The Great Wall

Main picture Wall

The Great Wall of China is one of the most amazing constructions in the entire world. Located near the Chinese main city of Beijing and along the east to west line and the northern borders of the country, the most important parts were built between 220-206 BC during the Qin Shi Emperor era. The Great Wall was supposed to protect the Chinese folk from the Mongols. The majority of the Wall was constructed during the Ming Dynasty being a fortification made of basically stone, brick, wood and tamped earth. Other walls were being built too during the 7th century BC but in order to unified all of them and protect China they ended up being one Great Wall.

The Wall also served for having a control about the import and export items transported along the popular Silk Road. To be exact, the Great Wall stretches from Lop Lake in the west side to Shanhaiguan in the west touching the sea. The Wall also covers the southern side of Inner Mongolia so that it is said that the entire construction has a total measure of about 8800 km. Millions of Chinese citizens died while constructing the Wall from cold and tiredness so we can say that the Great Wall is an immense cemetery too. The history tells us that the Great Wall is supposed to represent the body of the mythological dragon which under the name of the Emperor was protecting China.

Wall 1The most famous parts of the Great Chinese Wall are Mutianyu, Badaling, Jiankou, Gubeikou, Huanghuacheng, Jinshanling and Simatai. If you are going to stay in Beijing during your holidays or just for a short time we recommend you to visit Mutianyu which is one of the most touristic parts of the Wall but also well preserved and has an easy access too. The Wall at Mutianyu, is about 80km away north-east from Beijing and connects in the west with Juyongguan Pass and Gubeikou Great Wall in the east. This “piece” was first built in the year 550 BF during the Qi Dynasty and shows one of the sides of the Chinese splendour.

The Landscape of the Mutianyu part is beautiful surrounded by mountains and huge vegetation. We can admire 22 watch towers distributed along the entire part at the Mutianyu side, one each kilometre approximately. The Great Wall is about 8km high and 4km long. A less conservatized part of the Wall can be seen at the last track of Mutianyu which has also a charming thing, especially if you feel strong enough to walk up.

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One of the Towers

If you also are up to, you can enjoy the forest by walking to the Wall which takes no more than 30 minutes.

It is important to mention than a cable railway and a chair lift are available for different prices to go up and down the first stretch of Mutianyu. For those who like speed, you can buy upstairs tickets for a slide. We give you the advice of only buying one way ticket downstairs and then after having visiting the Wall, decide which way you want to take to go down again. Every attraction has a different price and ticket besides the price for the Wall entrance at the beginning.

If you want to visit Mutianyu:

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Landscape of Mutianyu

  • Official opening hours: 8am-4pm
  • Main entrance:

Adults: 45 RMB

Children (1.2-1.5M): 25 RMB

Free for children below 1.2M

  • How to get there?

It is easy to contract a one-day trip to the Great wall in several touristic places around Beijing or directly in your hotel if you do not have the trip included. A taxi can also ride you to the Wall but it will cost you more money because it takes around 1hour. If you want to go by your own, with family or friends the most convenient way is taking Tourism Bus No. 867 at Dongzhimen.

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