Mutianyu Great Wall & Ming Tombs of Dingling Day Trip

Mutianyu Great Wall & Ming Tombs of Dingling 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 the Ming Tombs (Dingling) the best-preserved Chinese imperial tombs with 500 years history. Dingling is the underground mausoleum of Emperor Wan Li. The Underground Palace Halls, a labyrinth palace building, were the first royal tomb excavated in accordance with plan in China. Sightseeing for 1 hours. End the visit of Ming Tombs at about 11:00am, before having Chinese traditional lunch 11:30am, travelers have 45 minutes to have a short visit of Jade Carving Factory. The jade carving is very famous special local product, it was not only the excellent skill on carving, but also mixes many Chinese traditional cultures in the jade carving. After having lunch, then driving to Mutianyu Great Wall. The hike on Badaling Great Wall takes 2 hours. Mutianyu Great Wall is known for its beautiful surroundings – dense woods and rich pastures changing colors with the seasons of a year. If you want to reach the highest point, cable car is a good choice (optional). You are returned to the downtown Beijing, you will have a chance to enjoy the Chinese traditional Tea Ceremony. After the tour, transferred back to hotel around 5:30pm.

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.

1. Of all the 13 imperial tombs in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), only three are open to the public: Changling, Dingling and Zhaoling (“ling” literally means “Tomb” in Chinese).
2. Only Dingling has been excavated. Any you will be arranged to visit Dingling (also known as Underground Palace).
3. Dingling is not wheelchair-user friendly. You will first have a long walk from the Dingling Entrance before you get to the Tomb itself, where you walk down 8 flights of stairs. The walk to the tomb can be hard and long during high season, but normally takes about 15 minutes.

After the two-hour tour of the Underground Palace, 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 Chinese lunch, head to Mutianyu Great Wall. The Mutianyu Great Wall is known for its beautiful surroundings – dense woods and rich pastures changing colors with the seasons of a year. This section of the Great Wall is located in Huairou District 80km on the northeast of Beijing. As one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall, Mutianyu section of Great Wall used to serve as the northern barrier defending the capital and the imperial tombs.

There are three ways to get onto the Wall when you get to the base of Mutianyu Great Wall. Apart from hiking up on foot (half an hour), you can choose take cable car or chair lift (Optional). To get down the wall,you can also take Toboggan slide down (Optional).

Mutianyu Great Wall Travel Tips:

Three Ways to Go up to Mutianyu Great Wall
There are three ways to get onto the Wall. Apart from hiking up on foot, you can choose take cable car or chair lift (Optional). To get down the wall, you can also take Toboggan to slide down (Optional).

When you get off the ferry shuttle bus going from the shuttle bus terminal near the ticketing office, you still need to walk along an accessible stone path (600 meters long) leading up first to the starting point for chairlift (or toboggan down), second to the walking path up to the Wall and last to the starting point for cable car up to the Wall respectively.

So the mostly used Cable Car Station is at the end of the 600-meter stone slope. That said, there are three ways to go up to Mutianyu Great Wall.

1) Taking chairlift to the Great Wall – to the 6th Watchtower (or where you can take a toboggan down).
2) Walking up the Great Wall along the stone steps (like a mountain hike – 30 minute hike) – to the 10th or 8th Watchtower.
3) Taking cable car up to the Great Wall – to the 14th Watchtower.

The Most Beautiful Part of Mutianyu Great Wall
The hike from Watchtower No.14 east up to Watchtower No.23 is the most scenic part of Mutianyu Great Wall. Many people would choose to take cable up to Watchtower No.14 and hike east to Watchtower No.23. Later you may retrace to Watchtower No.14 and take cable car down the wall, or continue to hike down to Watchtower No.8 where you walk down the wall; or you may continue to hike down to Watchtower No.6, where you either take chairlift down or toboggan down.

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: 8:00 – 17:00
November to March: 8:30 – 16:30

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 5:30m.

Just a Kindly Reminder:

This group day tour is available daily all the year round. Each morning, you will be picked up from your midtown hotel, then you will go visit the major attractions together with other tourists. Groups are kept to about 10-15 passengers in an air-conditioned coach or van with a professional Beijing chauffeur and a licensed Beijing English speaking tour guide on board who will pass on their knowledge of the sites including facts, stories and local information. There are two shopping stops on the tour.

1. On the evening before your tour departure early next morning, you will get a call to your hotel room or message at your hotel front desk from your tour guide to reconfirm your next morning’s pickup time which is normally set around 7:00am.
2. Our pick-up service starts from the hotels in the southern Beijing to the hotels in the northern Beijing. If you stay in the south of Beijing, please have the patience in waiting for all the participants to be on the seat-in coach before starting your group tour.
3. If you stay in an apartment block, please find a nearest hotel as your pickup point.
4. If you stay in a hutong hotel in a narrow lane, please walk a few steps and wait for our bus parking on a main street.
5. We offer complimentary pick up service from your hotel located within the third ring road in Beijing. For pickup service for the hotels beyond the third ring road in Beijing, please contact our trip advisors for the details.
6. You will have the narratives of local history and culture by your tour guide while you are comfortably sitting on a shared air-conditioned vehicle and enjoying the views passing by.
7. All tours & transfers are all based in English Speaking local guides.

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.