Now all the S2 trains ( going to Badaling Great Wall ), originally handled by Beijing North

Railway Station, have been moved to the newly built Huangtudian Railway Station (黄土店
站) for the three-year transition.

So if you want to go to Badaling Great Wall by train, you should head to Huangtudian
Railway Station which is located in Changping District, about 20 km north of Beijing’s city
center.

How to get to Huangtudian Railway Station (黄土店站) ?

You can take Subway Line 13 or Subway Line 8 and get off at Huoying Station ( 霍营站)
and exit from Exit G4. The Exit G4 is only 110 meters to the northwest of Huangtudian
Railway Station (黄土店站). Huoying Station ( 霍营站) is an interchange station on Line 8
and Line 13 of the Beijing Subway. You can easily take either subway line 13 or 8 from
towntown Beijing to Huoying Station ( 霍营站) which is just next to Huangtudian Railway
Station (黄土店站).

How to get from Beijing South Railway Station to Railway Station (黄土店站) ?

First you take the subway line 4 directly from within Beijing South Railway Station to the
north direction and get off at the 9th station of Dongzhimen (东直门) and then interchange
for Subway Line 13 and get off at the 8th station of Huoying Station ( 霍营站) and exit from
Exit G4.

S2 Trains:

These are suburban trains running from Beijing Huangtudian Railway Station to Badaling
(Great Wall )八达岭 and Yanqing ( 延庆).Train Tickets:RMB 6 per ride; if using “Yikatong”
Transportation Card, RMB 5 per ticket. All the S2 train tickets are free seating.

Badaling Great Wall Train Schedule

The S2 Train Timetable below is just for your reference and subject to possible
changes.Note: The 7:58 train out of Beijing is quite crowded. One has to run to get a good
seat.

The return trip at 11:50 is mostly empty.In tourist high season, the trains fill up quite fast and
once it is full, you will have to wait for the next train.12 daily “S2 trains” from Friday
through Sunday; 8 daily “S2 trains” from Monday through Thursday.
(A)Beijing Huangtudian Railway Station → Badaling Great Wall Train Schedule

Train S201: 06:30 – 07:37

Train S205: 08:40 – 09:05
Train S207: 09:06 – 10:15
Train S209: 11:06– 12:13
Train S211: 12:38– 14:01
Train S213: 13:20 – 14:25
Train S215: 13:44 – 14:50
Train S217: 15:34 – 16:43
Train S219: 17:09 – 18:30
Train S221: 17:50 – 18:57
Train S227 21:30 – 22:38
Train S229 22:06 – 23:29
Train S231 21:37 – 23:59

(B)Badaling Great Wall → Beijing Huangtudian Ralway Station Train Timetable

Train S202: 06:00 – 07:25

Train S204: 06:29 – 07:52
Train S206: 07:08 – 08:38
Train S208: 08:13 – 09:41
Train S210: 10:35 – 12:03
Train S214: 11:38 – 13:10
Train S216: 13:20 – 14:53
Train S218: 14:45 – 16:31
Train S220: 15:30 – 17:04
Train S222: 16:05 – 17:40
Train S224: 17:17 – 18:54
Train S226: 19:18 – 20:47
Train S228: 19:40 – 21:30
Train S230: 20:41 – 22:35
Train S232: 20:59 – 22:35

The free shuttle buses have two stops:

Stop 01: Get off to walk up Badaling Great Wall from its No.01 Tower. If you want to avoid
the crowds and like to hike up the Wall, you may stop at the Stop 01.

Stop 02: Get off at the Cable Station to buy cable ticket ( entrance fee as well ) and get up to
the Tower No.07. Then walk down to No.01 Tower or No.12 Tower. Basically no need for a
return cable car.

One of the most gorgeous and magnificent parts of the Great Wall around Beijing, Badaling
Great Wall (八达岭长城) is the well preserved Ming Dynasty Great Wall with original
appearance.

Now it is divided into two sections – north and south, which start at the Badaling Pass and
Gate. Most tourists prefer to climb the north section where the highest watch tower （Tower
No.08） is located.
Also the cableway is available on the north section. Many people choose to climb up the
north section of the Great Wall, then take the cable car down or vice versa.

The cable car goes up to somewhere below between Tower No.08 and No.09. So when you
take cable car up, you will see large crowds of people. So we recommend you hike from
Tower 01 and back instead of taking cable car.

To hike up the north section of the Badaling Great Wall, you have two starting points – either
from the Badaling Pass or the Badaling Bear Park. Why two starting points? Actually the
north Badaling Great Wall ( totally 12 towers on the wall ) has two parallel sections meeting
at the most northern tip – the 8th Watch Tower ( a curve ) of the Badaling Great Wall.

There are totally 12 towers on the northern Badaling Great Wall. So you ether start at Tower
No.01 starting from Badaling Pass or Tower No.12 from Badaling Bear Park.

We often call the two north parallel sections “front mountain” and “back mountain”
respectively. The “front mountain” ( from Tower No.01 to Tower No.08 ) is to the north of
the “back mountain” ( from Tower No.08 to Tower No.12 ).

If you want to climb up the north “front mountain” Badaling Great Wall, you start from the
Badaling Pass; if you climb up the north “back mountain” Badaling Great Wall, you start
from the Badaling Bear Park.

Most passengers prefer to hike the northern slope of Badaling Great Wall simple because the
north part is more scenic and convenient with cable car and slide services in between. But
still some people like to hike the southern slope to avoid the crowds for better photo
opportunities. If you hike the southern slope, you have to backtrack.

Ticket Price: RMB40 (Nov. 1 to Mar. 31); RMB 45 (Apr. 1 to Oct. 31)
Cable Car: RMB80 (single trip); RMB100 (round trip)
Toboggan: RMB30 (single trip);
Opening Hours:06:30-19:00 (in summer); 07:00-18:00 (in winter)
Hiking Time: Two Hours
Bus Route: Take Bus No.877 or No. 919 at Deshengmen, RMB12 for ticket.
S Train: Take S train from Beijing North Railway Station and get off at the station of
Badaling.

You can use Beijing Transportation smart card for travelling S2 train from Beijing
Huangtudian Railway station to Badaling great wall. So If you have a transportation card,
you don’t have to wait in line for buying a ticket. Just put your card on a reader and go. The S
Train is unnumbered, free seating.

Alternatively, you can also take Badaling Bus 877 at Deshengmen to Badaling Great Wall,
then take train back to Beijing. To get to the Badaling Bus 877, you are advised to take the
subway and get off at Jishuitan Stop (积水潭). Then you walk all the way to Deshengmen (
德胜门), which is a whole block east of the Jishuitan Subway Exit A (over 15-minute walk
in the east direction).
The Bus 877 starts from Deshengmen Bus Station which is located on the north square below
Deshengmen Arrow Tower (德胜们箭楼) lying on the mid-way of the northern second ring
road.It is worth getting up earlier to catch an early morning Bus 877 for Badaling Great Wall
and avoid a possible snake of people on the wall.

How to get to Deshengmen Bus Terminal

Several buses can bring you to the Deshengmen Bus Station. But the bus system in Beijing
could be daunting even for the local Beijingers. It is advisable to take the Subway Line 2 to
reach Deshengmen Bus Station.The the closest subway station to Deshengmen Bus Station is
Jishuitan (积水潭) of the loop-type Subway Line 2.

You get off at the station of Jishuitan (积水潭), exit from the Exit A.Then walk along the
sideway in the east direction for about 450 meters, soon you will see a high tower – the
Deshengmen Arrow Tower.Deshengmen Bus Station is just below the northern side of the
tower. The compound of Deshengmen Arrow Tower is within a roundabout.

So you have to cross a road to reach the bus station. You have to be careful crossing the road
since the road has no traffic light at the time of my writing.By the way, on your 450-meter
walk from the subway station of Jishuitan to the Deshengmen Arrow Tower, you will pass
alongside the Deshengmenxi Bus Station (different from Deshengmen Bus Station) and you
just ignore it!

You will be also distracted by some privately owned buses or mini-buses operated in the
name of official Badaling-bound buses. We strongly suggest you take the official buses
within the Deshengmen Bus Station for safety and reasonable price.Don’t be surprised if you
find the queue in front of the bus 877 could be very long, especially on the weekends or
national public holidays.

Bus No.877 （Bus Fare: RMB 12）

To:
Deshengmen (德胜门）- Badaling (八达岭）

Operating Hours：
06:00-12:00(Apr.1-Oct.31)
06:00-12:30 (Nov.1-Mar.31)Return:
Badaling (八达岭）- Deshengmen (德胜门）
10:30-17:00(Apr.1-Oct.31)
11:00-16:30(Nov.1-Mar.31)

he 877 Bus is a no-stop bus from Deshengmen to Badaling. When the bus arrives at the back
hill of Badaling, you still have to take a 20-minute walk to the ticket office and then start
your hike up to the Badaling Great Wall.
On the Deshengmen Bus Station, there are also some other useful bus lines like 919 for
Yanqing (延庆）and 872 for Ming Tombs (明十三陵). The Bus 919 also stops at Badaling
Great Wall on its way to Yanqing.

Next, follow me to have a familiarization virtual tour of how to take a bus to Badaling Great
Wall. First take subway line 2 and get off at the stop of Jishuitang （积水潭) and exit from
Exit A (northeast).

You will pass alongside the Deshengmenxi Bus Station.

The most important fact is that the northern section of Badaling Great Wall is a loop route (
No.01 to No.12 Towers ) and you don’t have to backtrack. You can walk from Tower No.1 (
the main entrance ) up to the highest Tower No.08,then walk down to Tower 12 ( near the
Bear Garden)。

1)The Bus 877 is close the Badaling Pass, the entrance to Badaling Great Wall, the only main
entrance. A 20-minute walk from Bus 877 to the main entrance.

2) The northern slope of the Badaling Great Wall is about 3700m long starting from
NorthTower No.1 up to the Northern Tower No.8, then down to Northern Tower No.12. The
whole hiking takes 2-3 hours. Not everyone has the strong legs to hike all the 12 towers, so
many passengers would take cable car up to the Wall (below Tower No.8 and Tower9 ) to
save their energy.

3) The cable car brings you up to the slope below both North Tower No.8 and Tower No.9.
So from the cable car station on the upper slope, you can either hike to the Tower 8 or Tower
9. It is easier to hike up to the Tower 9 while it is a bit hard to walk up to the Tower 8. To
hike up to the Tower 8, you have to climb over a steep slope known as “Haohanpo” ( a real
hero”slope ), or 好汉坡 in Chinese. Or you may just skip over it.

4) If you want to visit the Northern section of Badaling Great Wall, you can take the cable car
up, then walk down: walk from Tower 8 to down to Tower 1, or from Tower 8 down to
Tower 12. Or you can take a cable down. Also you can walk up to Tower 8, then take cable
car down. One way cable car: RMB60; round trip cable car: RMB80.

5) For the northern part of Badaling Great Wall, you can walk to the east from Tower 8 to
down to Tower 12, then pass by the Bear Garden, then walk about 10 minutes back to the
main entrance to the Tower 1, a loop route and you don’t have to backtrack.

By Bus:
Take K53, K60, K67, K71, K81 or K99, and get off at Longmen Grottoes Station.

From Luoyang Railway Station:

By Bus: take bus no. K81 and get off at the last station.
By Taxi: it costs around CNY 35 to 40.

From Longmen Railway Station:

By Bus: take bus no. K71 and get off at Longmen Grottoes Station.
By Taxi: it costs around CNY 15.

From Xian:
The most convenient way is to take high speed trains from Xian North Railway Station to
Longmen Railway Station. It takes around 1.5 to 2 hours. Then take bus no. K71 or catch a
taxi to reach Longmen Grottoes. If you take train from Xian Railway Station, then you arrive
at Luoyang Railway Station. Bus no. K81 can take you there.

How to visit Longmen Grottoes?

The site of Longmen Grottes is composed of 4 sub-attractions – Caves on the west hill, caves
on the east hill, Xiangshan Temple (on the east hill) and Bai Juyi’Tomb (on the east hill).

The two hills are connected by two bridges, forming a loop line tour. A complete loop line
visit of Longmen Grottoes takes about 3 or 4 hours. If you are pressed for time, you just
forget the attractions on the east hill and focus your time on the west hill which takes you
about 2 hours.

Visiting Longmen Grottoes on the west hill (Longmen Hill).

To reach the entrance to Longmen Grottoes on the west hill, you have to walk along a 2km
commercial street teemed with shops and restaurants.
A loop line visit of Grottoes
If you want to make a total visit to all the attractions in Longmen Grottoes, then after you
have visited the caves on the west hill, you should continue to visit by crossing the bridge
linking the east hill and the west hill in the south.

On the east hill from south to north are scattered with grottoes on the east hill, Xiangshan
Temple and Bai Juyi’s Tomb. After visiting Bai Juyi’s Tomb, again you are required to cross
the bridge connecting the east hill and the west hill in the north, then again walk along the
2km commercial street and back the bus stops.

Entrance ticket: RMB 120 (covering 4 sub-attractions – Caves on the west hill, caves on the
east hill, Xiangshan Temple (on the east hill) and Bai Juyi’Tomb (on the east hill)