Review: Badaling Great Wall Review

[Bryan]

Summary

Most people that casually visit the Great Wall go to Badaling, often without even considering going to other locations. It’s a very impressive span of the Great Wall but due to the restoration, the crowding, and the commercialization, it doesn’t give the same feeling as the Great Wall gives you in its natural state. Some people really like it because they’re just looking to see another tourist attraction. But those genuinely interested in the Great Wall for its own sake will surely prefer more natural sites.

Access

Access to Badaling is very easy. Just take the Badaling expressway from the north side of Beijing and you will find the Badaling exit in about one hour. The entrance to the Great Wall is just a couple of minutes from the expressway. Bus number 919 runs between Deshengmen station and Badaling.

Condition

Badaling was restored in several phases beginning in 1957. As the most popular Great Wall location, the development of the surrounding area has been extensive.

Description

The Great Wall at Badaling is undoubtedly the most famous and popular Great Wall location. Even in the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was the primary location where visitors both Chinese and foreign visited the Great Wall. Before restoration began in 1957, Badaling was in remarkably good condition due to its high standard of construction.

Badaling has changed dramatically since then. Due to being the number one tourist destination in China, Badaling is now heavily crowded, overrun with vendors, marred by packed parking lots, covered with graffiti, and obscured with extraneous additions from theaters and museums to camel rides and toboggan rides.

When you arrive at Badaling, you can choose to take a cable car or walk up. The lower cable car station (A on map) is at the far end of the main (north) parking lot (C on map). Note that if you have taken the bus to Badaling, you will be in the south parking lot (D on map).

Map legend:
Red lines Great Wall
Blue lines Roads
Yellow lines Foot paths
Green line Cable car
A Lower cable car station
B Upper cable car station
C Main parking lot
D Bus parking lot
E Main entrance to Great Wall
F End of restored section on southwest side
G End of restored section on northeast side
H Hotel (currently closed)
I Circle vision theater
J Museum

Badaling is a very impressive place despite its drawbacks. The trick is to avoid crowds to get good photos. Probably the best place to take photos is from the north tower 8, the high point near the upper cable car station. The only way to do this on a good weather day is to be there very early or very late in the day. Fortunately this also implies good sunlight. Unfortunately, it can also imply being there outside of normal operating hours.

[Lingyu]

Great pictures and map! Badarling Great Wall is the most memorable place for me, because I met my husband there a few years ago.

[chinoook]

Originally Posted by Lingyu

Great pictures and map! Badarling Great Wall is the most memorable place for me, because I met my husband there a few years ago.

But please notice: If you went to Huanghuacheng a few years ago, you could have met me!


-chinoook

[Lingyu]

Originally Posted by chinoook

But please notice: If you went to Huanghuacheng a few years ago, you could have met me!


-chinoook

Yap, maybe we even said hello to each other and chatted for a while.

But I knew my husband was waiting for me on Badarling Great Wall.