70 miles north to the city center of Beijing, in Yanqing County, there lies the 12,000 km-long zigzag Badaling section of the Great Wall. It was set up in the eighteenth year during the reign of Emperor Hongzhi (1505) and has been served as a vital military area and the north gate to the capital city ever since. Also a crossroad stretching into all directions, it is named Badaling (Eight Reaches Ridge) in this sense. Erecting on top of the mountains, it waves and fluctuates while making tracks for the extending motions of the ridges, giving a magnificent bird’s eye view that looks as if a gigantic dragon is flying across.

Badaling, being the best preserved part of the Ming Great Wall, has been regarded as the best representative of this world wonder. Due to steep and arduous geography conditions and the 1,000-high altitude, it worked as the outpost of the Juyong (Common Dwelling) Pass, a significant pathway of the whole Great Wall. Tall and sturdy, the body of the wall is made of huge granite slabs and bricks, measuring 8.5 m in average. The pier is a trapezoid, with the base extending 6.5 meters in width and the top 5.7 m, allowing 5 horses to gallop abreast and 10 people to walk side by side. At every 300-500 m interval, there is a square fortress, whose top floor used to be observation tower and the ground floor accommodations for the soldiers and ammunition depot. At strategic spots, beacon towers were constructed, which efficiently delivered intelligence and issued orders when warring situations descended. It was these guard wars that once rendered meritorious service in protecting the borders in ancient times.

A grand view can be enjoyed on top of the fortresses. Look into the distance; there is a sea of lofty mountains and ridges where the Great Wall arises from the clouds and rapidly runs out of sight into the horizon. Facing westward, one can appreciate the Huailai Basin full of greenery and the glittering Guanting Reservoir. Overlooking to the south, forests of buildings in the capital immerse into eyes. In the north, threads of highways are burrowing into the valleys. Here, everywhere, every sight is filled with spectacular landscape.