The Great Wall of China

Categorized | china, Things to Do, Traveling in Asia

Tags | badaling, badaling great wall, badaling section of great wall, bedaling, beijing tourism attractions, great wall near beijing, great wall of china, great wall of china near beijing

The Great Wall of China

Posted on 11 June 2010 by Mike Behnken

One of the Greatest Man-Made Wonders of the World

Only those who have lived in a cave their whole life have not heard of the Great Wall of China. There is a saying in Chinese which amounts to, “He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man.” It is considered one of the most impressive man-made wonders in the history of mankind. You pick any history book or website and read more about the history of the Great Wall of China.

Besides the fact that the first thing someone will ask when finding out you traveled in China is, “Did you go the Great Wall,” I have always been interested in man-made structures whether it be giant urban skyscrapers to Buddhist temples. As soon as I thought about visiting mainland China I began planning to visit the Great Wall. I knew the Great Wall passed through some seriously remote parts of China but getting there turned out to be easier than I thought.

Great Wall of China Sections Near Beijing

Getting to the Great Wall of China from Beijing

If you didn’t know, the Great Wall of China covers a very long distance. Very long may be an understatement as in the USA it would go from San Francisco to New York! Having a wall that far is a feat in itself but the Great Wall weaves through some very rugged mountainous terrain.

The Great Wall’s most popular section is called Badaling and there is no coincidence that it is located around 30 minutes via car north of Beijing. There are tour groups that go there multiple times per day in tour buses and vans but if you’re lucky you can either get a car and drive yourself.

I was lucky enough to have a friend in Beijing who offered to give me a ride. We piled in her car and headed on our short journey to the great wall. The way to the great wall is along a major highway with signs just like anywhere in the world As we were driving I noticed we passed a huge, impressive looking section of the Great Wall on a hillside which was filled with tourists. While I kind of worried we were passing the main attraction my friend who was from Beijing knew what she was talking about.

Looking up the Right Side after Purchasing Tickets

A Different Section of the Badaling Great Wall of China

The first section of the Great Wall we passed on the freeway is the most popular for many reasons, primarily because It is closest to Beijing and secondly because it is fully renovated. Since the wall has been around for over 1000 years much of it is crumbling. We ended going to one of those crumbling sections which appeared its renovation was incomplete. Although you really couldn’t see much of it on the highway, it was located on the right side of the highway only around 10km past the first section which was on the left. Getting there involved going through 2 or 3 villages on dirt roads for about 5-10 minutes but it was well worth it.

As we arrived there were about 2-3 Mongolian yurts which I think were rented out for people to stay the night. There was a small ticket office which charged a fee which I believe was about 500 Chinese Yuan ($15 USD) then we were free to explore. As you walked you could see the gateway was really where the Great Wall had crumbled as you could see huge stacks of rocks on the right and the left.

Entrance: Option to hike to the Right or Left

Exploring the Great Wall of China on Foot

We decided to go up the right side. The right side of this particular section of the Great Wall looked very, very far as it went over the mountain which was off in the distance. I could see that most of the wall was intact but some if it was obscured by the very uneven hilly terrain so I didn’t know for sure whether I could make it all the way to the top but it ended up not mattering.

When I thought about the Great Wall of China I failed to realize that it is very steep. The section I climbed had a mixture of small steps and extremely large steps. To say exploring the Great Wall was a workout is an understatement because it is a very difficult workout.

Each section climbing the hill was very difficult and took around 15-20 minutes to hike up. Even with the chilly Northern China air and snow still on the ground and on parts of the wall, I started to sweat and was hot for most of the climb.

Each section ends with what I would describe as a ‘rampart’ which in ancient times, were likely manned with soldiers who were the first line of defense against a Mongol invasion. While some of the ramparts were in good shape, others were in shambles. Being inside one of the ramparts gave me an eerie feeling as I was thinking how a lone guard would react to seeing a Mongol army storming his position.

When I first started climbing the wall I wanted to climb to a point at the very top of the mountain you can see in the photo below. While I was getting tired my legs felt like jello the reason I didn’t continue ascending to the very top was because I wasn’t prepared and had little food and no water.

Best part about this particular Bedaling section of the Great Wall of China we climbed: Other than a Chinese tour guide scouting out new routes, we saw not a single tourist for the entire 2 and a half hours we were on it!

Looking Down from as far as I Hiked (about 1/2 way up)

Overall Impression

The Great Wall was spectacular. Thinking that I probably saw less than 1% of it had me even more impressed. I liked the fact that it was also a very good workout climbing up the wall as well. I only wish I had prepared for a hike rather a typical, “park – get out – take pictures – get back in” type of tourist attraction.

Depending on your travel plans, I would recommend spending a whole day on the Great Wall, possibly camping on it which is offered at various tour companies. Since each section of the wall is unique you have quite a bit to see although I could imagine after going a couple, couple hundred, or couple thousands of miles on it could get monotonous.

The Great Wall of China is highly recommended for anyone who has a day or 2 in Beijing. If I were Chinese I could say I’m finally a true man!