Last review of the Great Wall on this site is from 2016 so I guess it's good to update how things look like at the wall in the 2020s. I visited the Badaling section of the wall in June 2024.

I took the high speed train from Beijing's Qinghe station which has the most of the high speed departures to Badaling. You can also depart from the Beijing North station. Tickets are very affordable, 20 RMB at the cheapest (one way)! You can book the train tickets even just the day before if you're visiting on a weekday. I booked both the train tickets and the Great Wall tickets through Trip.com on the Alipay app few days in advance. High speed trains have their own station at Badaling and when you exit the train station, you'll see the cable cars that will take you to the up to the north section of the wall. If you want to walk up the wall, you need to go to the opposite direction from the station and walk through the bus parking lot towards the main gate of the wall. The signage wasn't very good around the station as there was big construction going on but I had booked one-way ticket for the cable car so that's where I headed. There weren't queues at all on a Tuesday afternoon so I was very fast going up to the mountains, after picking up physical tickets from the ticket counter (no passport used here for entrance like in Forbidden City).

Badaling is the most visited part of the wall and the north section is the most visited part in Badaling itself. Up on the wall there were a lot of people but it was still far from being uncomfortably crowded. The cable car doesn't take you all the way to the highest tower but you still have quite a hike to reach the tower from the cable car station. If you are strict on time, you can visit the wall in 30 minutes if you take the cable car back down from here. I walked down and with many stops to take photos of the stunning landscape it took me 2 hours to come down to the main gate of Badaling. During the walk you have lots of time to wonder, how was all this built on these steep mountain sides! The wall continues far in the distance and looks so mystical winding up and down the mountains. This area is also a Unesco Geopark so there are information signs about the geology of the region along the wall trek but almost no information at all about the wall itself. If the walking on the wall gets too much on your feet, you can walk next to the wall on an easier path.

After getting back down from the wall, I had lunch at the "cultural village" that has been built between the main gate and the high speed station, which is full of souvenir shops, restaurants and photography studios for photo shoots in traditional costumes. Since I had time until my return train to Beijing, I went to try if my ticket got me still access to the southern section of the wall and the funicular that takes you up there. After a google translated conversation at the south entrance's ticket counter, I was let to the funicular with a little extra 40 RMB fee. I took the last funicular of the day up the mountain and I was the only one on it. The southern section is much shorter than the northern section and it takes less than an hour to walk down. I had at moments the whole wall just for myself here, only few other visitors were here after 4.30pm when the funicular and the cable car stop operating. I have to say that the views from the southern section aren't as amazing as from the northern section but if you want to avoid the crowds in Badaling this is the section you should choose! After I was once again back down at the main gate I walked back to the train station to catch my return high speed train back to Beijing.

Badaling does have a certain Disneyland vibe with all the shops, toboggan rides, animal parks and night light shows but I don't think the renovation work on the wall itself has gone too over the top. The wall looks authentic and not too different from the unrenovated parts that you can see in the distance (take your binoculars with you if you want to marvel them properly!). Hopefully in the future I get chance to visit other parts of the wall!