Badaling Remnant Great Wall: Information and Guide

The Badaling Remnant Great Wall is located 3 miles (5 kilometers) southwest of the Badaling Great Wall in Yanqing County, Beijing. It is also known as the Shixiaguan Great Wall, and functions as the west gate of the defense system of Badaling Great Wall. With a total length of 1.2 miles (2 kilometers), the V-shaped wall is comprised of two sections, with a breach in the middle, and four beacon towers. More importantly, the Remnant Great Wall is a witness to the construction of Great Wall, the largest military defense project in human history.

The wall is closely associated with a peasant uprising led by Li Zicheng. He established his regime “Dashun” in Xi’an in 1644. Later, the leader marched his troops eastward to Beijing, but was stopped by the Badaling Great Wall. It was very difficult to break through. Finally, a local elderly advised him to attack the Shixiaguan Great Wall which was lower. Li Zicheng took his advice, and won the battle. As a result, Li and his troops occupied Beijing and overthrew the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Also Read: 17 Facts About the Great Wall of China You Should Know

Ascending the mountain tops, you will see the broken, but time-honored wall crawling on the ridges, and the old beacon towers standing there quietly, like old wrinkled men. The bricks are so seriously weathered that some pieces would collapse if you touch them. Some stone steps have become piles of stones due to disrepair. The wall is leaning and collapsing, while the beacon tower has severe cracks. Compared with the well-renovated section at Badaling, one can feel a stronger sense of historical changes here.

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Apart from the broken wall and watchtowers, you can see two historical sites that disclose the architectural secret of the wall. One is the ancient brick kiln complex. Construction of the Great Wall needed a large quantity of bricks. But transporting bricks from other places to mountain top was quite time-consuming and energy-consuming. Thus, it was a wise decision to manufacture bricks right beside the wall. These brick kilns explain the conjecture and are evidence of the ancient Chinese people’s intelligence.

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The other is the stone quarry. The foundations of the wall were made from processed granite. Thus demand for the granite was rather huge during the construction. Finished and half-finished granite was found in the stone quarry. Additionally, the gunpowder plates found in the stone quarry indicated that gunpowder was used to level off hilltops. Thus, the mystery of how ancient people collected and transported granite when the productive forces were primitive was finally unveiled.

By Bus:
1. Take the non-stop bus 877 from Deshengmen to Badaling Great Wall, then change to bus 879 to the spot. Duration is about 70-80 minutes and ticket price is CNY 14. This is the fastest way. But the bus 877 is only available before 12:30.

2. If you plan to go after 12:30, take bus 919 from Deshengmen to get there. Ticket fare is CNY 12 and the trip takes as long as 2 hours. Bus 919 has many branch lines and some of them do not go to the site, you’d better confirm with the driver before boarding.

Also Read: Water Pass Great Wall (Shuiguan): Information and Guide

By Train:
Bullet Train: Take a bullet train from Beijing North Railway Station to the New Badaling Railway Station next to the Badaling Great Wall Scenic Area. A single ride just takes a little more than 30 minutes and a second class seat costs CNY 29.

S2 Train: Visitors can also take a train from Huangtudian Railway Station to Badaling Railway Station, which takes about 70-80 minutes. The ticket fare is CNY 7. Upon arrival, walk west for 10-15 minutes to Badaling bus stop to take bus 879 or 880 to get there. There may be a long queue at the ticket office, so you’d better arrive early, about 2 hours before departure in peak season and 1 hour before on usual days. If you have a Beijing Transportation Smart Card, it will save you much time and energy, as you can get onboard by swiping the card and no paper ticket is needed.

 

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