Travel the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is not just an ordinary travelwall from Beijing because the sections of this part of
icon; besides the role it plays in China's tourism, it hasthe wall are very good for sightseeing and have
led to the development of China's long history andgreat features. Besides that, it affords them the
culture. People are curious to understand the facts ofopportunity to see other historical attractions like the
how the great wall came about; however, it is notForbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and Tiananmen
until one visits this majestic structure, you can trulySquare etc.
understand the significance of the great wall to ChinaThe most popular sections to visit and climb the
and the rest of the world.great wall in Beijing are the Badaling, Simatai, and
The origin of story of the great wall is unknown, butMutianyu sections.
history shows that the construction of the wallBadaling section of the great wall is located 70 km
began in the early seventh century B.C and wasaway from the center of Beijing and is the most
made out of stone, wood, grass and earth. This waspopular section to climb the wall in Beijing. It was the
when the earliest regional kingdom was built for thefirst part of the wall to be opened to tourists. History
defensive military needs. The purpose was to protecthas it that Badaling section was built to protect the
the farming lands from the invasion of the tribesJuyongguan Pass, along which the Guan'gou gorge
from the north and to hold the natives from vacatingand several interesting sites of interest are located.
the lands. Used as a military demarcation, there wereThis section of the Great Wall was made by huge
various watchtowers which stood at varyingbar stones and paved with square bricks making the
distances from each other; these towers substitutedwall pavement smoothly ordered. The Badaling
the time warning system used during the ancientsection became a national cultural relic and a world
times. The fire and smoke signaled the day and nightheritage listing by United Nations in 1987.
time respectively. Many of these watch towers stillSimatai section in Beijing is a very remote and quiet
remain in their original position where they stood whilesection on the great wall. The ruins and untouched
some have been destroyed during the revolution.parts of this section is what helped Simatai section
Over the years, parts of the great wall wasearn its reputation of being the unique section of the
destroyed and rebuilt and more sections were added.wall. There are features retained from over the
Due to this construction, it stretched so wide fromyears which were untouched and looks like what it
the east to the west bordering almost the entireused to be like over 500 years ago. This section of
country. At present, they say it measures aboutthe wall has about twelve watch towers at different
7300km from one end to the other.intervals and takes about 2hours to reach the
There are different sections to travel the wall, all oftwelfth tower. Simatai section is great for adventure
which have different attractions and features. Thehikers and trekkers.
sections also represent the roles played during theThe Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is located on
construction of the great wall. For adventure lovers,Huairou County northeast of Beijing. This section of
it would be a challenging task to travel the entirethe wall is known for its unique quality of
length of the wall. The Great Wall Marathon and Halfconstruction and features compared to other
Marathon is an annual marathon race which takessections of the wall. It is known as the main essence
place every year in China. For runners andof the great wall because of the style which it was
adventures, this marathon is one of the experiencesbuilt.
of a lifetime as they run through 7km of theIn Summary, traveling the great wall is one of the
incredible wall passing through beautiful countrysidegreatest experiences of a lifetime and it is difficult to
villages and mountain trails.understand its history until it is visited. It is assumed
For tourists on short stays in China, climbing theto be one of the top 100 things to do in this lifetime.
great wall from almost any part of northern china isFor more information about China Travel, China Tour
possible, although, many travelers prefer to climb theVacations, visit Passport to China.