This article is about the Beijing Great Wall and Ming Tombs travel. You can find some useful information in it if you are booking your Beijing flights now. (you can get more New York, Los Angeles,San Francisco, Chicago flights and airfares info at Travel2ChinaInfo Dot COM)
Badaling Great Wall
You can take the Line 919 bus to the Badaling Great Wall in Deshengmen. The cost is 12 rmb. This bus takes the high way and it only takes 50 minutes for the trip. “He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man.” Lots of travellers choose the Great Wall as the first priority for the Beijing travel. Usually, the Great Wall travel will take you 3 or 4 hours. If you wanna see the Ming Tombs too, there are some tips.
How to get to the Ming Tombs from the Badaling Great Wall?
There is a Line 919 bus (slow bus) station near the Zantianyou museum. This is the best place to take the bus to the Ming Tombs. Don’t take the yellow “Yinjian” bus. It is the unlicensed vehicle. The green and white bus is the real licensed city bus of Beijing. I once took a yellow “Yinjian” bus. They charged me 10 rmb (from Badaling Great Wall to Changpingxiguan) when I get on. I waited in the bus for half a hour and they were still waiting for other travellers in the bus station. I was getting angry and the driver finally started the engine. But they didn’t want to leave the Badaling Great Wall and the bus was still running in the Badaling Great Wall area. Maybe they were still waiting for more travellers to get on the bus. This is very common in China. These drivers are working for the private bus companies and they will not leave the bus station unless they get enough bus fares. I didn’t want to waste my time waiting in the bus and asked them to give my money back. They then dropped in another bus station. The station is about 20 minutes walk from the place I got on the bus! I had to walk back to the previous bus station. When I got on the real Line 919 bus, the bus fare is only 2 rmb (from Badaling Great Wall to Changpingxiguan).This is a horrible experience for me.(you can get more New York,Los Angeles,San Francisco, Chicago flights and airfares info at Travel2ChinaInfo Dot COM)
When you get off the Line 919 bus, there are 2 options to get to the Ming Tombs: (1). go east to the Zhengfujie Street and take the Line 314 bus or Changping Line 22 bus in the Changpingxiguan station. (2). go north to the Minghuanggong station and take the Line 22 bus. It is about 20 minutes drive from the Changpingxiguan station to the Ming Tombs. You will see the Shenlu in the way to the Ming Tombs.
In the slack season (11/01 to 03/31 of next year), the cost is: 40 rmb for Dingling Tomb, 30 rmb for Changling Tomb, 20 rmb for Zhaoling Tomb, 20 rmb for Shendao. In the peak season (04/01 to 10/31), the cost is: 60 rmb for Dingling Tomb, 45 rmb for Changling Tomb, 30 rmb for Zhaoling Tomb, 30 rmb for Shendao.(you can get more New York,Los Angeles,San Francisco, Chicago flights and airfares info at Travel2ChinaInfo Dot COM)
How to get back to Beijing from the Ming Tombs?
There are 2 options: (1). Take the Line 314 bus to the bus station named “Changpingdongguan”, then transfer to the Line 345 bus. The Line 345 bus can take you to the Deshenmeng West bus station. (2). Take the Line 22 bus to the station named “Chengpingxiguan”, then transfer to the Line 919 bus. The Line 919 bus can take you to the Deshengmen bus station.
By Shane Lee.