Chat Online: 
The Great Wall of China is one of the greatest wonders of the world. It winds its way westward over the vast territory of China from the bank of the Yalu River and ends at the foot of snow-covered Qilianshan and Tianshan mountains. It is seldom that we see such a gigantic project in China or elsewhere in the world. The Chinese call it the Wall of 10,000 li. Its size is better seen on a map or from an aerial photograph. According to astronauts who looked back from the moon, of all projects built by man, the Great Wall of China is the most conspicuous seen in space.
Today, the Great wall has lost its strategic importance and has become a world-renowned tourist attraction. The laboring people of different dynasties demonstrated their intelligence and wisdom while building this great project. They left behind a precious heritage deserving our everlasting care. Badaling section, Juyong pass and Cloud Terrace were listed as important historical monuments under special preservation by the Chinese government in 1961. The Great Wall was listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world heritages.
Badaling Great Wall
The Badaling Great Wall, constructed in 1502 (during the Ming Dynasty), once served as a crucial military fortification, and is now the most impressive and representative section of the striking Great Wall. It is located in Yanqing County, about 70 kilometers (43.4 miles) from the downtown area of Beijing. Twisting and turning at an altitude of 1,000 meters (3,281 feet), the Badaling Great Wall appears exceptionally lofty on the undulating mountains. It is an architectural marvel that has been praised by many leaders, from China and around the world. Both Richard Nixon and Margaret Thatcher visited this section of the wall, and in 1987 it was placed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO, a list reserved for destinations considered to have outstanding universal value.
As Badaling was once an important military strategy point, here the wall is comparatively high and firm. It has a length of 3,741 meters (2.3 miles) and it is equipped with dense watchtowers. The wall is about 8.5 meters (27.9 feet) high and slopes inward as it rises in height. The wall is 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) wide at its base, and its rim spans about 5.7 meters (18.7 feet) across. The wall's exterior is composed of large granite slabs that surround layers of loess and gravel. Its coping is made of large bricks that provide a smooth walkway, wide enough for ten people to easily walk side by side. A parapet on the coping once provided a defense barrier against assailants.
Jinshanling Great Wall
The Jinshanling Great Wall, 130 kilometers (81 miles) northwest Beijing, happens to be the boundary of Beijing and Hebei Province. It was given the name for its perching on the Jinshan Mountain, a branch of Mt Yanshan. The wall, 10.5 kilometers (6.5 miles) long, presents the original appearance with little renovation. This section is especially favored by the overseas tourists.
Jinshanling was a strategic vital passage in the past dynasties. In order to defend the capital Beijing, a wall was built in 1368 immediately after the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was founded. From 1567 to 1572, massive reconstruction was carried out under the direction of Qi Jiguang, a brilliant militarist. It brought forth the complete fortification, strengthened with more passes, watchtowers, beacon towers and other attachments.
Besides battlements, parapets, and shooting holes, the wall is featured with obstacle walls and bricks with characters on them. Obstacle walls on the coping, about 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) high, were built in rows on the slope leading to the watchtowers. In case that the attackers reached the top of the wall, the defenders still could repel the attack from behind these walls. Near the Huding Tower, bricks were marked with Chinese characters, recording the time the brick were made and the troop that built that exact section.
Sixty-seven watchtowers form a unique scene of the Jinshanling Great Wall. These towers are all ten meters (32.8 feet) high and mainly two-storied. The inner structures are different, either square, rectangular or round. Both the number of shooting holes and the arches of the towers varies. For getting up and down in the tower, some towers have stairways while others only have vertical holes in the roof. For the latter, rope ladders were needed. These watchtowers were used as anti-enemy towers, storerooms, or bedrooms.
The Jingsanling Great Wall is connected with the Simatai Great Wall in the east. When finishing the Jingsanling section, visitors may buy a ticket for the Simatai section to continue their hike.
Simatai Great Wall
The Simatai Great Wall is situated in Miyun County, 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) northwest of downtown Beijing. It is largely in its original state, as it has not undergone much renovation like other sections near Beijing. This particular section, built in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) long, with the Jinshanling Great Wall to the west.
The wall is characterized by its steepness, the closeness of its watchtowers and variety in its structure. The wall follows the topmost ridge of the mountain, or the precipices and cliffs, sections of the Heavenly Stairway and the Heavenly Bridge being unimaginably breath-taking. The narrow Heavenly Stairway has no parapet and reaches an angle of 85 degrees, while the Heavenly Bridge is only 30 centimeters (12 inches) wide at the top. As safety comes first, visitors are not permitted to climb on them.
The watchtowers are particularly closely distributed on this section of the wall. By the normal standard of building the wall, watchtowers would be built every 500 meters (547 yards). In this 4.5-kilometer wall, there are thirty-five watchtowers, with the minimum distance between towers being only 43.8 meters (48 yards). These watchtowers are symbolic and to be marveled at. The well-preserved General Tower is adorned with relief sculptures with designs of Kylin, a legendary auspicious animal in China. Seen from a distance, the fourteenth tower in the east looks like an elegant cat squatting on the top of a hill. The exquisite and complex Fairy Tower hidden among the trees gives an impression of some concealed beauty. The sixteenth tower, at an altitude of 986 meters (3,235 feet) is also known as the Watch Beijing Tower. It is the highest tower in the Simatai section, and commands a spectacular view.
The wall itself has seven modes of construction. Four of these are single wall, double wall, obstacle wall, and parapet. In contrast to the enhanced double wall, a single wall was built in one thickness on the terrifying bluffs and is too narrow to walk on. The obstacle wall and the parapet were built on the coping of the whole wall. The obstacle wall served to prevent the enemy from shooting at the wall-guards and the parapet served as a handrail. Watchtowers vary in shape and size. If you look carefully, you may find even the roof of towers are different, flat, polygonal, or dome-shaped.
In addition, the Simatai Great Wall enjoys the bounty of nature with an unusual lake at its foot. This lake is a combination of a hot spring and a cold spring, and consequently the water of the lake is semi-hot and semi-cold. It is a great pleasure to enjoy boating on the lake.
It is really a tough hike to climb the wall, but it is enormously rewarding. And now cable cars are in use to provide an alternative to the hike, CNY30 for a single trip and CNY50 for a round trip.
The Mutianyu Great Wall lies in Huairou District, 73 kilometers (45.4 miles) from Beijing proper. It is a superb location to appreciate the grandness of the Great Wall as well as to avoid the crowds at Badaling. The Mutianyu section, 2,500 meters (2,734 yards) long, connects the Juyongguan Pass in the west and Gubeikou in the east. Rimmed by mountains, it is filled with beautiful flowers in spring; abundantly verdant in summer; charming with red-leafed maple trees in autumn and enchanting covered in pure white snow in winter.
The wall was reconstructed during the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) on the ruins of the wall built during the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-557). Hence, the wall has a history of over 1400 years. In 1404, the Mutianyu Pass was added to the wall and in 1569 it was restored again. This fortified section was the site of many battles which took place during the Ming Dynasty. The wall, which stands seven to eight meters (23-26 feet) high and four to five meters (13-16 feet) wide, is mainly made of slabs of granite, which make it extremely strong.
The Mutianyu section has its own characteristics. The coping on both sides of the wall has parapets and battlements, which made it possible to repel foes from either side. The bases of the indented battlements have square holes arched at the top from which soldiers shot at the besiegers. Additional walls with watchtowers were built in order to relieve the enemy's assault on the main wall which is densely distributed with watchtowers, twenty-two in total. The wall runs up and down following the contours of the steep mountainsides. In one section it rises with a gradient of nearly 90 degrees on bare rock posing a challenge to any climbers. In Zhengguantai, three watchtowers stand on the same terrace, a rare occurrence in the structure of the Great Wall.
Comfortable cable cars are available to facilitate climbing this section of the wall. A single trip cost CNY35 and a round trip enjoys a favorable price at CNY50.
Mutianyu Great Wall
The Mutianyu Great Wall lies in Huairou District, 73 kilometers (45.4 miles) from Beijing proper. It is a superb location to appreciate the grandness of the Great Wall as well as to avoid the crowds at Badaling. The Mutianyu section, 2,500 meters (2,734 yards) long, connects the Juyongguan Pass in the west and Gubeikou in the east. Rimmed by mountains, it is filled with beautiful flowers in spring; abundantly verdant in summer; charming with red-leafed maple trees in autumn and enchanting covered in pure white snow in winter.
The wall was reconstructed during the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) on the ruins of the wall built during the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-557). Hence, the wall has a history of over 1400 years. In 1404, the Mutianyu Pass was added to the wall and in 1569 it was restored again. This fortified section was the site of many battles which took place during the Ming Dynasty. The wall, which stands seven to eight meters (23-26 feet) high and four to five meters (13-16 feet) wide, is mainly made of slabs of granite, which make it extremely strong.
The Mutianyu section has its own characteristics. The coping on both sides of the wall has parapets and battlements, which made it possible to repel foes from either side. The bases of the indented battlements have square holes arched at the top from which soldiers shot at the besiegers. Additional walls with watchtowers were built in order to relieve the enemy's assault on the main wall which is densely distributed with watchtowers, twenty-two in total. The wall runs up and down following the contours of the steep mountainsides. In one section it rises with a gradient of nearly 90 degrees on bare rock posing a challenge to any climbers. In Zhengguantai, three watchtowers stand on the same terrace, a rare occurrence in the structure of the Great Wall.
Comfortable cable cars are available to facilitate climbing this section of the wall. A single trip cost CNY35 and a round trip enjoys a favorable price at CNY50