# Badaling: map, what to do and when to go

At Badaling, 3.74 km of restored Great Wall attract more visitors than the other sections, about 80 km from Beijing. Built in 1504–1505 at a mountain pass, the wall has been open to the public since 1957, with stairs, a ticket office and a daily limit of 65,000 people.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Badaling: how do you get there by bullet train from Beijing?** The standard route is the Beijing–Zhangjiakou high-speed line, which leaves from Qinghe (or, for some schedules, Beijing North) for the station next to the wall, with departures every 30 to 60 minutes, a ¥16 to 31 ticket, and about 25 minutes of travel.
- **Badaling: what's the currency and how much is it worth?** The currency is the yuan renminbi (CNY, ¥), at about ¥7.1 to the dollar and ¥1.3 to the real in 2026.
- **Badaling: what's the best time to go?** From mid-September to the end of October is the best window, with 15 to 25°C and clear skies after the summer rains, and the leaves change color in the second half of October.

## The northern branch, as soon as the gate opens
Choose the earliest available train from Qinghe to Badaling Changcheng and check its arrival time before booking entry. Allow another 15 minutes to climb the roughly 102 m from the station to the surface.
- Beibalou: North Tower 8
- “Juyong Waizhen” Gate
- “Bú dào Chángchéng fēi hǎohàn” Stele
- South Branch and South Tower 4
- Badaling Changcheng Station

## The unrestored wall, the 1909 railway and the Hongyeling viewpoint
Start at the Badaling Remnant Great Wall, with its own admission: ruined towers, exposed Ming brick, and almost nobody.
- Badaling Remnant Great Wall
- China Great Wall Museum
- Zhan Tianyou Memorial, in Qinglongqiao
- Badaling National Forest Park

## Beibalou: North Tower 8
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-beibalou
Badaling · One to two hours
The highest point of the section, at 1,015 m, about 1 km of stairs from the north gate. It takes 40 to 60 minutes of steady climbing, and from there you see the wall follow the ridge in both directions until it's out of sight.
Check access

## “Juyong Waizhen” Gate
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-portao-juyong-waizhen
Badaling · Up to half an hour
The east gate, with the stone plaque dated 1505 identifying the post as an outer outpost of Juyongguan. The west gate, “Beimen Suoyue” (“the key to the north gate”), dates from 1582 and stands a few meters away.
Check access

## “Bú dào Chángchéng fēi hǎohàn” Stele
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-estela-bu-dao-changcheng-fei
Badaling · Up to half an hour
A block engraved with Mao Zedong's 1935 verse, “whoever doesn't reach the Wall is no hero”. It's the longest photo line on the site and the origin of the engraved-medal trade.
Check access

## South Branch and South Tower 4
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-ramo-sul
Badaling
Seven towers on gentler grades, with a fraction of the north side's crowds. Good for seeing the wall's line without being inside it.
Check access

## Badaling Remnant Great Wall
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-muralha-remanescente-de-badaling
Badaling
An unrestored stretch a few kilometers to the south, with towers in ruin, original brick exposed, and its own admission. It shows the difference between the 1505 wall and the wall rebuilt in the 1950s-80s.
Check access

## China Great Wall Museum
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-museu-da-grande-muralha-da-china
Badaling · Up to half an hour
An institution within the complex itself, devoted to the wall's construction, garrison life, and cartography. It has been closed for renovation since 2023, with reopening planned for late 2026 or early 2027; confirm it has reopened before counting on it in your itinerary.
Check access

## Zhan Tianyou Memorial, in Qinglongqiao
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-memorial-zhan-tianyou-em
Up to half an hour
Statue, tomb and small museum of the engineer of the 1909 railway, next to the station with the “V”-shaped switchback that solves the gradient. It's the section's piece of modern engineering, next to the old one.
Check access

## Badaling National Forest Park
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-parque-florestal-nacional-de
An adjoining reserve with the Hongyeling overlook, the only spot from which you can photograph the wall from outside it. Separate admission; red leaves in the second half of October.
Check access

## Badaling Changcheng Station
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-estacao-badaling-changcheng
Badaling
A high-speed station driven about 102 m into the mountain, opened on December 30, 2019. The escalator ride up to the surface takes several minutes and is, on its own, worth seeing.
Check access

## Cable car and toboggan
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/muralha/#g-lugar-teleferico
Badaling · Up to half an hour
The cable car goes up near North Tower 7, and the toboggan, an open rail cart, goes up to North Tower 4 and comes down through a metal chute. Both shorten part of the climb, but neither does away with the stairs that come after.
Check access

**Badaling: how do you get there by bullet train from Beijing?**
The standard route is the Beijing–Zhangjiakou high-speed line, which leaves from Qinghe (or, for some schedules, Beijing North) for the station next to the wall, with departures every 30 to 60 minutes, a ¥16 to 31 ticket, and about 25 minutes of travel.

**Badaling: what's the currency and how much is it worth?**
The currency is the yuan renminbi (CNY, ¥), at about ¥7.1 to the dollar and ¥1.3 to the real in 2026.

**Badaling: what's the best time to go?**
From mid-September to the end of October is the best window, with 15 to 25°C and clear skies after the summer rains, and the leaves change color in the second half of October.

**Badaling: do I need to bring my physical passport?**
The physical passport is checked at the turnstile, one by one, and the line stalls behind anyone digging for the document at the bottom of their bag.

**Badaling: what is Yanqing huoshao?**
Flatbread baked in a wall oven, toasted outside and hollow inside, split open and filled with meat or egg. Sold in the morning on the streets of Yanqing, ¥3 to 8.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan this day on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/muralha/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/muralha/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/muralha.md