The official survey by the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China reveals that Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Shanxi are the top three regions boasting the most Great Wall relics. The walls, crossing 26 degrees of longitude, and not machine-made, appear in totally diversified status and sceneries. Generally the walls in east China are kept in good condition, while those in the wild northwest have been heavily weathered or damaged.

Beijing, owning only 5.38% of all the wall relics throughout China, has the quintessence of the Ming Great Wall. The best-preserved and most-visited sections are generally within 130 km north of downtown Beijing.

• First-time visitors to Beijing: Badaling, or Mutianyu
• Return visitors: Juyongguan, or Simatai (with Gubei Water Town)
• Experienced hikers: Jiankou (wild and dangerous)
• Best sections out of Beijing: Shanhaiguan in Hebei, Jiayuguan in Gansu, Zhenbeitai in Shaanxi

Top 10 Great Wall Sections to Visit
List of All Great Wall Sections

spring and autumn, from March to October
 For first-time visitors to China, Badaling with the most representative Great Wall and the highest popularity is your first choice. Climb up to find the ‘Ture Hero’ tablet inscribed by Chairman Mao, and do not miss the museum at the foot of the mountain, which specializes in Great Wall’s history, construction, military use, and conservation status.

Badaling’s popularity leads to overcrowding at peak holiday times, so you are recommended to visit Mutianyu during weekends or big holidays, as this allows a more comfortable travel experience for you to enjoy the magnificent beauty of the Great Wall. Try the exciting toboggan down the Great Wall if you like.

People who have been to these two sections can choose from Juyongguan, Jinshanling, Gubeikou, and Simatai around Beijing.
 Breathable and sun-proof clothes in summer; warm and wind-proof clothes in winter; comfortable walking shoes; food and water supply; camera, mobile phone, power bank; tissues; other personal necessities.
 8:00 – 10:00 Bus 877 from Deshengmen to Badaling takes 1 to 1.5 hours; tourist bus line from Dongzhimen Wai Station to Mutianyu takes 1.5 to 2 hours.
10:00 – 13:00 2 to 3 hours’ hiking on the Great Wall; cable car is available.
13:00 – 14:00 Have lunch in a local fast food restaurant at the foot of the wall.
14:00 – 16:00 Return trip: bus 877 from Badaling; bus h23 from Mutianyu, and transfer to bus 916 Express.
* You can add another attraction in this day according to your own pace. The Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven in downtown Beijing, and Ming Tombs near Badaling are good choices.
 How to Visit the Great Wall - Plan a Perfect Day Trip
How to Get to the Great Wall from Beijing
How much does it cost to visit the Great Wall?
10 Insider Tips for Great Wall Travel - Dos and Don’ts

The Great Wall of China has long been the dream of hikers all over the world. What would it feel to walk the whole length of the Great Wall? William Edgar Geil, an American traveler and geographer and the first to hike the entire Great Wall in 1908, answered this question in his books and pictures. Dong Yaohui, a famous Great Wall expert, together with his two friends, hiked 7,400 km west from Shanhaiguan to Jiayuguan in 508 days from 1984 to 1985, becoming the first Chinese to finish walking the entire length of the Great Wall. “It was like a non-stop challenge of uphill and downhill, summer heat and winter chill, and exhausting long-distance walking," Dong recalled, “The Great Wall is alive, not cold and dull. When you put your palm on the wall, you are shaking hands with Chinese ancestors.” This long hike greatly enhanced Great Wall’s international visibility, and the wall was listed as a World Heritage site two years later in 1987. Since then, several Chinese and foreign hikers and explorers succeeded in walking the full length of the wall, leaving many fascinating stories.
 How Long to Walk the Great Wall of China
How to Hike the Full Length of the Great Wall of China? 8,851.8 km!
Has anyone walked the Great Wall of China? – William Edgar Geil in 1908, Dong Yaohui in 1985, Liu Yutian in 1986, William Lindsay in 1987, Stephen Robert Loken in 2011…

Hikers prefer the ruins of dilapidated walls to the restored Great Wall. Walking the entire Great Wall is not an easy thing, but short hikes along some wild sections are popular. The Great Wall in Beijing totals 573 km (356 mi), including only 40 km being well repaired, while more than 500 km in wild and primitive condition. Jiankou, Simatai, Huanghuacheng, Jinshanling, Hefangkou, and Gubeikou are popular sections full of wild fun but dangerous and physically demanding. For people without hiking experience, the wild walls are not recommended. Choose an average route and join a hiking group with a professional leader if you are interested. For experienced hikers, make sure to find partners, choose the right season and best time, study the route carefully in advance, and make full preparations. Always tell relatives or friends where you intend to go and say when you expect to complete your journey.
 Best Great Wall Hike: Top 5 Wild Hiking Routes
Great Wall Hiking Checklist: 15 Things that Expert Hikers Always Take
How to Camp on the Great Wall

The Great Wall of China is on the list of 100 endangerd sites issued by the World Monuments Fund. The renovated walls open as tourist sites can not stand for the whole wall. In fact, less than 10% of the wall is visible to ordinary tourists. The real majority, more than 90%, are crumbling walls snaking between the mountains, undeveloped and poorly protected.

The length of the walls built by different dynasties totaled 50,000 km, while the existing Great Wall is 21,196 km, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China. That means, half of the walls has disappeared in the course of history.

What’s more serious is that the current number of 21,196 km is not constant. Instead, it keeps reducing! 30% of the Great Wall is disappearing at an alarming rate, mainly for two reasons. One is natural weathering. For thousands of years, the Great Wall has endured the ravages of the gobi desert. Plants growing into some walls accelerate its decay. Some walls and watchtowers are tumbledown, likely to be destroyed by just a storm. Another is reckless human behavior. Before 2000, people in remote areas, lacking the awareness to protect the Great Wall, knocked down bricks to sell, stole them to build houses, or even dug holes in the walls to raise livestock. Even in recent years, someone still pulled down the walls for profits. A shocking case was that in Xinxiang of Henan Province, the 2,300-year-old Zhao Great Wall has been severely damaged for mining and 2,155 meters (2,357 yards) of it has disappeared forever in the past over 10 years from 2012 to 2023. 

Substantial measures to protect the Great Wall began in the 1980s, and until 2006, the State Council of China promulgated the Regulation on the Protection of Great Wall, effectively strengthening the conservation of the walls, forts, passes, and beacon towers, and standardizing the development and utilization of the Great Wall. However, are you aware now? Regulations can only regulate some human activities, while someone still damage the walls illegally, let along inevitable weathering for walls exposed to the vast natural environment. We will do our best to make it stand longer, but hurry up to go and see it before it disappears!
 Current Situation of Great Wall
Regulation on the Protection of Great Wall
Great Wall Protection Stories and Reports