Twenty-one thousand kilometres of stone, brick and rammed earth — built by ten dynasties over two thousand years.
What we call the Great Wall is in fact a 21,000-kilometre network of walls, watchtowers and fortifications, built over two millennia and across ten dynasties. The most famous stretches — Mutianyu, Badaling, Jinshanling — are the work of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), who rebuilt the wall in stone and brick to defend the empire's northern border.
Visible from horizon to horizon as it climbs and dives across mountain ridges, the wall remains the most ambitious defensive structure ever attempted by humankind — and the most evocative landscape in Chinese imagination.
Mutianyu offers cable cars, a toboggan run and far fewer crowds than Badaling. Allow at least a half-day plus the drive from central Beijing.
Visit mutianyugreatwall.com