My roommate and I talked about ways to get to the Great Wall the night before I went, and she told me about a bus that was going to Badaling. I still insisted on taking the tour bus that night since I didn’t want to miss out on the joys of taking a tour. After I had fought with about half of the people offering tours at Qianmen, I was beginning to reconsider the regular bus as an option.
Bus No. 919 leaves from Deshengmen and passes various other bus stops on the way, such as Beijing long distance bus station, Xiao Ying, or Xi San Qi. You can get to Deshengmen taking the subway to Jishuitan station. Take exit B, look to the right as you walk out and you’ll be able to see Deshengmen about half a mile from the subway station. It’s the gray building that looks a bit like Qianmen. If you happen to just come from Qianmen, you will have no trouble recognizing it. Be careful on which bus you get. There are two 919s driving to two different destinations. As a foreigner, you will probably be immediately directed towards the Badaling bus, but don’t count on it; it’s best to ask the driver or the ticket seller. If they start shaking their head violently and push you out of the bus at your attempt to pronounce Badaling, you’re on the wrong bus. If you get on the bus at a station any other than Deshengmen, look for ticket sellers screaming “Badaling! Badaling!” into their megaphones.
The bus ride takes about 1 hour and costs either 6 or 12 Yuan, depending on whether your bus is air-conditioned or not. Stations are only announced in Chinese, but it is very hard to miss Badaling. It’s the first station after the bus drives into the mountainous area and has passed countless road signs announcing the “Great Wall of Badaling”.
I’ve been to two sections of the Great Wall before, Mutianyu and Jingshanling. The section at Mutianyu is pretty touristy, but nothing compared to Badaling.
People trying to fight their way through hords of other people…
The Olympic Emblem at Badaling
As a Chinese saying goes “A man who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man”. I’m not sure whether that includes taking the cable car and the pulley, but if you do feel too tired either to climb the wall or to walk back down, you have the option to take either. Each ride is 30 Yuan.
As opposed to Mutianyu, hawkers are surprisingly little aggressive while you’re still on your way to the Great Wall. This changes once you get there. Badaling resembles a market more than anything else. If you want to you can have you’re picture taken on a horse or a camel, get a certificate that you’ve climbed the Great Wall, or buy some slightly out of place Terracotta warriors and lots of other stuff. With the masses of other tourists trying to climb the Wall you have a fairly high chance of dodging the hawkers. Once you buy something though, there’ll be many more to surround you.
These vendors have to stay behind their counter and can’t follow you around…
I can really recommend taking a taxi to Simatai or other less crowded sections of the wall. Jingshanling used to be a really good place to go to, but it’s been rebuilt, and the climb is probably not as good as it used to be.
If you just want to go to Badaling, I would recommend taking bus no 919 from Deshengmen. In case you would rather take a tour, the ones from Qianmen include the bus ride, admittance to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs as well as lunch. They also include, as I found out, a pricey trip to Old Beijing and stops at various tourist shops. Needless to say it’s not a good idea to buy anything there. Hidden fees are common and don’t only affect foreigners but also Chinese tourists to some extent. As long as you don’t mind paying, this is not a problem. You are likely to be charged even more though if they notice you don’t care about the price. The tour will probably cost you around 200 Yuan. Add 15% foreigner fee to that, and you have a fairly realistic estimate of what you will be charged.
Chinese phrases you will be expected to understand when taking a tour:
“Kuai dianr!” (kwigh D R) – “Hurry up!!”
“Deng yihuir” (Dang E ho R) – “Wait a moment.” A moment on a Chinese tour can be anything between five minutes and two hours.
So, what’s so special about Badaling? Why is it so much more popular than the other areas?
For one thing it’s fairly close to Beijing, so it’s easy to get there. It probably was a section of strategic importance in the past. The short description of Badaling simply calls it the “essential” and “most outstanding” part of the wall. In any case, Badaling has been paid a lot of attention by the government, been restored and made a tourist attraction, and that’s why it’s popular today. People don’t really come because there is anything really special at Badaling, but because it is the most well-known section of the wall and therefore also the one most tour buses run to.
hey Mareika
how are you? it was good to read your great wall story here! just want to let you know that Beijing missed you—wudaokou missed you, mum missed you and i missed you
have fun at Heidelberg!