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Great Wall of China
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- Name
- Great Wall of China
- Continent
- ASIA
- Alt Name:
- Changcheng
- Country:
- China
- Period:
- Imperial China
- Sub-Region:
- -
- Date:
- 300BC - 201BC
- City/Town:
- Badalingzhen
- Figure:
- Qin Dynasty
- Resorts:
- Beijing,
Badalingzhen,
- Related:
- Great Wall of China - Mutianyu, Great Wall of China - Huanghuacheng,
The Forbidden City - Beijing, Terracotta Army,
about Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is an iconic structure and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Great Wall was originally made up of several different defensive walls constructed throughout China between of 476 and 221 BC.
It was during the reign of the first Emperor Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC that the Great Wall of China was amalgamated into the single structure we know today. This process took around ten years, 180 million cubic metres of earth and over one million workers to complete.
Amongst the many legends surrounding The Great Wall of China is the belief that some of the structure is made of the bones of workers who died during its construction.
At its peak, the Great Wall of China stretched for approximately 5,500 miles from Shanhaiguan in east China to Lop Nur in the west.
The Great Wall of China was built in order to protect China’s borders; however it never really fulfilled this goal, even when it was reconstructed during the Ming era after the Battle of Tumu in 1449. This project took a staggering hundred years to complete, not to mention an untold amount of hard labour.
Nevertheless, whilst this stronger, brick renovation did provide some defensive qualities, even this didn’t stop the invasion of China by the Manchu armies in 1644. After this, the Great Wall of China was then left untouched for centuries.
Today, The Great Wall of China is the country’s most famous tourist attraction and one can find sections of the wall in various places. The most popular, and therefore most touristy, of these are in Bādálǐng and the neighbouring Juyongguan, around 70km from Beijing. This part of the wall was built during the Ming Dynasty and, whilst much of it has been has been overhauled by modern restoration, it remains the most frequently visited section of the Great Wall.
It’s best to visit this section during the week to avoid the weekend crush.
Just as empires rise and fall so do entry fees and opening hours! While we work as hard as we can to ensure the information provided here about Great Wall of China is as accurate as possible, the changing nature of certain elements mean we can't absolutely guarantee that these details won't become a thing of the past. If you know of any information on this page that needs updating you can add a comment above or now.
contact details
Address: Great Wall of China, Bādálǐng (Bada Lingzhen), Huairou District, Be
Phone: Contact tourist office
useful information
Directions:
From Beijing, you can find numerous ways to reach Bādálǐng from the Beijing Tourist Information Center or through your hotel. Guided tours are available. Via public transport, you can take bus 919 from the Deshengmen gate or line A of the subway, both of which go to Bādálǐng
Ticket Information:
This section of the Great Wall is open daily, 7am-6pm in winter and 6am to 10pm during summer. Admission costs Y45 and a further Y60 if you want to ride the cable cars.
Links:
http://www.cnto.org/beijing.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China
Historvius is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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