Great Wall of China Tours

The length of the Great Wall in the Qin and Han dynasties and before was more than 10,000 meters. The length of the Ming Great Wall is 8,851.8 kilometers. So the total length of the Great Wall of China is more than 21,000 kilometers. The Great Wall is the largest military defense project in ancient China. It has a long history of construction, dating back even to the Western Zhou Dynasty. After the Qin Dynasty defeated the Six Kingdoms and unified the whole of China, the construction of the Great Wall began. It was from this time that the name of the Great Wall of China emerged. During the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall was built extensively, and a large part of the Great Wall we see now was built during the Ming Dynasty.

In Beijing, all the Great Wall is open to visitors all year round. The ideal months for hiking the Great Wall are spring, early summer, and autumn: March, April, May, June, September, October, and early November.

Spring in Beijing starts around mid-March, but March is still a bit cold. A warm spring usually starts in early April and ends in early May. Spring is a pleasant time to visit the Great Wall. But if you hike the Great Wall, you will still feel a bit cold. Especially in March, you need to wear a jacket in the morning and at night because the temperature drops dramatically between day and night.

If you visit the Great Wall in summer, please prepare sunglasses, sunscreen, a hat, and water in case of heatstroke. Summer is the rainy season in Beijing, so pack rain gear for your visit. Since July and August are school holidays, there will be a large number of domestic tourists. You may need to wait in line.

Autumn in Beijing is very cool. You will see blue sky and white clouds, bright sunshine, and colorful leaves. Autumn in Beijing, especially the two months from mid-September to mid-November, is the best time of the year to visit the Great Wall. It is always comfortable outside. The temperature varies greatly between early morning and late evening. So, you can wear a little more in the morning and evening. Be sure to wear a comfortable pair of sneakers when visiting the Great Wall. Sometimes the sun can be very strong in the afternoon in autumn, so it is best to have sunglasses, sunscreen, and a sun hat ready.

Hiking the Great Wall in winter can be a bit challenging, mainly due to the very cold weather in Beijing in December, January, and early February each year. If you visit the Great Wall in winter, it is recommended that you wear a warm down jacket and bring winter accessories such as hats, earmuffs, gloves, and scarves.

The Great Wall resources are mainly distributed in 15 provinces, including Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.

There are very many scenic spots of the Great Wall in Beijing, about 20 or so. The most famous ones are Badaling Great Wall, Mutianyu Great Wall, Simatai Great Wall, Jinshanling Great Wall, Huanghuacheng Great Wall, Juyongguan Great Wall, Badaling Shuiguan Great Wall, and Jiankou Great Wall.

Tianjin Huangyaguan Ancient Great Wall preserves the original Northern Qi border wall. There are more than a dozen nearly complete buildings and platforms, as well as many ancient Great Wall buildings such as sentry towers, beacon towers, and parapets.

There are also many sections of the Great Wall in Hebei Province. Dongjiakou Wild Great Wall in Qinhuangdao is located 38 kilometers away from Qinhuangdao city and is one of the important gates of the Great Wall of Jizhen built by the famous military general Qi Jiguang in the Ming Dynasty. It is the northern wing of the fortress that guards the Shanhaiguan Pass.

Lianyu Wild Great Wall is the Great Wall of Northern Qi. The total length of the Northern Qi Great Wall in Qinhuangdao is 25.95 kilometers. Now workers have started to restore this section of the Great Wall, but it is very difficult to do because of the dangerous terrain.

The Zushan Wild Great Wall is 48.5 kilometers from Qinhuangdao city. It is a mountainous national scenic spot with majestic mountain scenery as the main feature and certain historical and cultural connotations. Zu Mountain was formed as an independent mountain by the geological and geographical processes of uplifting, fracturing, weathering, and denudation of the granite intrusion of the Yanshan Mountain orogeny about 100 million years ago. Its highest peak, Tiannv Peak, is 1,424 meters above sea level, slightly inferior to Mount Tai. When you climb Tianniu Peak, you can see the sunrise in the east, look at the Great Wall in the west and overlook the mountains in the north, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

The Great Wall of Li'erkou in Shanxi is a very quiet section of the Great Wall, like a paradise out of this world. Sunflowers and corn that stalks stand straight at the foot of the Great Wall in the summer are like guarding the Great Wall.

Yanggao Great Wall is a historically prominent section of the Great Wall of China. It has been praised by experts and scholars as well as those who are looking for the ancient Great Wall for its various forms and distinctive features. Under the blue sky, the winding Great Wall looks especially beautiful, and it is also a paradise for photographers!

Yanmenguan Great Wall is the most spectacular Great Wall in Shanxi and has been a must-see for soldiers since ancient times. This section is the most important section of the Great Wall in Shanxi.

The Guangwu Great Wall is the longest and most complete site of the old Great Wall preserved to date. Although this section of the Great Wall is the best-preserved, it is still in shambles.

Zhenbeitai in Shaanxi is one of the most magnificent and imposing structures among the Ming Great Wall sites and is one of the three wonders of the Great Wall.

The Great Wall in Ningxia province is 1507 kilometers long, with 517.9 kilometers of visible walls, 589 enemy platforms, 237 beacon towers, 25 customs forts, and discovered sites such as paved houses, trenches, and pincushion cellars.

Inner Mongolia is one of the most important provinces in the country in terms of Great Wall distribution, with a total length of 7,570 kilometers. Inner Mongolia includes the Great Wall from several historical periods, including the Warring States, Qin, Western Han, Eastern Han, Northern Wei, Northern Song, Western Xia, Jin, and Ming.

The western end of the Great Wall in the Qin, Han, and Ming Dynasties is in Gansu, with a total mileage of 4,000 km, accounting for a quarter of the country. Gansu is a province with abundant Great Wall resources and a rich Great Wall culture, the most famous of which is Jiayuguan. More than 40 kilometers southwest of Yongchang County, there is a place called Mao Bula. More than 2,800 meters above sea level, not far north of the village is the ancient Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty. Unlike the Badaling Great Wall, which is made of stone and bricks, the Great Wall here is all made of rammed earth.

Simatai Great Wall is located in Gubei Water Town, Miyun County, Beijing, about 120 kilometers from downtown, and is the only section of the Great Wall in China that preserves the original appearance of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. All other Great Wall scenic spots are open only during the daytime, so tourists who want to visit the Great Wall at night will have to come to Simatai Great Wall. Tickets for Simatai Great Wall are divided into daytime and nighttime, with daytime tickets starting to clear at 16:30 pm and night tours of the Great Wall opening at 18:00. Since it is darker to climb the Great Wall at night, the night tour of the Great Wall requires visitors to purchase a cable car ticket. Ascending the Simatai Great Wall by cable car, you can visit the area between the fifth and sixth beacon towers.

Helicopter tours are now available at both the Badaling Great Wall and the Mutianyu Great Wall. The majestic landscape of the Great Wall can be enjoyed all year round, and there is no better way to see its full glory than by helicopter.

Sitting in a comfortable seat, you can see the Great Wall of China, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, from a new perspective and at a different altitude. You can enjoy the fascinating scenery of the Great Wall from the sky. You will surely enjoy a surprising, exciting, and luxurious trip and fulfill your dream of a flight.

We can avoid the crowds and visit the Great Wall in a new, unique and exclusive way. You can take a helicopter ride, accompanied by the roar of the propellers, and begin a wonderful journey through the blue sky and white clouds. As you look down on the majestic Great Wall and leave a beautiful moment with your camera, you are sure to feel the vision open up. Although the 15-30 minute helicopter tour is relatively short, it will certainly leave lifetime memories.

Badaling Great Wall is the essence of the Ming Great Wall, the most outstanding representative of the Great Wall of China. The north cable car starts at the end of the Guntiangou parking lot and goes up to the "Hero Slope" in the north eight floors of the Great Wall. North trail was built in 1987, and the equipment and infrastructure were completely upgraded in 2014. The carriage is an 8-seat fully enclosed barrier-free passenger compartment. It is a safe and comfortable ride with a wide sightseeing view. The fastest running speed of the ropeway is 6 meters per second. Visitors can take the cable car for 8 minutes to reach the "Hero Slope", and then climb the highest peak of the Badaling Great Wall. Along the way, you can overlook the beautiful scenery, the Guanting Reservoir, and the main venue of the Beijing World Park. Looking eastward, you can see the Ming Great Wall Beacon Tower at your fingertips. On the back side, you can also see Haituo Peak and the 2022 Winter Olympic ski site.

The Mutianyu Great Wall cable car was built in 1987. The cable car is 723 meters long and can run up to 58 carriages. The cable car has operated safely for 100,000 hours without accidents and has received more than 10 million visitors from China and abroad. The cable car ends at an altitude of 640 meters above sea level, located at the No.14 beacon tower, which is the best passing point to the famous Jiankou Great Wall and the shooting spot of the movie "If You Are the One". For more than thirty years, the Mutianyu Great Wall cable car has received many leaders from various countries and has been praised by the heads of state.

In addition to the safe and convenient cable car, Mutianyu Great Wall scenic spot also has an exciting and interesting toboggan. The toboggan is 1580 meters long and is an emerging entertainment facility that combines extreme sports and transportation. The stainless-steel slot slide can make you feel the thrill and excitement of flying close to the ground. You can adjust the speed freely through the manual brake. Along with the speed of the ups and downs of the mountain, you will arrive at the foot of the Great Wall safely and comfortably.

I. Pre-trip preparation
A. Clothing and basic supplies
a. Clothing: Most of the Great Wall in Beijing is located between the ridges at an altitude of about 300m-1000m, so it is best to prepare a set of outdoor jackets and pants with outstanding breathability and windproof performance and a pair of hiking shoes or sneakers. Even in the hottest summer weather, it is not recommended to wear open-footed shoes or sandals to the Great Wall.
b. Supplies: If you go to the Wild Great Wall area, it is better to prepare a compass or GPS. Cell phone signal is not good in the mountain area, so if you go to the unexplored Great Wall, you should go in a group of 3-4 people. Hiking poles, walkie-talkies, and drinking water are a must. In addition, there are some small supplies, such as sunglasses, sun hat, rain gear, gloves, food, energy drinks, fresh fruits and vegetables, band-aids, gauze, common medicines, insect repellent, cell phones, cameras, etc.

B. Traveler tips
a. Please understand the Great Wall Protection Regulations before visiting the Great Wall on your own, and consciously abide by the relevant regulations.
b. When traveling along the Great Wall in Beijing, you should respect the culture of the local people to avoid conflicts and unhappiness with the locals.
c. Those who need to camp near the Great Wall should consciously clean up and take their campground garbage to a town area that is capable of handling it.
d. Hiking on the Great Wall consumes a large amount of water, so you should carry an adequate amount of drinking water.

II. The Great Wall travel precautions
A. In any case, life safety is the first. Against climbing the wild and unfrequented Great Wall.
B. Do not force yourself to make dangerous movements to climb over when you encounter more difficult sections. You can find a safer route.
C. Your bags do not rest between the body and the wall, very dangerous.
D. Some sections of the road are full of gravel and sand, shoes are not good enough to walk. So, you should wear a pair of antiskid shoes.
E. Wear thicker clothes because there are more thorns in some places.
F. Stand firm before taking pictures. You should especially pay attention to this point in the steep Great Wall.
G. It is best to travel with several people in a group when you climb the wild Great Wall or off the beaten track.