Explore Great Wall at Mutianyu - Full-Day Tour - Beijing

Mutianyu offers an alternative Great Wall experience compared to the popular Badaling section. This portion of China’s ancient engineering marvel features an optional cable car ride or an opportunity to climb more than 1,400 steps to the top.

Mutianyu Great Wall is much steeper than Badaling Great Wall, and a more challenging climb. This section is older than Badaling and features outer and inner parapets. There are 22 watch-towers in the 2250-meter-long Mutianyu Great Wall, and the highest one is 540 meters above sea level. This section of the wall is also surrounded by woodland and streams.

The Great Wall takes on different looks in different seasons. In spring, flowers are blooming. In summer, the Great Wall is lush and green. In winter, the Great Wall is covered with white snow. However, the Great Wall’s most charming season is autumn, when fruits ripen and leaves of gorgeously diverse colour fall at this photogenic spot.

Our next stop is a visit to a nearby Cloisonne Factory. The art of Cloisonne is a unique combination of sculpture, painting, porcelain making and coppersmithing that is said to have originated in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty. To make a Cloisonne piece, a copper body is first made, and then intricate engravings are made with a copper wire. Different colored pigments are then applied to the engravings. Finally, the piece is fired and polished.