Great Wall Day Tour, No Shopping

Welcome to take this exhilarating Great Wall day tour! The Great Wall is not only an iconic attraction in China, but also boasts one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This morning, your guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel at the appointed time, and then lead you to take in the most essential three Great Wall sections within one day. We kindly suggest you have an abundant breakfast at the hotel to keep strength for your once-a-lifetime Great Wall experience!

Your first stop will be the Juyongguan Great Wall, which is on the way to the Badaling section. Together with Shanhaiguan in Hebei Province and Jiayuguan in Gansu Province, Juyongguan is one of the three impregnable passes of the Great Wall of China. We will make a photo stop here. You will have a distant view of the winding ramparts stretching to the mountaintop from the bottom of the valley.

Then, we will continue to drive to the Badaling Great Wall, the best-preserved section which well demonstrates the essence of the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644 AD). Your guide will provide full explanations and leave you enough time there to explore.

As the most visited section of the Great Wall, Badaling stretches a total of about 3,741 meters (12,273 feet) and has received many famous visitors including Nixon, Thatcher and Obama. As an important outpost along the northern border of the capital city, Badaling Great Wall was built of stones and bricks with an average height of 7.8 meters (26 feet) and a width of 5.8 to 6.5 meters (19 to 21.3 feet). Once entering the gate of the scenic area, you will see the Badaling Pass in front of you, which separates the Great Wall into northern and southern parts with 12 watchtowers along the northern part and 7 on the southern.

Among them, the eighth tower on the northern side, which is 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) away from the pass, occupies the highest position in this area and can provide you with a panoramic view of Badaling. By the way, please be careful of the section between No. 3 South Tower and No. 4 South Tower as it is the steepest with a slope of nearly 70 degrees. ► Lunch Suggestion:
Today's lunch is not included but your guide is happy to recommend some food. On your way off from the Great Wall at Badaling, stop by a restaurant called Liji Lao Beijing Zha Jiang Mian to enjoy their star dish Noodles with Soybean Paste (Zha Jiang Mian). This is a traditional Beijing dish and recognized as one of China's top ten noodle dishes. Over time it has somehow seeped into local daily life. With the origin tracing back to the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), it naturally represents a significant aspect of China's traditional noodle culture. Just give it a try! It not only satisfies your taste buds but also offers a cultural experience. Average cost per person: CNY 40 / USD 5.

After that, we will continue to another famous section, Mutianyu Great Wall, which is the most beautiful among all sections with over 96% greening rate and dense watchtowers. You will take the cable car to go up and down, and the fare has been included in our price. 

The earliest construction of Mutianyu Great Wall can date back to the Northern Qi Dynasty (550 to 577 AD), but it was later rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty in 1569 AD. Connecting Beishicheng Great Wall on the east and Jiankou Great Wall on the west, Mutianyu has 23 watchtowers in total, around one per 100 meters (328 feet). Among them, the Zhengguan Terrace is the highlight, as three watchtowers were built side by side, very rare among all great wall sections. Besides, the Big Corner Tower located at the eastern end of Mutianyu stands at the highest peak and is the best viewing point of the whole scenic area.

Having visited three Great Wall sections, you must wonder what makes them stand for millennia. Besides the hard and solid bricks, the adhesive made of glutinous rice mortar between bricks is also very important. It is very reliable and could be compared with cement today. Thanks to the high-viscosity glutinous rice mortar, we can see the strong and impregnable Great Wall today.

After the visit, we will escort you back to the hotel to conclude this Great Wall day tour. Wish you a nice tour!