Unique Experience of Rebuilding the Great Wall

Your China Great Wall Tour will begin from early on in the morning. We will pick you up in your hotel and then drive you to the Badaling Great Wall which is located to the northwest of Beijing. The distance between them is about 73 kilometers. It will take you about 80 minutes to get there. The Badaling Great Wall has a long history. It started to be built about 1,500 years ago and many emperors have been here. Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty (221 BC-207 BC), once came here after he made an inspection tour of his country. In 1368, the last emperor of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) escaped from his palace because his enemy had overthrown his rule. When he got to the Badaling Great Wall, he bid farewell to his country in this place. Then he went to the north of the Badaling Great Wall and never came back again. Zhu Di, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, once resisted foreign aggression when he was standing on the Badaling Great Wall. If you go there, you may realize the feelings of these emperors when they came there.

After visiting the Badaling Great Wall, you will go to participate in rebuilding the Great Wall. Since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, the government has committed to repairing the Great Wall. Although the Great Wall is not used to defend against military aggression anymore, it is still an important historic landmark both in China and in the world. That’s why we need to try our best to protect it. However, there are still some sections of the Great Wall that have not been repaired. We will take you to a part of the Great Wall that is full of rubble. The local guide will tell you how the Great Wall was built. At the same time, you will be able to get a few bricks that belong to the Great Wall. Then you can use them to rebuild the Great Wall and render the walls in cement.  

After lunch, we will take you to visit the Temple of Heaven. It is located in the south of Beijing and covers an area of about 2,730,000 square meters. The Temple of Heaven was used as a place of worship and emperors held sacrificial ceremonies each year in this place. There are some special attractions in the Temple of Heaven. For example, the Changing Clothes Platform is a place for emperors to change clothes. It is close to the Illustrious Prosperous Gate, the south gate of the Temple of Heaven. In ancient times, only the emperors were able to wear yellow clothes. So emperors always wore yellow clothes to show their status. But they had to wear sky blue clothes when they were holding a ceremony in the Temple of Heaven. Therefore, they needed a place to change their clothes. That’s why the Changing Clothes Platform was built. This platform is surrounded by white marble railings. Ancient people would use these railings to pitch a golden tent the day before the ceremony. The next day, the emperor would change into sky blue clothes in this golden tent before he went to hold a sacrificial ceremony to offer sacrifices to Heaven.

After visiting the Temple of Heaven, your one-day tour in Beijing is going to be finished. If you want to visit more places in China, please don’t hesitate to contact us again!

Temple of Heaven

Badaling Great Wall

Author: Zhang Xinli