Great Wall of China Tickets and Prices from Beijing (2026)
Great Wall tickets are cheaper than most first-timers expect, but the entrance fee is only part of the bill. Cable cars, the toboggan, transport and, at some sections, a strict daily cap all shape what your visit costs and whether you can walk up on the day at all.
Prices below are the current published figures in Chinese yuan and are correct to the best of our research, but operators do adjust them by season, so treat them as a guide and check the live figure on the booking listing before you go. A useful rule of thumb: the entrance ticket is small, and the cable car usually costs more than getting in.
Entrance tickets by section
| Section | Entrance (adult) | Cable car | Toboggan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mutianyu | ~¥45 | Extra | ~¥100 |
| Badaling | ~¥40 | ~¥180 round trip (peak, incl. entrance) | Sliding car (different) |
| Jinshanling | ~¥65 | ~¥40 to ¥80 one way | None |
| Simatai | ~¥40 | Extra | None |
| Gubei Water Town | ~¥150 | n/a | n/a |
The Mutianyu extras: cable car and toboggan
Mutianyu is the section where the add-ons matter most. The entrance is around ¥45, but almost everyone also takes the cable car up to save the climb, and the toboggan down is the reason many families come at all. That small metal luge costs about ¥100 and is worth it if you have children or simply want a fast, grinning descent instead of the steps. Budget for the entrance plus the cable car plus the toboggan and you have the full Mutianyu bill.
Opening hours
Hours shift with the season. Mutianyu is roughly 07:30 to 18:00 on weekdays and a little later at weekends, with extended evening hours on some peak-summer days. Badaling opens early, around 06:30 in peak season (April to October) and 07:30 off-peak, closing in the late afternoon. Because the sections are a long way out, the practical advice is the same everywhere: arrive as early as you can. The first two hours after opening are the quietest and the light is best.
The Badaling booking rule you need to know
Badaling enforces a daily visitor cap of 65,000 and often requires advance online booking, especially at weekends and holidays. Turning up without a reservation on a busy day can mean being turned away. You also need your passport, which is tied to the booking. This single rule catches out more independent visitors than anything else.
Discounts
Concessions exist and are worth claiming. Seniors aged 60 and over are frequently free or half price, children under 1.2 metres tall usually enter free, and students often get half price with valid ID. Bring physical documents, because digital or foreign cards are not always accepted at the gate.
How much does the whole day cost?
Add it up and a Great Wall day is cheap by world-wonder standards: a small entrance ticket, an optional cable car and toboggan, and transport that is the biggest single line. The entrance almost never decides your budget; the way you travel does.
| Item | Rough cost |
|---|---|
| Entrance (Mutianyu / Badaling / Jinshanling) | ~¥45 / ¥40 / ¥65 |
| Cable car | Charged separately, varies by section |
| Toboggan down (Mutianyu) | ~¥100 |
| Public transport to Badaling | ~¥12 to ¥25 each way |
| Guided day tour | Bundles transport, entrance, usually cable car, guide |
We convert all of this into US dollars in how much it costs to visit the Great Wall. If getting there is your biggest cost, see the options in our guide to getting from Beijing to the Great Wall.
Are the cable car and toboggan worth paying for?
At Mutianyu, yes for most people: the cable car removes the hardest climb and the toboggan is the ride children remember, so the extras earn their place. On a tight budget you can walk up instead, but the time and energy saved usually justify the cable car, and the ¥100 toboggan is a small price for the best few minutes of a child's day.
The full breakdown of how the ride works, who should take it and whether to go up or down is in our guide to the Mutianyu toboggan and cable car. Badaling has its own cable car and a different sliding car; Jinshanling has a cable car too, though many hikers there prefer to walk.
How to book, and when tickets sell out
Badaling needs advance online booking on busy days and can sell out at its 65,000 daily cap; the other sections are more forgiving, but every section rewards booking ahead in peak season. The pinch points are predictable, so plan around them.
Peak demand lands on Golden Week (early October), Chinese New Year and summer weekends, covered in our guide to the best time to visit the Great Wall. On those dates, book Badaling ahead or choose a quieter section like Jinshanling and start at opening. Whichever section you choose, carry your passport: it is tied to Badaling's booking and checked at the gate.
Do you save money booking a tour or going independently?
Independently is cheaper on paper, but once you add the round-trip transport, entrance and cable car, a guided tour often costs about the same for a lot less hassle. The honest comparison is not "ticket versus tour", it is "ticket plus transport plus cable car plus your time versus tour".
Going independent by bus or train suits budget travellers comfortable with Chinese-language logistics and an early start. A tour makes more sense if your time in Beijing is short, you want a farther section without the transport headache, or you would rather arrive early with everything arranged. Our guided Great Wall of China Beijing tours bundle the pickup, drive, entrance and usually the cable car into one price, so the day is handled end to end.
What a tour price includes
When you compare a guided tour price against the entrance ticket, remember you are not comparing like with like. A tour bundles hotel pickup, the round-trip drive of 140 km or more, the entrance ticket, usually the cable car, and a licensed guide, all on one booking. Paid separately, the transport alone often costs more than the tour, before you have spent a minute organising it. That is why so many visitors book the whole day rather than assembling it piece by piece. Whichever way you go, the live price and what is included are shown on the operator's own listing.
