Beijing See: Mutianyu Great Wall (北京.慕田峪长城)
- Rick
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Mutianyu Great Wall (慕田峪长城) is a well-preserved section of the 21,196-Km long Great Wall of China (万里长城), located some 70Km northeast of Beijing City. It is known for its beautiful scenery and fewer crowds than Badaling Great Wall (八达岭长城) to its west.
Mutianyu Great Wall is about 5.4Km long, consisting of 23 watchtowers in total, but only about 3Km is open to visitors. The open section features 20 watchtowers spaced closely along its length, which has an average height of 7~8 meters. Rebuilt mainly with granite during the Ming Dynasty, the Mutianyu section has become a popular tourist destination with amenities like cable car, chairlift / toboggan for ascending and descending the mountains.
A map of the whole Mutianyu Great Wall Scenic Area (below), and nearby villages, can be found near the Ticket-checking Gates — find the red marker that says "You are here".
Based on my personal experience to Mutianyu Great Wall, in November 2025, I will share all the information I know on how to get to the scenic area, important matters and give some tips on touring the Great Wall in this post with many photos in 3 other related posts.
Topics:
1. Getting There
Mutianyu Great Wall Tourist Centre (慕田峪长城游客中心), where the Ticketing Office is located, is about 3Km from the Ticket-checking Gates — the attraction is not right beside the Ticketing Office. All visitors with / without admission tickets to the scenic area will alight at the tourist centre on arrival.
By Public Transport:
Getting to Mutianyu Great Wall from Beijing City is much cheaper using public buses, but the whole journey may take 2.5 to 3 hours.
Follow these steps:
Take Beijing Subway Line 2 / Line 13 / Capital Airport Express (from Capital Airport) to Dongzhimen Station (东直门站) and exit via Exit B / E / F to Dongzhimen Public Transport Hub (东直门交通枢纽),
Take Express Bus 916 (916快, CN¥12, 2 hours) to Huairou Beidajie (North Street) Station (怀柔北大街站), then cross the street and transfer to Bus H7 / H23 / H24 / H35 / H36 to the scenic area. H23 (CN¥5, 30 minutes) has more frequent departures,
Alight at Mutianyu Roundabout (慕田峪环岛) near the tourist centre.
By Tour Bus:
Several tour operators offer direct tour bus services to the scenic spot from various locations around Beijing City, including Qianmen Tourism Distribution Centre (北京旅游集散中心) and various spots around Dongzhimen Public Transport Hub (东直门交通枢纽). All services departing from Beijing City are in the morning, latest by 12pm — buses returning from Mutianyu are in the afternoon, earliest at 1pm.
Tour bus services are faster but cost more — typically CN¥40 one-way. Most of the tour services are two-way trips to Mutianyu and return within the same day, effectively creating day-tours from Beijing City. One-way journey is around 1.5 hours. Some tour operators may also assist to purchase admission tickets, and other tickets, into the Great Wall. Unless there are special arrangements by the tour operators, all passengers will alight at the tourist centre.
By Cab:
The cost of a cab from Beijing City to Mutianyu Great Wall Scenic Area, or vice versa, is around CN¥200~250, including toll charges, and takes around 1.5 hours. During off-peak seasons, some cab drivers may not like the idea of returning from Mutianyu with empty cabs and may reject / request visitors to book their cars for the whole day — it's your call. Avoid using unlicensed cabs (locals called them "black" cabs, but the cabs are not black in colour).
If you have pre-purchased the admission ticket online, you can request the cab driver (when e-hailing) to go nearer to the Ticket-checking Gates, but will have to walk the last 150 metres or so, as unauthorised vehicles are not allowed to enter the scenic area.
2. Tickets & Opening Hours
For foreigners, passports are required to make reservation / purchase of admission tickets to Mutianyu Great Wall regardless of purchase methods. Physical tickets will be issued if purchased on-site, but passports will still be needed. Passports (for foreigners) / ID cards (for China citizens) will be the digital entry passes to board shuttle buses at the tourist centre and to go through the Ticket-checking Gates to the scenic area.
Tickets:
Admission to Mutianyu Great Wall: CN¥40
Shuttle Bus: CN¥15 (round-trip)
Cable Car: CN¥100 (one-way) / CN¥140 (two-way)
Cableway & Slideway: CN¥100 (one-way) / CN¥140 (two-way)
Admission ticket is valid within the day of issue, not by per-entry. You can enter the Great Wall using cable car, exit, and enter again using chairlift. However, it skips the middle segment of the Great Wall and is expensive.
Both the Cable Car and Cableway & Slideway (using chairlifts and toboggans) are operated by two separate service providers and their tickets cannot be used interchangeably. You will have to decide on how you will want to descend from the Great Wall before buying the cable car / cableway / slideway tickets. For example, ascending via cable car and descending via toboggan will requires two one-way tickets for each service, costing CN¥200 instead of CN¥140. Cable Car and Cableway & Slideway tickets can be purchased on-site as required.
Online booking of tickets can be done using the "Mutianyu Great Wall" mini-program on WeChat up to 30 days prior to the intended day of visit. On-site ticketing is also available but expect long queues, especially during peak seasons. For foreigners, use the official website with multi-language support to make reservations.
Website & Reservation:
Opening Hours:
March 16 – November 15 (peak season):
- Weekday: 7:30am to 6pm
- Weekend: 7:30am to 6:30pm
November 16 – March 15 (off-peak season):
- Daily: 8am to 5:30pm
Admission ticket sales stop 1 hour before closing time, ticket-checking stops half an hour before closing time.
3. Internal Shuttle Bus
An internal Shuttle Bus Service (摆渡车) ferries visitors between the Shuttle Bus Uphill Station (摆渡车上行车站) near the tourist centre and the Shuttle Bus Downhill Station (摆渡车下行车站) near the Ticket-checking Gates at the scenic area. Purchasing of the shuttle bus ticket is available at the Ticketing Office or online — better to purchase it with the admission ticket.
When going uphill, scan the QR code on the shuttle bus ticket (if purchased at the Ticketing Office) or scan the registered passport to board the shuttle bus. When going downhill after visiting the Great Wall, there is no need to verify any ticket / passport.
Some tour bus operators, with slightly more expensive day-tour packages, may send its passengers right to the scenic area, bypassing the tourist centre and without the need for shuttle bus service. Going for such tour packages are convenient but make sure not to double book the tickets and pay extra. It is better to evaluate these options first before doing the trip yourself.
4. Ticket-Checking Gates
Officially, there are two Ticket-checking Gates:
North Ticket-checking Gate (北检票口) — furthest from the Shuttle Bus Downhill Station — leads to the Cable Car Station for taking cable cars to the upper station near Tower 14. The same entrance also allows hikers to take the footpaths up to Tower 8 / 10 / 12.
South Ticket-checking Gate (南检票口) is solely for hikers to take the footpaths up to Tower 5 / 6 / 7 / 8.
There is actually a third admission gate. Few steps south of the South Ticket-checking Gate is the Cableway & Slideway Station (施必得索道滑道), opposite Great Wall Hotel (长城酒店), which uses chairlifts to ascend the mountains to Tower 5 / 6 and chairlifts / toboggans to descend.
Note that the footpaths goes up and down the mountains and may take couple of hours depending on individual fitness. Determine your primary objective (to see the Great Wall or go for leg-muscle training) and also how much time you have before going for the cheapest option.
Be advised also that flying of drone is not allowed in Mutianyu Great Wall. Visitors are required to surrender them before reaching the Ticket-checking Gates.
Restrooms
There are few restrooms available on the Great Wall, and they are located near to the upper Cable Car Station and upper Cableway & Slideway Station. It is strongly recommended to use the better-equipped restrooms near the Ticket-checking Gates and Cable Car Stations before beginning the hike. Bring toilet paper, hand sanitiser, etc, in case of needs to use the other restrooms — these are general advise found online, I did not use them.
Note that there are no restrooms in the western segment of the Great Wall (see below).
Explore the Great Wall
Mutianyu Great Wall can be divided into three segments:
Western segment (Towers 14~20) is considered the most scenic parts of Mutianyu Great Wall, offering panoramic views of the Great Wall snaking through the mountains. Tower 20 is the highest point and offers the most expansive views, though the climb to it is steep — also called Hero Slope (好汉坡). Tower 14 is a popular starting point with cable car access. The journey from Tower 14 to Tower 20 and back takes about 2 hours. Difficulty Level: Medium
Middle segment (Towers 14-6) connects both the western and eastern segments. It features a unique Outer Branch Wall branching out from the Great Wall with Tower 11 sitting at its end and also wide views of the lengthy Great Wall beyond Mutianyu. The journey from Tower 14 to Tower 6 are mostly downslope taking about 1 hour or less, however, it may take about 1.5 hours and more effort to walk upslope from Tower 6 to Tower 14. Difficulty Level: Easy (Tower 14 to 6) / Medium (Tower 6 to 14)
Eastern segment (Towers 6~1) is the steepest part of the Great Wall with the largest watchtower of Mutianyu (Tower 4) sitting at the bottom of a valley and another large "corner" watchtower (Tower 1) perched on top of an adjacent mountain. This short segment needs just 1 hour to walk from Tower 6 to Tower 1 and back. Difficulty Level: Challenging
The segments are divided by the upper Cable Car Station near Tower 14 and the upper Cableway & Slideway Station (施必得索道滑道) near Tower 6 as most visitors will use either cable cars or chairlifts to ascend / descend the mountains. Both the western and eastern segments will need to be traversed to and fro, thus, the middle segment will determine the difficulty level of the overall hiking experience. Total hiking time on the Great Wall alone is about 4 hours (normal walking pace).
After studying the 3 segments and evaluating the costs of the cable car / chairlift / toboggan, the most cost-effective and less-tiring way to make the full hike will be as follow:
Purchase admission, shuttle bus and one-way cable car tickets online to skip any queue.
Get to Mutianyu Great Wall as early as possible. Setting off from Beijing City at, say, 7:30am, it will take around 1.5 hours by tour bus / cab, at least another 30 minutes to take the internal shuttle bus and cable car to Tower 14 — may be longer during peak season. It will be around 10am touching the Great Wall.
Visit the restroom at the Cable Car Station before beginning the hike as there is no restrooms in the western segment.
Hike the western segment, conquer the Hero Slope to Tower 20, then walk back to Tower 14. It should take about 2 hours for a slow walk.
Take a break. Have lunch at the food stalls near the Cable Car Station or get some bread before the trip to bring with you.
Continue the hike on the middle segment, walking downslope from Tower 14 to Tower 6 is easier and save time. It should take around 1 hour slow walk.
Descend on the eastern segment to Tower 4, check out the largest watchtower, then climb the steepest steps to Tower 1, rest a while before descending back to Tower 5. If possible, go slowly while waiting for sunset to enjoy some sunset views before going back, otherwise, it will take just 1 hour to and fro.
Exit from Tower 5, buy one-way ticket for chairlift / toboggan at the upper Cableway & Slideway Station to descend from the Great Wall.
Return to Beijing City via tour bus / cab. It will take another 2 hours.
As a foreigner visiting Mutianyu Great Wall once in a lifetime, it does not make sense to fly all the way to Beijing, travel to Mutianyu but not wanting to see all the segments of the Great Wall.
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