Mutianyu Great Wall and Underground Palace Join-in Group Tour

Pick up at your hotel between 7:00am and 8:30am, and then drive to the Underground Palace, also called Dingling Tomb, one of the 13 Ming Dynasty Imperial Tombs. From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in this area. You will visit Dingling, the tomb of the Wanli Emperor, which is the only one of the Ming Dynasty Tombs which has been excavated.

For many visitors, the visit to Ming Tombs is not as important as the visit to Forbidden City, Summer Palace and the Great Wall of China. But generally it is quite worth having a glimpse on a combined journey to or back from the Great Wall since the location of Ming Tombs is quite accessible on the way to the bits of the Great Wall of China – Juyongguan, Badaling and Mutianyu.

Of course, their accessibility is not the only reason for being worth visiting. Listed as UNESCO world cultural heritage, Ming Tombs provide people a kind of real experience. They tell why this complex is a popular place for native Chinese, especially those who are attracted by history.

1. Of all the 13 imperial tombs in Ming Dynasty ( 1368 - 1644 ), only three are open to the public: Changling, Dingling and Zhaoling ("ling" literally means "Tomb" in Chinese).

2. Only Dingling has been excavated. Any you will be arranged to visit Dingling ( also known as Underground Palace ).

3. Dingling is not wheelchair-user friendly. You will first have a long walk from the Dingling Entrance before you get to the Tomb itself, where you walk down 8 flights of stairs. The walk to the tomb can be hard and long during high season, but normally takes about 15 minutes.

After the two-hour tour of the Underground Palace, you have 45 minutes to take a short visit of Jade Carving Factory. The jade carving is very famous special local product with a long history of Chinese traditional culture.

After Chinese lunch, head to Mutianyu Great Wall. The Mutianyu Great Wall is known for its beautiful surroundings - dense woods and rich pastures changing colors with the seasons of a year. This section of the Great Wall is located in Huairou District 80km on the northeast of Beijing. As one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall, Mutianyu section of Great Wall used to serve as the northern barrier defending the capital and the imperial tombs.

There are three ways to get onto the Wall when you get to the base of Mutianyu Great Wall. Apart from hiking up on foot (half an hour), you can choose take cable car or chair lift （Optional ).To get down the wall,you can also take Toboggan slide down ( Optional ).

Three Ways to Go up to Mutianyu Great Wall

There are three ways to get onto the Wall. Apart from hiking up on foot, you can choose take cable car or chair lift (Optional). To get down the wall, you can also take Toboggan to slide down (Optional).

When you get off the ferry shuttle bus going from the shuttle bus terminal near the ticketing office, you still need to walk along an accessible stone path (600 meters long ) leading up first to the starting point for chairlift ( or toboggan down ), second to the walking path up to the Wall and last to the starting point for cable car up to the Wall respectively.

So the mostly used Cable Car Station is at the end of the 600-meter stone slope. That said, there are three ways to go up to Mutianyu Great Wall.

1. Taking chairlift to the Great Wall – to the 6th Watchtower ( or where you can take a toboggan down )

2. Walking up the Great Wall along the stone steps (like a mountain hike – 30 minute hike ) – to the 10th or 8th Watchtower

3. Taking cable car up to the Great Wall – to the 14th Watchtower

The Most Beautiful Part of Mutianyu Great Wall

The hike from Watchtower No. 14 east up to Watchtower No.23 is the most scenic part of Mutianyu Great Wall. Many people would choose to take cable up to Watchtower No.14 and hike east to Watchtower No.23. Later you may retrace to Watch Tower No.14 and take cable car down the wall, or continue to hike down to Watch Tower No.8 where you walk down the wall; or you may continue to hike down to Watch Tower No.6, where you either take chairlift down or toboggan down.

Price Information

Cable Car：80 yuan（single way ); 100 yuan ( return )

Chairlift or Slide (Toboggan): 80 yuan ( single way )

Chairlift + Slide (Toboggan): 100 yuan ( return )

Opening Hours:

April to October: 8:00 -17:00

November to March: 8:30-16:30

Drive back to downtown Beijing and pass by the Olympic Green, having a distant view of both the National Stadium - the " bird Nest " and National Aquatics Center - the Water Cube. Then you are arranged to rewind yourself by tasting the famous Chinese tea and enjoying Chinese tea ceremony in a big Chinese tea market. After the whole day tour, you are returned to your different hotels around 6:00pm.

Lunch: Chinese Lunch