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“Shall we head to Mutianyu or Badaling?” Initially, the question meant little. I just wanted to walk the wall, to stand on the Great Wall of China and entangle my thoughts on its history, mystery, and beauty. Being there was surreal, a moment I fantasised about for years.

Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China

Some say the wall reminds them of a massive dragon, as it travels across the mountains stretching nearly 8,900 kilometres (5,500 miles) from the east to the west of China. Built in sections through the Qin, Han and Ming dynasties, its history spans more than 2,000 years.  Improvements have been made to some sections, while others sit in ruins or have disappeared.

The two most commonly visited sections are Mutianyu or Badaling, as both are well preserved and easily accessible from Beijing.

Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall of China

What to expect at the Mutianyu section

Here’s why we chose the Mutianyu section.

  • Impressive surrounding forest views, even on a cloudy day. Arriving in April, we just missed the snow covered walkways and were ahead of the colourful spring flowers (although there were plenty of white blooms).
  • Substantially fewer visitors than Badaling (this was a selling point for us).
  • A  five-metre walkable path along the top of the wall that runs 5.4k m (3.4miles), with 23 watchtowers. Take time to notice three towers:  No. 1  for its large size; No. 6 as it has three hollow towers; and, No. 11 as it is on the branch wall (side wall).
  • Some areas are steep, especially the stairs at the end of the section.
  • One can walk or take a cable car up to the wall, while there is a luge option for the way down.
  • The Mutianyu section is open in summer from 8 am to 5 pm, and in winter from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Take a tour of the Great Wall of China

GREAT WALL OTHER SITES VISITED SIZE DURATION
Mutianyu Cloisonné enamelware factory Group 7 hrs
Mutianyu Summer Palace Small Group(Max 12) 9 hrs
Mutianyu Tiananmen Square
Forbidden City		 Private 9 hrs
Badaling Chang Ling Ming Tombs Group 8 hrs
Badaling Olympic sights Small group 8 hrs
Badaling Summer Palace Private 7-8 hrs
Gubeiklou Sleep on Great Wall
Forbidden City
Jingshan Park
Tiananmen Square
Olympic venues		 Private Two days
Gubeiklou Jinshanling Sunset Photography Trip Private 8-9 hrs

Photos of the Mutianyu section of Great Wall of China

Cable car on the Way up to Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall of China
Cable car up to Mutianyu.
View from the cable car on the Way up to Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall of China
Initial views of the wall as seen through the cable car window.
Mutianyu Map - Great Wall of ChinaMutianyu Map - Great Wall of China
The map at the cable car exit points out the highlights in photos, in English, and in Mandarin.

Walk the Wall - Great Wall of China

Branch wall of the Great Wall of China
Jeff and I on a branch wall.
Mutianyu or Badaling - the steep paths are part of the decision at the Great Wall of China.
Steep, but not too steep.
Tower on the Great Wall of China
Sarah going into one of the towers.

Great Wall of China

Steep portion of Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall of China
The steepest portion of the walk was the steps at the end. Climbing to the top, you are rewarded with endless views.

Badaling Section of the Great Wall of China

What to expect at the Badaling section

  • Badaling is the best preserved, most complete, and most popular section to walk the wall.
  • It is nearly always crowded.
  • The portion of Badaling section open to tourists is 3.7 km (2.3 miles) long with 19 restored watchtowers. (The total length of Badaling is 12 km (7.5 miles).
  • It is easier to manage than Mutianyu. Both the path and steps at Badaling are less steep. Plus, handrails have been added to stairs at Badaling.
  • At 6 metres wide, this section of the wall accommodates five horses abreast.
  • It also has a cable car.
  • If you are an early bird or prefer a slightly later visit, Badaling is your choice as it is open in summer from 6:30 am to 7 pm and in winter from 7 am to 6 pm.

More information

The Great Wall of China is one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages: Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (Egypt), Colosseum (Italy), Great Wall of China, Hagia Sophia (Turkey), Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy), Porcelain Tower of Nanjing (China), and Stonehenge (England). To date, we have been to five of these. How many have you visited?

Don’t miss these travel tips for China.

Will you walk the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu or Badaling?

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Comments

  1. Hi Rhonda I know you already know this from the number of comments and likes you have got but this is an excellent, well written guide to the best wall to pick. Personally I like the more deserted stretches but this is a great guide with excellent photos. Liked and shared to our chinatefler fb page of 7000 followers. All the best and I look forward to reading more of your guides in the future. Cheers, Ben from Nottingham
    https://www.nooneliterecruitment.com/teach-english-in-china/

    Reply

  2. The photos are fabulous! I went to Mutianyu too as I was told that it is less crowded and better sceneries.
    I went in Spring and I am jealous to see photos of the wall now in summer as everything looks very green and beautiful. I think we did a good choice to come to this part of the wall 🙂

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  3. Incredible photos Rhonda! I quite like the almost-bleak atmosphere you get from that time of year. It seems to make the wall stand out even more. My favourite of your photos has to be the one from beneath the wall through the trees looking up. I imagine that’s sort of like the view the Mongols must have had of it and it really looks quite imposing. Great advice on Mutianyu, sounds like the better option when I finally get to visit China and Beijing one day.

    Reply

    • Thanks David, and yes, the wall was built to look imposing to any enemy. Imagine how much more imposing it would look with an army protecting it from the top of the wall.

      Reply

  4. As long as I’ve been traveling this has been the question, where to visit the wall. I’ve been twice and both times went to Mutianyu, never Badaling. Nowadays, I think they are both really busy, and I’d like to go a little further inland.

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    • Wow, you have been twice. That is fantastic. If I went again, I would go to a different section, but probably not Badaling. I agree, one of the more remote ones would probably be fascinating.

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  6. This came at perfect timing! We will be there in October and we’re trying to figure out if to do Mutianyu or Jishangling. I was worried Mutianyu would also be crowded, but your pictures don’t show that. Perhaps this will be our choice. #weekendwanderlust

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  7. I’ve been to 4 of the Seven Wonders (not the Hagia Sofia, but otherwise the same as you). It truly is incredible to think of people building these back when they didn’t have machinery — nor endless permit applications and inspectors, I presume. We picked the Mutianyu section to visit because my kids’ friends highly recommended the luge there. We visited in October, and there weren’t too many people there. I do remember being somewhat surprised at all the steps. #WkendTravelInspiration

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  10. The terrain surrounding the Great Wall looks rather barren and dry. Is this normal for China? If we ever get to China and the Great Wall this will come in hadndy

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  12. The view at the top is really spectacular! ! I’m looking at your pictures and thinking how lucky your girls are. They have already been to so many great places!

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  14. great practical information on seeing the wall. I don’t do well with steep, especially going down but the views seem worth braving it. i hope to do this one day!

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  16. Seeing – and walking – the Great Wall is high on my husband’s wish list. I never thought I had any desire to do this until he starting bringing it up and now, it’s high on my wish list also. I hope we make it there someday – there are so many places to see!

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  17. This place is so breathtaking! In China, I have only been to Shanghai. I can’t believe I have not made it to Beijing and to the Great Wall yet (given that there are so many good offers from Los Angeles). The Mutianyu section looks like a great alternative to Badaling. I have seen pictures of Badaling and the crowds can get crazy. #TPThursday

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  18. Ultimately, as long as I had the chance to see the Great Wall of China in person, it wouldn’t really matter to me which part I’d get to see. However least amount of crowds is usually a winner on my trips 😉

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  19. The Great Wall is on my bucket list! I’ll have to keep this in mind for future travels. I’m all for going to the less crowded section. I think it would be fun to take the luge down too, although probably a little scary too!

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  23. Beautiful photos. I always LOVE the tours you take us on. Places I’ll probably never be able to travel to. But i get to see wonderful photos of the areas. Thank you.

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  27. It’s good there is a cable option for those that want to see it, but can’t. My mom had Polio, so I know she’d be one that would take the cable car.

    How cool is that! You go see the sweetest things! I love all the surroundings. Lots to see for sure.

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  29. WOW! How far were you able to walk the Great Wall of China? Was it very difficult to walk and would a person like me with a cane be able to walk it? Looking at your photos it doesn’t look like there were any towns or cities. How did you get to any particular location to start? I’m asking far to many question. I better stop because if I don’t I’ll be asking more questions. See ya Rhonda.

    Cruisin Paul

    Reply

    • We were on the Mutianyu section, and we walked the entire 3.4 miles and back. It was steep in parts, and many of the steps did not have handrails. From my understanding, Badaling is better suited for a person who walks with a cane. Both sections of the wall are about an hour outside of Beijing, and where we were it did seem isolated. We took the cable car up from the carpark, thus determining our start point.

      Reply

  32. I’m so glad you wrote about this subject, Rhonda. My husband and I will be going on a cruise to Yangtze Rive in October and we were thinking of visiting the Great Wall as well. I am not sure if we’ll make it there, but if we do the information you provided will come in very handy. Thanks for sharing this.

    Reply

  35. I created my signature as a .png and add it as a watermark when I export my photos. I use Aperture. It’s not as difficult as it sounds. You can do it in Photoshop too, but it takes more steps.

    Reply

  39. We have actually been to China, Shenyang and toured farm fields for our company. Spent a lot of time in the car, saw farmers still using donkeys to pull their carts. We loved the food, we were taken to so many wonderful restaurants that prepared special foods for us. We weren’t close the great wall, sounds like a wonderful excursion.

    Reply

    • Beijing was one of five cities we visited whilst in China. We took the train once, but mostly we flew, so we didn’t get to see as much real life as you did.

      Reply

  40. And there’s that Chinese saying, you aren’t really a man until you climb the great wall… Or something to that effect.

    I think the wall is amazing. We climbed the Jinshanling portion – or I should say, I climbed a portion of the Jinshanling portion. But, I also love that you see pieces of it as you travel through China.

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  42. LOL- I didn’t know there were stair either. I also was surprised how steep it was in other parts, without stairs. (This stair section was the steepest we encountered.)

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  43. The foot massage was an extra bonus. I had only asked for an appointment at the wellness center, and that’s how it started out. Lucky us 🙂

    Reply

    • When you get there, remember that the Mutianyu section is much less crowded than the more popular Badaling section. It is a bit further, but worth the effort.

      Reply

  47. Definitively an amazing place!! We only have been in China as a stopover to Australia. It’s also in our bucket list, but at the bottom 😛

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    • So as a stopover do they let you out of the airport. I would imagine not as we had to have our visas in advance.

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  48. Never been to the great wall of China – but definitely a MUST-SEE I think… Looks amazing, and just being there would be awesome:) Thanks for taking me along there today Rhonda:-)

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  53. Never been but it looks amazing. I’ve walked along Hadrians a bit and round the walls of Chester many times.. They probably don’t come near to the great Wall of China!

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  55. Ah, I guess I should have clarified. We drove the place to get our feet massaged. They were not related events, only in that they took place on the same day.

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  56. My 7 year old has been begging to go visit China since he was 4 and first saw Ni Hao Kia Lan on Disney. He wants to try dumplings and walk the Great Wall, I want to see the Terracotta Army. I hope to take him in the next couple of years. I showed him your pictures and he thought they were great. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    • Honestly, I couldn’t tell you which of those two historical landmarks I preferred. I would also add a visit to Chengdu to see the Panda Research Center.

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  57. We hired a private guide in Beijing for a few days to take us to the places we wanted to go. The foot massage was actually the first step on a well-check up in traditional Chinese medicine – a “free” event ended up costing a fortune in “herbal drugs” that all ended up in a bin somewhere as we traveled through the middle east.

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  58. This is amazing. Such beautiful photos. I would love to see the wall. But Egypt is first on my list. 🙂

    Carrie~Anne at That Dizzy Chick

    Reply

  59. The Great Wall is absolutely mind-blowing! I’ve never been there but my brother in law has. Looks like quite a hike, especially those steep steps. Your world travels are very impressive 😀

    Reply

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