The Great Wall of China was the number one attraction I was most looking forward to on my first visit to China. The Day 2 itinerary took us a long away from Beijing and it made the most sense to cluster the following attractions into the same day. Since Beijing is notorious for its traffic, our tour guide suggested that we start off at 8 a.m. to avoid rush hour on our return; we still ended up in the thick of traffic! The itinerary for Day 2 included:
1. Sacred Way (神道)
Many tours that head to the Great Wall also make stops at Sacred Way and Ming Dynasty Tombs. Sacred Way is the main road leading to the Ming Tombs complex and is flanked by willow trees and 18 pairs of statues depicting animals, mythical creatures and military officials. The history surrounding some of these attractions date back eons; I was only able to gather that this path was part of the funerary procession of emperors.
Besides the ancient statues, there was really nothing else to see here. However, being in the large park-like setting was a very nice reprieve from the chaos that is Beijing.
An aside: there are market stalls at the entrance and exit selling souvenirs. I found the exact lace parasol I first saw in Venice (25€), which was selling for 65 RMB! Sweet deal.
Suggested time to spend: No more than 30-45 minutes.
2. Ming Dynasty Tombs (明十三陵)
Ming Tombs are a collection of thirteen emperors’ mausoleums from the Ming Dynasty. Covering an area of 80 square km, not all of the tombs have been unearthed. We visited the underground Dingling tomb where Emperor Wanli and his two empresses were buried. I was slightly unsettled to learn that the bodies and many of the artifacts in the tomb were burned and destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Talk about resting in peace! Many of the relics displayed in the museum are replicas.
There is a security x-ray bag check before descending flights of stairs to the tomb.
Suggested time to spend: Unless your tour guide provides a detailed history lesson, I would spend no more than 45 minutes here.
3. Great Wall of China (中國長城)
The entire length of the Great Wall stretches well over 21, 000 km long and crosses different provinces in China. We chose to visit Mutianyu, located 75 km from Beijing, which is an hour and a half drive. Mutianyu is one of the most fully restored section of the Wall. Here, you’ll encounter variations in its architecture: there are sections that require climbing steep steps and sections where you could run in a line from watchtower to watchtower spaced at close intervals.
On my next visit to the Great Wall, I hope for clear, blue skies. More ambitiously, I hope to figure out how to take public bus to the Great Wall.
Suggested time to spend: 4 hours – This includes enough time to travel up and down in a cable car, chairlift and/or toboggan
Read My Other Beijing Trip Itineraries:
Beijing Day 1: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, Temple of Heaven
Beijing Day 3: Summer Palace, Hutong, 798 Art Zone, Kung Fu Show
Have you been to Beijing? Did you enjoy this post? Let me know in the comments below or by sharing it using the social media links!
Safe Travels!
xx Deb
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