Badaling is the first section of the Great Wall that opened to the public

  From 1569 to 1582, this area was built with obstacles, border town, tip wall and defensive horse wall on each side of mountain in every pass, later to be built as Great Wall with enemy tower and beacon tower. The wall is 9 meters at most and appears as trapezoid, 6.5 meters wide of the base and 5.8 meters of the top. The narrowest part on the wall is only 2 meters wide with dangerous terrain. The biggest stone block is 3 meters in length and 1.7 tons in weight.

  Badaling is the first section of the Great Wall that opened to the public. First constructed in the 18th year of the Hongzhi reign period of the Ming Dynasty in 1505, it was renovated later in Jiajing and Wanli reign of the same Dynasty. With its strategic position, Badaling Section took tremendous labor and materials. The wall of Badaling is tall and solid built by square rocks, and the beacon towers stand one by one. It was a vital protective screen of Beijing city and the important military pass of Ming Dynasty in ancient times. Winding along the ridge of the mountain, Badaling Section of the Great Wall is vividly dragon like.
  The wall is narrow on the top and broad on the base making the wall stands firmly rising and falling ridges. The wall was made with huge stones. Inside the Wall are made of mud and stone block. This makes the wall clean, prettyl, and firm.
  Every other 300 to 500 meters, there are fortresses. There are two kinds of fortresses. One is a two-storied fortress used as a fighting tower. Its ground floor was used for living, storing weapons and the top floor was used for watching and shooting. Another kind is fighting terrace or enemy terrace, which was used for patrolling and fighting.
  Just close to Badaling, there are is a big Great Wall Museum and the Great Wall National Theater. The theater offers you a chance to get a full view of the Great Wall. In 1987, Badaling was listed as World Cultural heritage' by the United Nation.