DISCOVERING THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA FOR THE FIRST TIME
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| Badaling Great wall - taken while on the cable car |
Asian history is one of my favorite subjects back in high school and I have always admired the rich history and culture of Chinese civilization. Having been granted the opportunity to visit Beijing made me more appreciate how dedicated they were to culture preservation despite the modernization and urbanization that inevitably unfolds.
It was winter time when we visited Beijing and for a traveler not used to mountaineering and hiking, this is the best time to visit the Great Wall of China.
As a short guide, the Ming Dynasty has been known as an era of construction and these portions of the Great Wall are remains from the said Dynasty. The sites of the Great Wall to choose from are: Badaling, Simatai, Jinshanling, Mutianyu, Gubeikou, Huanghuacheng and Jiankou (Arrow Nock). The degree of climb difficulty and the endurance to undertake one is a major consideration as to which part of the wall would you like to visit.
For us, the cable car was a major consideration and the distance from the city center, making the Badaling Great Wall as the best choice.
Admission fee is: CNY 45 (April 1 to Oct 31) and CNY 40 (Nov. 1 to March 31). As for the cable car, it costs CNY40 for a single trip and CNY60 for a round trip. Opening hours vary depending on the weather, during summer it is open from 630AM until 7PM and on winter, from 7AM to 6PM.
Embarking from the cable car, we took a short walk and a lot of photo sessions to create our own postcards. There are portions of the wall which are steep and so the handrail on the sides become my trusted ally. A lot of tourists visit this side of the Great Wall and so it becomes a rare opportunity that you would be able to get a solo picture with no other tourists instantly appearing before the lens of your camera.
I highly recommend that you avail of tour guides when visiting the Great Wall of China as this is a bit far from Beijing City. There are numerous tour guides offering their services in the city itself and even hotels can do the arrangements for tourists. For us, we availed of the tours from Dreams Travel and Cafe.
We'll try to visit other parts of the Great Wall of China on our next visit.
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| surrounded by tourists |
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