Brief Introduction to Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China, along with Terracotta Army and Tian’an Square, is a symbol of the People’s Republic of China.
The Great Wall of China was initially built over two thousand years ago by Qin Shihuang, who summoned one twentieth of the country’s population to join the project of building. The aim to build the Great Wall is to defend the attacks from west ethnic groups. Almost every ancient Chinese dynasty built its own Great Wall.
Most Great Wall sections we can see now were built in Ming Dynasty. The Great Wall built in Ming Dynasty reaches Liaoning Province to east and Gansu Province to west. It crosses six provinces and two cities, which are Hebei Province, Tianjin City, Beijing City, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi Province, Shaanxi Province, Ningxia Province and Gansu Province.
Great Wall of China Facts
- Length: 8.51 kilometers
- History: Over 2000 years
- Aim to build the Great Wall: Military Defense
- Materials to build the Great Wall: Soil, bricks and stones
- Number of Passes: Over 200
- Number of Beacons: Around 1316
- Average Height: 7 meters
- Average Width: 5 meters
Popular Great Wall Sections
Badaling Great Wall and Mutianyu Great Wall are the most popular Great Wall sections. They are respectively located in two counties near the city of Beijing. Tourists usually go to one of the two sections after visiting the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven in the city of Beijing.
Bdaling Great Wall
Brief introduction to Badaling Great Wall
Badaling Great Wall is located in Yanqing County, 80 kilometers to the city of Beijing. Badaling Great Wall was built by Hongzhi Emperor of Ming Dynasty in 1505. The length of the tourist area of Badaling Great Wall is 3741 meters. In 1987, Badaling Great Wall was listed as World Heritage by the United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.
In Chinese Language, “Badaling” means a hill via which you can reach everywhere. If the hill was occupied by enemies, the city of Beijing would be in danger. So it was very important to build fortresses here.
The average height of Badaling Great Wall is 7.5 meters and the average width is seven meters. Five horses or ten people can walk on the Great Wall in a row. There are five cannons at the entrance of the Great Wall. The barrel of the biggest cannon of the five is 2.85 meters long and the diameter of the barrel is 105 millimeters. Its cannon-shot is over 1 kilometer. It was one of the most advanced weapons at that time (made in 1638). There are a Great Wall museum and a Great Wall cinema near Badaling Great Wall. Tourists can see the development of the Great Wall of China in the two places.
Useful Badaling Great Wall Information for Tourists
Transportation
Tourists can take bus No.919 to Badaling Great Wall form Deshengmen. The running time of the bus is between 6:00 and 18:30.
Open Time
Summer: 6:30 – 19:00. Winter: 7:00 – 18:00
Tickets Prices
Commemoration Ticket: 45 RMB. A stamp and a post card are included.
Common Ticket: 40 RMB
Round-Trip Ticket for Cable Car: 60 RMB
Mutianyu Great Wall
Brief introduction to Mutianyu Great Wall
Mutianyu Great Wall is located in Huairou County, 73 meters to the city of Beijing. The length of tourist area of Mutianyu Great Wall is 2250 meters. Mutianyu Great Wall was initially built North Qi Dynasty (550-577), but it was soon destroyed. At the beginning of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, ordered his general Xu Da to rebuild the Mutianyu Great Wall based on the ruins of the one built in North Qi Dynasty. In Qing Dynasty (1636-1911), Qianlong Emperor repaired it in 1404.
The average height of Mutianyu Great Wall is 7.5 meters and the average width is 4.5 meters. 90% area around the Great Wall is covered by forests. The landform around Mutianyu Great Wall is very complicated, so the builders set up a beacon on it in very 100 meters. On other Great Wall sections, tourists can seldom see so many beacons in such a short distance. Mutianyu Great Wall has a lower average altitude than other Great Wall sections. The altitude of the entrance is 486 meters, but if tourists climb towards west, they will find they already rise to 1039 meters after climbing past 10 beacons. The height difference is the biggest in all Great Wall sections.
Mutianyu Great Wall is not as renowned as Badaling Great Wall, but tourists can also enjoy the culture of Great Wall here. International tourists like Mutianyu more than Badaling because Mutianyu has fewer tourists.
Useful Mutianyu Great Wall Information for Tourists
Transportation
Tourists can take bus No.936, No.916 from Dongzhimen and bus Tourist No.6 and Tourist No.16 from Xuanwumen to Mutianyu Great Wall.
Open Time
6:00 – 16:00
Tickets Prices
Common Ticket: 45 RMB
Student Ticket: 25 RMB
Round-Trip Price for Cable Car: 65 RMB
One-way Ticket for Cable Car: 45 RMB