Badaling Great Wall and Ming Tombs of Changling Day Trip

Ming Tombs of Changling and Badaling Great Wall Day Trip

Departure: Daily
Duration: Approx 8 hours
Pick-up point and time: Your Hotel between 7:30am – 8:00am
Finishing point and time: Your Hotel around 5:00pm – 5:30pm
Language: English

Itinerary:

Pick-up travelers from hotel on departure time between 7:30am and 8:00am, and then drive to Ming Tombs (50 miles away from downtown about one hour driving). The thirteen Ming Tombs are the best-preserved Chinese imperial tombs with 500 years history. You will visit Changling, the head and the largest tomb of Ming Tombs, where Emperor Yongle (the first emperor in Beijing) and his Empress Xu were buried. The sightseeing on the Ming Tombs takes about 1 hour. The visit to Ming Tombs finishes at about 10:45am. Before having lunch 11:30am, you will have 45 minutes for a short visit of Jade Carving Factory. The jade carving is a famous special Chinese product, a blend of the excellent skill on carving and Chinese traditional cultures.
Having traditional Chinese lunch at restaurant. After lunch, driving to the Badaling Great Wall. The hike on Badaling Great Wall takes 2 hours. Badaling section is the most famous and best-preserved wall. It’s highest point at Badaling is some 800 meters above sea level. Cable car is available and optional. On the way back to hotels, you will have a chance to enjoy Chinese Traditional Tea Ceremony, where you also experience Chinese Calligraphy free. Chinese Calligraphy has thousand years of history and it was regarded as a kind of cultural & visual art. After the tour, transferred back to your hotel.

Ming Tombs Travel Tips:

For many visitors, the visit to Ming Tombs is not as important as the visit to Forbidden City, Summer Palace and the Great Wall of China. But generally it is quite worth having a glimpse on a combined journey to or back from the Great Wall since the location of Ming Tombs is quite accessible on the way to the bits of the Great Wall of China – Juyongguan, Badaling and Mutianyu.

Of course, their accessibility is not the only reason for being worth visiting. Listed as UNESCO world cultural heritage, Ming Tombs provide people a kind of real experience. They tell why this complex is a popular place for native Chinese, especially those who are attracted by history.

Changling Tomb in Beijing, the largest and the most completely preserved tomb among the Thirteen Tombs of Ming Dynasty, is famous for its grand ancient architecture, brilliant culture and long history.

After the two-hour tour of the Ming Tombs, you have 45 minutes to take a short visit of Jade Carving Factory. The jade carving is very famous special local product with a long history of Chinese traditional culture.

After lunch, head to the Badaling Great Wall (2 hours). The drive to Badaling Great Wall takes about 40 minutes. Badaling section is the most famous and best-preserved wall. It lies 100 km away at the northwest of Beijing. If you want to get to the highest point and have a bird eye’s view of this section of the great wall, cable car is a good choice (optional).

Badaling Great Wall Travel Tips:

Now Badaling Great Wall is divided into two sections – north and south, which both start at the Badaling Pass and Gate. Most tourists prefer to climb the north section where the highest watch tower (Tower No.08) is located. Also the cableway is available on the north section. Many people choose to climb up the north section of the Great Wall, then take the cable car down or vice versa. The cable car goes up to somewhere below between Tower No.08 and No.09.

To hike up the north section of the Badaling Great Wall, you have two starting points – either from the Badaling Pass or the Badaling Bear Park. Why two starting points? Actually there are totally 12 towers on the northern Badaling Great Wall. So you ether start at Tower No.08 and Tower No.01 starting from Badaling Pass or Tower No.12 from Badaling Bear Park.

Most passengers prefer to hike the northern slope of Badaling Great Wall simple because the north part is more scenic and convenient with cable car and slide services in between. But still some people like to hike the southern slope to avoid the crowds for better photo opportunities. If you hike the southern slope, you have to backtrack.

Price Information:
Cable Car: 100 yuan (single way); 140 yuan (return)
Chairlift or Slide (Toboggan): 100 yuan (single way)
Chairlift + Slide (Toboggan): 120 yuan (return)

Opening Hours:
April to October: 6:30 – 19:00
November to March: 07:00 – 18:00

Lunch: Typical Chinese lunch

Drive back to downtown Beijing and pass by the Olympic Green, having a distant view of both the National Stadium – the “bird Nest” and National Aquatics Center – the Water Cube. Then you are arranged to rewind yourself by tasting the famous Chinese tea and enjoying Chinese tea ceremony in a big Chinese tea market. After the whole day tour, you are returned to your different hotels around 5:30pm.

Just a Kindly Reminder:

Badaling Great Wall
1. The Badaling Great Wall is the well preserved Ming Dynasty Great Wall with original appearance. Now it is divided into two sections – east and west starting at the Badaling Pass and Gate. Most people prefer to climb the east section where the highest watch tower is located.

2. Some tourists don’t choose the Badaling Great Wall. They think Badaling Great Wall is too touristy! “Tourity” is now a bad word for any tour desination. But why is it too touristy? It is “too touristy” because Badaling Great Wall is the most gorgeous of all the five sections of the Great Wall around Beijing.

3. The Badaling Great Wall is worth being listed on your Great Wall hiking travel plan.
Because the Great Wall is a must for a China tour, while Badaling is a must for a Great Wall tour. Badaling Great Wall in Beijing is the best-preserved and most complete section among the various, hence the most popular, even among world leaders. You should visit it at least once in your life.

Changling is the earliest and largest tomb of the Ming Tombs. It was built for the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, and took 18 years to complete. Emperor Zhu Di ordered the construction of the Forbidden City, and commissioned the Great Dictionary of Yongle (Yongle Dadian), along with sending the eunuch Admiral Zheng He to South-East Asia, Ceylon, India, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

The layout of Changling copies the pattern of Xiao Ling in Nanjing, tomb of the first Ming Emperor. Structures proceeding along the central axis are: the Front Gate to the tomb, the Gate of Eminent Favor, the Hall of Eminent Favors (LingEn Dian), the Dragon and the Phoenix Gate, Soul Tower and the Wall-Encircled Earth Mound. The Hall of Eminent Favors (LingEn Dian) serves as a museum for the precious artifacts found in the imperial coffins and twenty-three wooden chests in Dingling.

Shopping on the way
We do arrange one shopping on the tour. Chinese tourist shops have a very bad name on the internet. Actually the things are not so bad as it is. The shopping stops are nice places for you to relax and at the same time to make use of the short time to familiarize yourself with the local products as well as help create more jobs for local people. The shopping is not compulsory.

Travel Tips:

Wear casually and pay attention to the climate in Beijing.

Special Features:

Only english-speaking travelers in the coach;
Well-trained english speaking tour guide;
Keep proper quantity travelers in suitable type air-conditioned coach.

Add-ons:

If you have some free time in the evening, you are kindly advised to join some of the Beijing night shows or night tours below to supplement your daytime activity.