Mutianyu Great Wall is one of the most famous and best preserved sections of the Great Wall together with Badaling and Jinshanling sections. Located in the northeast of Beijing Municipality, Mutianyu is connected with the smaller hotspot sections of Jiankou in the west and Lianhuachi in the east. This section used to serve as the northern wall defending the capital city and the Imperial power, like a giant galloping dragon on mountain peak preserving the entrance to emperors’ kingdom. Important section of the Great Wall, Mutianyu is filled with a great amount of historical and cultural relics as well as the most important number of watchtowers. About 20 of them are distributed along the opened tourism area that stretches for about 2250 meters long. Travelers visiting the Mutianyu Great Wall have the possibility to experience the Great Wall in different ways, whether using the thousands stone steps or a cable car. Definitely one of the best places to hike for experiencing the Great Wall, Mutianyu and its surrounding lush forest and woodland transports everyone back to ancient times, back in Imperial China.

Excavated in the late 1950s, Dingling (Dìng Líng) is unique among the Ming Tombs, allowing visitors to actually descend into its underground burial chamber. Built for the 13th Ming emperor, Wanli, and two of his empresses, much of the once grand structure has not survived. The whole complex is enclosed by forest, with mountains and the tops of other Ming Tombs rising up beyond the trees, making for a serene environment when not broken by the bullhorns of tour guides.
Though most artifacts from the tomb’s interior have been removed, the massive doors, designed to lock from the inside upon closing, remain. Archeologists cleverly opened them from the outside by lifting the lock with a pole inserted through a crack in the door.