Day Tour: Mutianyu Great Wall & Ming Tombs (Private Tour)

Ming Tombs

The Ming Tombs are about 50 kilometres northwest of Beijing City. The general name was given to the mausoleums because 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) were buried there. The mausoleums have been perfectly preserved, as has the burial places of each of the many emperors. Because of its long history and palatial and integrated architecture, the site has a high cultural and historic value. The layout and arrangement of all thirteen mausoleums are very similar but vary in size as well as in the complexity of their structures.

Mutianyu Great Wall

Feature: Located in Huairou County, 70km northeast of Beijing, the Mutianyu section of Great Wall is connected with Juyongguan Pass in the west and Gubeikou Gateway in the east. As one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall, the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall used to serve as the northern barrier defending the capital and the imperial tombs.

Description: First built in the mid-6th century during the Northern Qi dynasty, the Mutianyu Great Wall is older than the Badaling Great Wall. In the Ming dynasty, under the supervision of General Xu Da, construction of the present wall began on the foundation of the wall of Northern Qi. In 1404, a pass was built in the wall. In 1569, the Mutianyu Great Wall was rebuilt and even today most parts of it are well preserved. The Mutianyu Great Wall has the largest construction scale and best quality among all sections of the Great Wall.

Built mainly with granite, the wall is 7-8 meters high and the top is 4-5 meters wide. Compared with other sections of the Great Wall, the Mutianyu Great Wall possesses unique characteristics in its construction:

1. Watchtowers and over-towering pass densely scatter along this section of Great Wall - exactly, 22 watchtowers in the 2250-meter-long wall.

2. Both the outer and inner parapets are crenellated with merlons, so that shots could be fired at the enemy on both sides - a feature very rare on other parts of the Great Wall.

3. The Mutianyu Pass consists of 3 watchtowers, one big one in the center and two smaller ones on both sides. Standing on the same terrace, the three watchtowers are connected to each other inside and compose a rarely-seen structure among all sections of Great Wall.

This section of Great Wall is surrounded by woodland and streams. The forest-coverage rate is over 90 percent. Today, this section of wall is open to visitors. A cable car is equipped to assist visitors.