sui, and start a fire at night, known as Feng. They were joined as Fengsui or smoke piers. Beacon fire towers are even older than the Great Wall. The story of “King You of Zhou teases the nobles with beacon fires, winning Bao Si smile but losing the regime” has become wide spread in the country.
Circle Cinema
Badaling Great Wall Circle Cinema is the largest 360-degree circle cinema in the country. It is the only cinema integrating circular screens and dome, adopting the latest technologies, and projecting the movie Great Wall on 60-meter-long seamless screen and dome simultaneously with 10 projectors.
Stepping into the circular showroom, the 360-degree seamless screen and gigantic dome make up an integral picture creating strong visual impacts and artistic effects. In spring days, bright mountain flowers blossom out in full bloom, and grasses sprout out of the earth. In summer, winding mountains are covered with green trees. In the late autumn, trees all around turn golden to cover mountains with red leaves. In chilly winter, the Great Wall looks like dancing silver snake among snowing mountains. We are actually presented with fancy pictures, from the gorgeous Shanhai Pass neighboring eastern Bohai Sea, to Jiayu Pass stretching across 1,000-li Gobi deserts in the west. The Great Wall, with all its forts and towers, traverses vast prairies and curving Yellow River. It witnessed camels traveling through deserts, beacons fired on mountain tops, and Emperor Qinshihuang decreed orders…. The magnificent pictures, along with high-fidelity stereo acoustic effects, make us feel as if we have stepped into a wide space integrating history and reality and pleasantly enjoy the scenes and legends of Great Wall.
Service time: 17 minutes (all year round)
Address: Beijing Badaling Great Wall Scenic Spot
Tel: 010-69121306
Great Wall Kiln Factory
Time brings great changes to this world. When we stand here for a long time, we might not know that the vast area of loess under our feet was the exact site of the kiln factory for constructing the Badaling Great Wall. Just imagine how large the kilns were in those years, and how hard laborers worked day and night. History melted into sweaters and flowed on the arched bronze backs of the laborers. The years burnt into scarlet blazes and told us today with slender blue smokes that they, echoing nearby labors to construct the Great Wall on mountain ridges, constitute the everlasting unyielding landscape of the civilizations created by the Chinese nation.
The fumed smoke traces on the loess cliffs are vague footprints of history.
The uneven bricks exposed on the loess faults are languages solidifying history.
Great Wall Stone Field
The Great Wall was built with large amount of processed granite strips on the basis. But that does not mean all the places hosting the Great Wall could furnish such stone materials. We can hardly imagine how the laborers collected and shipped the materials in those ages of backward productive forces. Where will we seek the stone fields for constructing the Great Wall? This has become a knot puzzling Great Wall experts all these years.
We are now confronted with a site of stone fields. There were left finished granites and semi-finished stone materials. One piece of stone material was chiseled with an opening for further processing. The discovery of the stone powder dish showed that ancient people had applied explosives in cutting into mountains. The opposite naked stone cliff was a section plane showing how stone materials were collected…. The discovered stone field of the Residual Great Wall has translated a historical mystery on the construction of the 10,000-li Great Wall.
Dashing King Breaking through the Pass
The Dashing King led troops to attack the Stone Gorge Pass. The Ming troops were defeated in the first battle, losing the camps. The rebel troops swarmed to the foot of the Pass. The Dashing King knew well that speed was the soldier’s assets. He would not be able to break through the Pass if the enemy’s Badaling relief troops were to arrive. So he ordered the rear troops to encamp and the front armies to attack the Pass. He personally led the middle troops to direct the front army.
The rebel troops set up ladders and, under supporting cannon fires, climbed up the walls with knives on hand. A general guided cannon fires with his sword. Ming Dynasty soldiers, fewer in numbers, fought back from the well-stuffed steep walls with ash vases and rolling timbers. The bold rebel forces lost their vigor of clean sweep. The two troops fought hard for hours into a stalemate. The Dashing King became worried. To prevent Badaling troops from making reinforcement, he secretly ordered the feign attack troops to exert all efforts to attack Badaling, making it impossible to divide forces to back up Stone Gorge Pass. Meanwhile, he ordered to halt attacking Stone Gorge Pass.
An hour later, the Dashing King saw the defenders losing their vigor on the walls and ordered the rear troops to push to the front the stone-flinging vehicles and imported cannons. Under his order, stones flung across the sky and all cannons fired. The defenders were unprepared on the walls and suffered from heavy damages in fighting back. When the cannons faded, the war drums were beaten for three times. The Dashing King, with sword in hand, took the lead to rush forward in a galloping horse. Full of mettle, the soldiers followed the example of the Dashing King and went all out in attacking the Pass. Two hours later, the remnants on the walls saw the game was up, and surrendered. The red sun sank westward, and the smoke of battle was not fully dissipated yet. The rebel soldiers climbed onto the walls, shouting in cheers to shake the valley.
Time slipped along fast. Now that hundreds of years have passed in a twinkling, the ancient roads of the Dashing King remained, but the Great Wall saw no beacon smoke anymore. The walls have decayed to fragments, and yet they retained the pride. Tourists might take the opportunity to pay their respect to the ancients in this tranquility.
China Great Wall Museum
China Great Wall Museum was located in the Badaling Great Wall scenic spot. It sits next to the Great Wall Circle Cinema. It is a themed museum focusing on the Great Wall of China to present an all-round look at the history, military, architecture, economy, culture, art and present situations of Great Wall.
The museum was opened up in September 1994. Chinese President Jiang Zemin inscribed the name. The museum was about 4,000 square meters in floor space, with 3,200 square meters actually applied. It was reformed in 2007 to follow the theme of World Miracle • Historical Monuments. The exhibition is composed of the four major parts of “2,000 years • Continuous Construction, Spectacular Work • Lasting 10,000 li, Both Sides of the Great Wall • One Family, and Immortal Noble Spirits • Further Development.
The museum exhibits cultural relics and samples unearthed in the country along the Great Wall. They are supported with tables, charts, photos, and humanistic landscape models. The museum also furnishes modern multimedia measures including touch screens and projection instrument to comprehensively present Great Wall, the symbol of the Chinese nation.
The museum is built in a unique way, looking like joined beacon fire towers. The internal exhibitions are arranged rising and falling like the Great Wall. The place is permeated with the extensive and deep cultural tastes of Great Wall. It is a patriotic education base for young people to learn about and understand Great Wall. It is also an attractive place for people to tour and entertain themselves.
The museum also presents interim exhibition halls for shows and academic seminars.
The Great Wall is a miracle of the world and a treasure of China. We should know Great Wall and love Great Wall.
Hotline service: (010)69121830
Night Landscape of Great Wall
Night landscape of the Great Wall was initiated in 1995, the first of its kind for tourists to view and admire the scenes of Great Wall at night. It lasts 3,000 meters from the southern 4th tower to the northern 4th tower, installed with 1,171 color cold light lamps. When the night falls, the sky is twinkling with stars. Underneath, Badaling Great Wall is shone with lamps of gentle colors. Seen from afar, it looks as if the Milky Way has descended to this world. It also seems that the mighty golden dragon is winding in valleys against high mountains. People will involuntarily be in ecstasies and revere the magical scene.
Key to the Northern Gate of Beijing
Located to the western side of the Pass, the Key to the Northern Gate of Beijing was actually the western gate of the Pass. The gate was inscribed with four Chinese characters on a board reading “Key to the Northern Gate of Beijing”. The Northern Gate refers to the northern gate of Beijing. The Key explains how solid and strategically important the Pass is, because it works as a large iron lock to guard Beijing City proper and Juyong Pass. In 1999, the gate was reconstructed according to cultural relics unearthed near Badaling. It stands at 4.2 meters high and 2.4 meters wide. It retains the original features and is opened for long terms to present the imposing vigor of the gate in the old days.
Zhan Tianyou Memorial
The memorial is placed 800 meters away from the Pass to commemorate Zhan Tianyou, a patriotic engineer making outstanding contributions in China’s railway construction. It has a floor space of 9,600 square meters, exhibiting goods in 1,100 square meters. The front part of the courtyard is erected with a large-scale granite relief recording the historical background and major contributions of Zhan Tianyou. The memorial collects 1,500 pieces of cultural relics, and 600 photos. It presents the glorious life of Zhan Tianyou, as well as the general situation of China’s railway construction in the early days, its technologies and achievements. It contributes to inspire people to keep working hard to rejuvenate China.
Hotline service: (010)69121006
Wall of Honors
The 3-meter-high wall is located 100 meters to the southwest of the Pass. The pale yellow marble surface of the wall is embedded with highest honorary certificates and medals the scenic spot has won all these years. They include the World Cultural Heritage certificate conferred by UNESCO, nameplates of important cultural relic sites under state-level protection and state-level key scenic spot areas by the State Council, and the certificate of New Seven Wonders of the World that Badaling Great Wall received on behalf of the Great Wall of China.
Water Pass Great Wall
The Great Wall of China could be dated back to the 7th century B.C. When he united China, Emperor Qinshihuang had all the sections of Great Wall constructed in various kingdoms connected. That was the earliest shape of the 10,000-li Great Wall. Ming Dynasty launched major constructions on this basis to generate the important defense system in North China. The Great Wall stretching 10,000 li across the country was completed in about 2,000 years of construction. It is a long historical scroll by itself. Seen as the soul of the country and the backbone of the nation, the Great Wall has developed into a symbol of the Chinese national culture. It has penetrated into the hearts of all Chinese people.
Badaling Water Pass Great Wall, situated 40km to the northwest of downtown Beijing, is the eastern section of Badaling Great Wall. It was cut off because of the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, the first independently designed railway in the country. The Water Pass Great Wall, a relic of Ming Dynasty Great Wall, was supervised in construction about 400 years ago by Qi Jiguang, a famous general against Japanese invasion. The section of Great Wall, built at the Xiangukou, looked V shaped since the Water Gate Archery Tower. It extends along with the lie of mountains, as if to fly away like dragons and magic birds. The Archery Tower serves as a watchtower and water gate. Such an architectural mode is rarely seen in neighboring sections of Great Wall. Because of this, it is known as the Water Pass Great Wall. The Great Wall section is of great strategic importance. It rises and falls along with the mountains, exactly like a huge dragon. It traverses upon precipices, connecting castles, beacon sites and arrow battlements against all enemies. The Water Pass Great Wall, 6.8 kilometers long, sets out with the Chuan Zi Yi Hao tower in the east and ends with the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, known for fanciful, dangerous, precipitous and solid shape.
Badaling Water Pass Great Wall, located in the central part of Guangou, boasts 72 scenic spots that scatter around like shining pearls. The Tanqin Gorge, Goldfish Pond, Stone Buddha Temple, and Camel Stone sites are found in an area of about 25,000 square meters, ideal for tourists to go sightseeing. The Great Wall is beautiful as pictures in all seasons. People may enjoy bright mountain flowers in full bloom in spring, lush growth of trees and grasses in summer, red leaves all over mountains in autumn, and white snow in winter. The scenery here has great charms, making it a remarkable place. You will be overcome with the greatness of the Chinese nation when observing blossoming mountain flowers fading along the Great Wall in spring. Go westward about 3,000 meters along the Great Wall, and you will see the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, the first railway in the country, and the-shaped rails. You may pay your respect to the monument of Zhan Tianyou the designer to admire the graceful bearing of the great engineer. The Water Pass Great Wall was officially opened to the public in 1995. It has received over 10 million tourists. Michael Jordan, the famous basketball player, and F1 race driver Montoya paid visits to the Water Pass Great Wall. Andy Lau, a super-star from Hong Kong, took the Water Pass Great Wall as the backdrop for his music video Chinese People. The Water Pass Great Wall has increasingly become a first choice for tourists among Great Wall scenic spots.
Come and enjoy yourselves at the Water Pass Great Wall. It will present the 5,000-year history of the Chinese nation with its unique natural landscapes, quality service, and multi-layer knowledge. It will show the masterpieces best representing the wisdoms of the Chinese people in the ancient, modern and contemporary days, enabling you to fully appreciate the rich implications of the Chinese 5,000-year culture.
Tourist service center at the scenic spot
The service staff abides by the concepts of giving top priority to the reputation of the motherland, the capital and the scenic spot, putting the interests of tourists first, serving tourists whole-heartedly, and promoting the spirits and cultures of the Great Wall.
Located 200 meters to the north of the Pass, the center has an information desk that supplies panoramic guide maps, tourism route maps and electronic tour guide service in the scenic spot. It also supplies electrically powered wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs, baby strollers and walking sticks. The staff workers will provide real and accurate information and warm services to tourists on the scenic spot, such as which parts are most pleasant to visit, which parts are most spectacular, and which parts are fit for a rest
Hotline service: (010)69121383
Service telephone
Tourism consultation: (010)69122222
Tourism complaints: (010)69121235
Medical service: (010)69121209
Broadcasting service: (010)69121617
Police service: (010)69121477
Shopping
Having toured the Badaling Great Wall for the breath-taking views, tourists may find out craftworks of unique national characteristics and other tour souvenirs at souvenir shops and boutiques. In this way, they will experience the joys of consumption in a different place and bring back something to commemorate the unforgettable trip to the Great Wall.
Beijing Gifts • Badaling outlets
The shops, located in the pass and to the southwest of the pass, are franchised outlets of Beijing Gifts in the scenic spots. With an aim to better promote the Great Wall culture and enrich Great Wall-themed tour souvenirs, the Badaling shops mainly sell all sorts of Great Wall-patterned T-shirts, Great Wall modeled furnishing articles, Great Wall commemorative medals, calligraphies and paintings of celebrities, color-glazed terra-cottas, and root carving handicrafts. Boasting unified Logos and unique styles of the scenic spot, these tour souvenirs are prize-winning works of the Beijing Tourist Commodity Design Competitions in recent years.
Hotline service: (010)6912
Badaling Hotel • Tourism Handicraft Shop
Located at the east side of the Badaling Hotel, the shop integrates centuries-old history and cultural traditions of Beijing, and works of skilled craftsmen from across the country. It furnishes abundant tourism souvenirs, particularly all kinds of Great Wall tourist souvenirs, celebrity calligraphies and paintings, the “scholar’s four jewels” (writing brush, ink stick, ink slab and paper), picture postcards, painted fans, seals, inkpads, pearls, jades, diamonds, gold and silver ornaments, ivory and jade sculptures, and embroideries.
service hotline: (010)69121085
Great Wall Shopping Center
Located 2.5 kilometers from the Badaling Great Wall, the shopping center is a four-storey comprehensive business that gives priority to selling works of folk cultural art, such as ambers, color-glazed terra-cotta, potteries, pearls, shells, crystals, print plates, smoking sets, toys, rainwear, picture frames, and seals. It also serves Chinese and western styled snacks and other foods. The parking lot could accommodate 2,500 vehicles.
Passages and elevators for the disabled
In order to provide more conveniences to the disabled, the scenic spot went through reconstructions to build up some barrier-free structures before the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. The disabled might advance freely from getting off vehicles to climbing the Great Wall. The barrier-free structures comprise barrier-free parking facilities, barrier-free sidewalks in the main roads for sightseeing, barrier-free ramp ways, barrier-free elevators, barrier-free sightseeing stands, low-position information desk for wheelchair users, and barrier-free easy travel appliances. These facilities help the disabled to realize their dream of independently climbing the Great Wall to be true men.
Hotline service: (010)69121226
Festivals and ceremonies
Dragon Dance at Great Wall
Dragon Dance at Great Wall, a large-scale themed activity for young people from across the world to meet at Badaling Great Wall, was jointly held by the Central Committee of Communist League of China, Hong Kong Special Administration Region and Badaling Quarter. Young people from home and abroad gathered at Badaling Great Wall to perform a dragon dance of 3,048 meters. The giant dragon, covered with red scales, bestrode 12 watchtowers in 3 kilometers. It weighed 15,400 kilograms with 500 sections of dragon bones, 1,523 dragon holds, and countless beards and scales. The young people displayed their features along with the dragon dance and songs.
Great Wall Red Leaves Festival
Great Wall Red Leaves Festival is held in October and November every year. As a poetic line puts it, “frost-bitten leaves look redder than early spring flowers.” In autumn, Badaling Great Wall looks most charming, as red leaves and the Great Wall jointly compose a most beautiful picture. The grey Great Wall relates the everlasting dignity of history. The sea of red leaves sprinkle the dynamics of life. Blue sky, white clouds, red leaves and the Great Wall would have you yearn to return to nature and experience the realm of “clouds drifting above leaves, and men roaming about in pictures.”
Summer Resort Festival
The Summer Resort Festival is held every June to September. In the torrid summer, tourists would pass the summer in a leisurely way, prevent sunstroke and enjoy the cool in the scenic spot. They will also watch splendid entertainment performances by Beijing art troupes and Badaling Great Wall Art Troupe. The night sight of the Great Wall will also be opened. Blue, yellow and green lamps draw the desolate and vigorous outline of Great Wall, making it extremely stunning when darkness falls.
Great Wall Apricot Festival
The Great Wall Apricot Festival is held in March and April every year. Here, spring is very much in the air, with breezes stroking people’s face pleasantly. In a twinkling, the mountains are covered with green grasses that sprout out of the earth. The mountains are decorated with blossoms of apricots, camellia, and all sorts of nameless wild flowers. While fragrant flowers loose freshness elsewhere, Badaling is permeated with red flowers. The centuries-old Great Wall is imbued with vitality.
International Mountaineering Festival
Initiated in the New Year’s Day of 1996, the festival has developed into the largest activity in Beijing, in which the mass of people climb the mountain to greet the arrival of the New Year. It has also become a traditional national fitness activity involving the largest amount of participants from all walks of life. It has attracted many international friends for participation. So far, it has held 14 sessions of international mountaineering festivals. In winter days, the Great Wall looks unique with dark green cypresses and pines. Walking through the mountains, participants would also enjoy the spectacular scene as described by late Chairman Mao Zedong, “Both sides of the Great Wall/One single white immensity.”
