The Great Wall of China

The closest and easiest section of Great Wall to visit from Beijing is the park at Badaling. It is also the most crowded. There are other more secluded park access points and miles and miles of unrestored wall in various states of decay.



Evidently, the wall never worked as originally intended; that is as an impenetrable barrier against invaders. There were numerous instances of it being breached or an end run being made. Possibly the most useful it has ever been to China is with a ticket booth to sell 'invaders' the priviledge of walking along the top of it.



First views of the wall from the parking lot. Very hazy. Close enough to Beijing for air pollution to be thick as pea soup.



Still near the access point. At the start one has the choice to go east or west. We went west, which is the less traveled route.



It's Brian Kaney on the Great Wall of China at Badaling! Pretty cool to really be here.



Looking out a turret over the side. At many points it wasn't that super high, maybe 10 ft. Not that hard to climb over, but it did provide a good defensive position and a early warning system.



If you came to the park planning to commit a nuisance, think again.



We got to the Wall park early (~8:30 AM) and it was a weekday, so the crowds were not so bad. The way we went, it got pretty secluded near the end. The second hill with the flat platform is the farthest one can go this direction at Badaling. It is unrestored after that and not open to the public.



The Great KFC at Badaling!