Intro – The meaning of Badaling in Chinese is reaches in eight directions. Badaling was given this name because this parts of the Great Wall is built on a series of mountain ridges that head off in many different directions. Badaling’s commanding position on head of these ridges, its excellent defensibility and convenient transport routes made Badaling a key strategic position in Beijing’s northern defense.
The Badaling parts of the Great Wall of China is the most popular, most crowded and most accessible parts. For at least half the year from mid Spring to mid Autumn, Badaling is so crowded that walking in some partss is brought almost to a standstill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkbzmcnNJWk
History – The Badaling parts is a Ming Dynasty wall that took eight years to build and was completed in 1505. It was the first parts of the Great Wall of China to be fully restored and it was opened to the public in 1957 during Mao’s disastrous Great Leap Forward.
Size – The parts of the Great Wall of China at Badaling is 3,741 meters long with 12 watch towers in the northern parts and six towers in the southern parts. The average altitude of Badaling above sea level is around1,000 meters and the highest point of Badaling is 1,015 meters.
On average the Great Wall of China at Badaling has a height of 7.8 meters and a width of 5.7 meters. Badaling is rumoured to be wide enough for five horses to gallop on side by side. It is wide but five horses would be a very tight squeeze.
Difficulty and state of the wall – The Badaling parts of the Great Wall of China is in excellent condition and very well maintained. The main parts of the wall is from the ticket office to Tower 8 which is the top of the chair lift. Walking the wall in this parts can be tiring but is not difficult and should not be a problem for the elderly or people with walking difficulties. The parts of the wall from Tower 8 to Tower 12 at the end has steep partss and is more difficult to walk.
All partss of the Badaling Great Wall of China have a metal hand rail on either side which makes walking Badaling very safe. The chair lift at Badaling runs from the near the ticket office all the way to Tower 8 which is the highest and the most crowded part of the wall.
Getting there – The Badaling parts of the Great Wall of China is by far the easiest to visit and you can get there by train, multiple bus lines, taxis, private cars and with tour groups.
Visiting the Great Wall of China there by train – Catching a train is the easiest and most comfortable way to reach Badaling and method I recommend. The S2 train to Badaling runs from Beijing North train station to the Badaling train station. The easiest way to reach Beijing North train station is to catch the subway to Xizhimen on subway line two then use the A exit which is right in front of the train station. The train ticket is 6rmb and the train takes just under 80 minutes. The trains leave Beijing North train station at 6:12am, 7:58am, 8:34am, 9:03am, 10:57am and 12:43pm.
Summary of Badaling Great Wall of China – For convenience, ease of access and low difficulty, Badaling is the best parts of the wall to visit. If you have walking difficulties then Badaling is again the best parts of the Great Wall to visit. The very dense crowds that are like a train in peak hour do detract a lot from the experience of being on the wall so I would make Badaling the last choice for most people.