Badaling is located at Yanqing County, more than 70 kilometers northwest from the center of Beijing City. It is a mountain pass of the Jundu Mountain. Badaling is at the highest point of north end of the Guangou gorge, in which the Juyongguan Pass lies. In the history, the function of Badaling was to protect the Juyongguan Pass. Along with Guangou gorge, there are several interests and historic sites. Badaling is a rare ancient military defense project. The elevation of it is about 1,000 meters.

The wall of Badaling has a total length of 3, 741 meters with an average height of 8 meters The highest part is 15 meters. The total area for a tour is 19, 000 square meters. The top of the wall can permit five horses to be ridden abreast. There are arched doors at the inner side of the wall with very little distance between each two doors. The arched doors lead you to the top of the wall by stone stairs.

Badaling became a very important military strategic place since the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC) and the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC). Many incomplete parts of the wall were proved to be built in the Warring States Period.

Badaling was the earliest section to be open to the tourists among all the parts of the whole Great Wall. 130 million tourists from China and abroad have visited Badaling; 370 foreign leaders and very important persons have come to climb Badaling successively.

This section of the Great Wall was made by huge bar stones. Some of the stones have a height of two meters with a weight of hundreds kilograms. Inside the Wall are made of mud and stone block. The top floor of the Great Wall is paved with square bricks which made the floor very orderly and smooth. On the highest place, signal fire platforms were set to send warning signals in the ancient China. One fire with one smoke means the enemy is about 100 men; two fires with two smoke means 500 men, and three fires with three smoke means more than 1,000 men... By this way, the persons who were warned were able to know the state of the enemy.

Near Badaling, there is a large-scaled Great-Wall-of-China Museum as well as the Great Wall National Theater from which you can get a full and complete view of the Great Wall.

In 1961, the State Council decided that Badaling was a national key protected culture relic unit. In 1987, Badaling became World Cultural heritage by the United Nation.