Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China (萬里長城 or Wànlǐ Chángchéng) is a collection of fortifications and border walls built across the northern borders of China. They were built both to consolidate Chinese territories, clearly demarking the territory, as well as to defend those territories from nomadic groups from the Eurasian steppe. They were built in dozens of stages, some dating back to the Spring and Autumn period (771-476 BCE). The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, connected existing fortifications between 221 and 206 BCE in order to protect regions from attacks from nomads. The original walls were built from compacted earth by forced laborers and ran from Gansu to the coast. Later dynasties also built walls in these areas, but they didn’t always follow the original routes. The Han dynasty (202 BCE - 220 CE) extending the walls westward. The Qi dynasty (550 - 574 CE) built almost 1000 miles of new walls, but it’s the Ming walls which largely survive today, and which have the famous combination of battlements and watchtowers that spring to mind when we think of the walls. All the walls together, including branches and sections no longer connected to the main system, measure approximately 21,196 km (13,171 miles). However, many sections of the wall have fallen into disrepair and are closed to the public.

All areas of the Great Wall of China have their own unique characteristics based on the landscape they were built in. One of the most popular sections to visit from Beijing is the Mutianyu section. With shuttle buses, a cable car, a chairlift, and a toboggan ride to descend, it’s one of the more accessible and fun sections to visit. It also has impressive guard towers built in the Ming style and great views, and it’s a good introduction for those who want to experience the Great Wall on a short day trip from Beijing.

Simatai has some unique features, such as obstacle walls within the main walls, used to fend off enemies who made it over the battlements. It’s also one of the only stretches of wall you can visit after dark, with a shorter stretch illuminated so that visitors can explore safely. If you decide to visit at night then you’ll have to take the cable car up and down, which means the ticket is slightly more expensive. Simatai is also next to Gubei Water Town, a reconstructed historic town where you can experience traditional arts and culture. Some visitors feel that Gubei Water Town is an inauthentic tourist trap, but others find a visit to be informative and fun, especially if you visit outside of the peak tourist times.

Badaling is the busiest section of the Great Wall, and it is also the place where most politicians and official visitors to China are taken. Queen Elizabeth II, Richard Nixon, and Gorbachev all visited Badaling on their trips to China. It’s extremely busy, and the wall itself has been restored several times over the years, not often subtly, but you’ll get great views of the wall disappearing into the distant hills. There’s a daily visitor cap of 65,000 and in the high season, even that massive number of tickets can sell out! Since 2020, the Badaling section is one of the easiest sections to reach, with a new high-speed train service leaving from Beijing Railway Station and going directly to Badaling.

Huanghuacheng was built to protect a mausoleum built by Emperor Yongle, today known as the Ming Tombs. It’s much less popular than other sections of the wall, and as a result, it’s the ideal spot to visit if you can’t stand crowds. It’s also close to a beautiful lake and really takes on the character of the season of your visit. However, it hasn’t been fully restored, so expect a hike when you visit, and to see some ruined areas. Some tour providers combine a visit to the Huanghuacheng wall with a trip to the Ming Tombs.

Jinshanling is another quiet section of wall since it’s quite a distance from Beijing. You can hike almost 6 km (almost 4 miles) along this section, and it features a high density of interesting watchtowers and inscribed bricks. From April to the middle of November, you can take a direct bus from Dongzhimen Transport Hub, and it’s trickier to reach outside of the warm season.

It depends on what you mean by space. You can see it from low Earth orbit, where the International Space Station lies, with a telescope, but only during perfect weather conditions. It’s much easier to make out cities from space, especially at night, because they make a bigger impact due to pollution and light, whereas the Great Wall of China nestles into its surroundings, is largely unlit, and you’d really need to know where to look in order to catch sight of it.

Some sections of the Great Wall of China are easier to reach than others. One of the most convenient ways to visit the wall is to join a group tour (either by coach or a small group tour traveling by minibus), which will provide transport and a guide who will provide tickets as well as a guided tour when you arrive at the section of wall you’ll be visiting. On the other hand, several parts of the wall have information boards for visitors, and it’s very difficult to get lost once you make it to the wall. If you prefer to sightsee by yourself, on your own schedule, then you don’t need to worry about missing out without a tour guide.

It depends on which section of the wall you are visiting. The Mutianyu wall has a cable car or a chairlift to get you from the bottom to the top, and Badaling also has a cable car. However, the wall itself can be extremely steep, with uneven flooring and steps, so even walking a few hundred yards can be challenging for those with limited mobility. There are ramps for wheelchair-users at the Mutianyu section, but visitors have reported that these are quite steep and that they needed a companion to help them conquer the path. The Badaling Great Wall is more wheelchair-friendly, with a special lane for wheelchair users and a gradually-sloping ramp between tower 1 and tower 3. For those who love to hike, consider visiting some of the less-busy sections of the wall such as Jinshanling or Huanghuacheng, as you can hike more than two miles along the walls in relative peace.

No. The sections that do connect to each other to form a single wall stretch over 8046 km (over 5000 miles), which would take around 18 months to walk in its entirety. However, on that shorter distance, there are areas which are completely ruined or even underwater, and which aren’t open to the public. You can walk quite a long way, though you might need to take breaks and take each section separately. The wall can be extremely steep in places where it winds over the tops of mountains, so it would also be a challenging hike rather than an easy stroll along a fixed path.