Badaling Ancient Great Wall

Chinese: 八达岭古长城
Pinyin: Bā dá lǐng gǔ cháng chéng
English: Eight direction ridge ancient Great Wall
Coordinates: 40°20'0"N 115°58'37"E

The south side of the restored area of the Badaling Great Wall ends near Badaling Safari Park, a wild animal tourist attraction. Further to the west, Badaling Ancient Great Wall, also commonly called the “Ancient Great Wall” the “Ruined Great Wall” or the “Broken Great Wall”, has been opened to the public. About 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of the wall was repaired here in the year 2000. Repairs were done in a similar style to Qinglongqiao; only minimal repairs to facilitate walking were done.

Badaling Ancient Great Wall, overview from the south

The end of the restored area of Badaling is kept effectively blocked off, so it's not easy to walk all the way in between the Badaling Ancient Great Wall and the Badaling Great Wall. Also, this path brings you alongside the Badaling Safari Park, which uses the Great Wall as a barrier in its wild animal exhibits which include large cats including lions and tigers. Accidents have happened here when people unknowingly exited the wall into the wild animal exhibits.

It is, however, possible to walk from here to the Huajiayao Great Wall to the west. This is a challenging walk. The bottom of the final slope to Huajiayao is a bit dangerous, but there is a path on the left (south) side of the wall that is far easier to walk. About halfway to Huajiayao, there is a junction in the wall. The path to the right (north) is an older, stone wall, which leads north to Badalingzhen and is in varying but generally quite poor condition, making it difficult to follow. Some places were probably originally not very sturdy and now have all but disappeared. Take the left branch at the fork to continue to Huajiayao and on from there to Shixiaguan.

Early stone wall on the northern branch towards Badalingzhen

Many tour operators that offer tours to the “Secret Great Wall” take their customers to the Ancient Badaling Great Wall.

Location summary: Badaling Ancient Great Wall is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) northwest of downtown Beijing. It is about 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) northwest of Juyongguan, 4.7 kilometers (2.9 miles) west of Shuiguan, and about 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles) northeast of Huajiayao. The path of the Great Wall from the Badaling Ancient Great Wall to Huajiayao is about 3.3 kilometers (2.1 miles). The path of the Great Wall from Badaling to the Badaling Ancient Great Wall is about 5.2 kilometers (3.2 miles).

Driving directions: From Deshengmen City Gate near the Jishuitan subway station on the north side of Beijing, drive north and northwest on the G110 Badaling Expressway for 64 kilometers (39 miles) to Badalingzhen. Turn left and drive south 4.7 kilometers (2.9 miles) through Nanyuancun to the end of the road at the Great Wall.

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

Looking northeast from 40°21'59.50"N 115°59'1.16"E

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

Looking south from 40°20'59"N 115°57'55"E

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

chinoook at 40°21'12.48"N 115°57'56.21"E

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

Badaling Ancient Great Wall

The Wild Great Wall in the Badaling area is also known as the Broken Great Wall and the Ancient Great Wall.
This sign is located at 40°21'44.85"N 115°57'50.11"E pointing south.

An unrestored span of the wall at the main Badaling Great Wall