Beijing Capital International Airport is the closest airport from which to visit the Great Wall of China.
You can do the wall the independent way, simply flying into Beijing and getting a cab from there to the Great Wall - it can take between 1.5 and 2.5 hours to get to the wall, and should cost around between RMB 400-800, though be aware most cab drivers in Beijing speak very little English. Or alternatively, you can pre-book full tours of the wall through many travel agents or specialist tour operators.
The Great Wall of China is actually difficult to quantify, as it was built, extended, and rebuilt many times during the course of several dynasties. At points in its history, it has been over 3,700 miles (6,000 km) long, and if all the fortified walls built during the different dynasties still existed, the Great Wall would now be some 31,000 miles (50,000 km) long. Naturally therefore, there are airports at various points along its course that can also serve visitors, though none are as widely-recognised as Beijing Capital International Airport for Wall-visiting, and neither are they as technically ‘close,’ nor as user-friendly - the Wall is of course not just a wall, but a system of defensive earthworks, forts, passes and the like, and both its story and its physical reality are widely thought to be most accessible through the ‘Beijing sections’.
Www.chinahighlights.com says that ‘most of the popular sections of the Great Wall are located around Beijing.’ That being so, Beijing Capital International looks likely to maintain its position as the airport regarded as the ‘closest’ to the Great Wall.
You can do the wall the independent way, simply flying into Beijing and getting a cab from there to the Great Wall - it can take between 1.5 and 2.5 hours to get to the wall, and should cost around between RMB 400-800, though be aware most cab drivers in Beijing speak very little English. Or alternatively, you can pre-book full tours of the wall through many travel agents or specialist tour operators.
The Great Wall of China is actually difficult to quantify, as it was built, extended, and rebuilt many times during the course of several dynasties. At points in its history, it has been over 3,700 miles (6,000 km) long, and if all the fortified walls built during the different dynasties still existed, the Great Wall would now be some 31,000 miles (50,000 km) long. Naturally therefore, there are airports at various points along its course that can also serve visitors, though none are as widely-recognised as Beijing Capital International Airport for Wall-visiting, and neither are they as technically ‘close,’ nor as user-friendly - the Wall is of course not just a wall, but a system of defensive earthworks, forts, passes and the like, and both its story and its physical reality are widely thought to be most accessible through the ‘Beijing sections’.
Www.chinahighlights.com says that ‘most of the popular sections of the Great Wall are located around Beijing.’ That being so, Beijing Capital International looks likely to maintain its position as the airport regarded as the ‘closest’ to the Great Wall.
