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Beijing Great Wall guide

Most popular Beijing Great Wall Sections

Mutianyu Great Wall
The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is situated in Huairou District, about 70km from Beijing.
The Mutianyu Great Wall Travel Area is surrounded mountains and has forest coverage of around 90%. As such, it's year round scenery it enjoys the reputation of being one of the most beautiful areas of the Great Wall. The tabagon on Mutianyu is also very famous. Taking tabagon down the mountain brings you extra excitement for the tour.
Character: Beautiful scenery, Tabagon

Juyongguan Great Wall
The Great Wall at Juyongguan is a strategic pass to Inner Mongolia and provided defense for Beijing, only 50km away.  The pass is one of three main passes in the Great Wall, with the others at Jiayuguan (to the west in Gansu Province) and Shanhaiguan.
Character: close to city center, difficult to climb

Badaling Great Wall
Badaling is the most famous section of the Great Wall, made famous outside China during President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in February 1972.  It has been visited by over 370 international celebrities and dignitaries, as well as by over 120 million tourists over the years
Character: most famous and most crowded great wall section

Best Beijing Great Wall sections for hiking and camping

Jinshanling Great Wall
Jinshanling Great Wall lies 133 kilometres from downtown Beijing. The Great Wall at Jinshanling is 13 kilometers (8 miles) long with a total of 90 watch towers. There is a watch tower every 100 metres or so, and in some places the interval is only 50-60 meters. Such a density is really rare on the Great Wall.
Character: most popular great wall section for hiking and camping

Simatai Great Wall
Simatai Great Wall is a 5.4 km long great wall sections with 35 beacon towers. It is connected with Jinshanling section. But it has been closed since July 17th 2010 and its reopening time is unclear.
Character: best for hiking

Gubeikou Great Wall
Gubeikou Great Wall was first built within year 550 to 559 by Northen Qi Government as a part of the 1500 kilometers Great Wall which linked between Datong City and Bohai. However, the original great wall was mainly built by loess soil and throughout the years, you could hardly find the original structure of this great wall anymore. The entire Gubeikou Great Wall which you can see nowadays is actually a leave over by Ming Dynasty.
Character: Most of the walls are ruins.

Beijing Great Wall Map

Beijing great wall transportation
Except the bus 919 going for Badaling, there is no public buses heading for other great wall sections. Since the great wall are up 100km away from Beijing city center, it will usually take about 2 hours for driving to the great wall.

Beijing Airport to Great Wall distance
The distance from airport to Badaling section is about 60km (within 1 hour driving)
The distance from airport to Mutianyu section is about 40km (within 1 hour driving)
The distance from airport to Juyongguan section is about 50km (within 1 hour driving)
The distance from airport to Jinshanling section is about 90km (about 1.5 hour driving)