The Great Wall at Badaling

Today we went to The Great Wall at Badaling. Asthe experience itself cannot be expressed in words (photos will), this post will focus more on how to get to The Great Wall and not get scammed.

The Great Wall at Badaling

The crowds at Badaling

First, how to get to the Great Wall from Beijing. There is a regular bus service from Beijing to Badaling. In order to catch a bus, travel to station Jishuitan on Subway Line 2. Take the northern exit, and walk towards the Archery Tower (Deshengmen). You will have to take the 887 bus from near the tower (or gate if you prefer). There will be official signs to where the bus will depart, but a lot of those sign have been tampered with. Moreover, there will be other "official" buses 887. Just continue walking until you are really next to the tower. There will be the real bus 887 (with long lines of other Chinese tourists trying to get to Badaling). A way to check whether you are not scammed: this bus accepts the Yikatong (IC card for public transit).

Inside the bus there will be a woman or man telling a complete story in Chinese for about 20 minutes of the ride. Just ignore that. When you get off, do not get in to line at the ticket office! This will be the line for the sliding car ride. It will cost you 100Y more per person and it is not necessary. You can just walk the whole route. It takes about 2 hours if you are really quick, up to 3 hours if you take your time. Just walk to the right (facing the ticket office), and after a while you will find signs for another entrance. You will have to climb a bit, as this entrance is on the other side of the hill. But it will take less than 10 minutes. At this entrance you can buy normal tickets!

Some parts are really steep! A special technique is necessary

The GREAT Wall