Back in September 2011, me and 2 buddies went on a trip to Beijing, China. I have not done much travelling by then and it would be my first time visiting Asia as a wheelchair user.  I remember being extremely excited for this trip and was wondering about accessibility of Beijing.  It was good that 2 buddies came with me just in case we run into issues with anything.  Our goal was to visit The Great Wall of China, as it was on all our bucket lists.

We all knew that it was going to be a challenge to get on The Great Wall and was told by our hotel concierge that the best part for wheelchairs to visit was a small section at Badaling.  This section the of the wall is the most visited section and it is the closest to Beijing which is about 80 KM (50 miles) northwest of downtown.  Badaling is the only section that has a flat wheelchair accessible pathway that allows wheelchair users to get as far as the third watch tower of the wall.

We can’t remember the tour company we booked with at our hotel (Tiantan Hotel) but the 10 hour tour included a visit to see Ming Tombs, Jade Factory, lunch, Badaling Great Wall and a Silk Factory.

The Bus

We were picked up from our hotel around 7:30 AM by a smaller tour bus, not a giant Greyhound style bus.  The other people on our bus let the 3 of us take the front seats, as there are a few steps to get into the bus and it would be easiest for my buddies to transfer me into the front seats.  Sitting right next to my buddy and reclining the seat helped me balance and keep stable during the drive.

Our tour guide Michael spoke English really well and gave us information about our tour, China and our itinerary for the day during the drive to our first destination.  He also pointed out some landmarks as we drove by them including the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium.  The drive was pretty comfortable and we got to see different parts of Beijing during the journey that we would not have seen if we went on our own.

Ming Tombs

After about an hour of driving, our first stop were the Ming Tombs, which are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty of China.  Of course at every stop, my buddy had to carry me out of the tour bus and transfer me to my manual wheelchair.  There are 13 tombs of Ming dynasty emperors buried here but only 3 are open to the public.  Since Ming Tombs covers more than 120 square kilometers (75 miles), we just got to check out the Changling Tomb.

The outside area was mostly pretty flat while some of the buildings did have a few steps to get in.  Michael showed our group around and gave us information about everything we saw.  We saw a really cool statue of Yongle emperor and some collections of Jade pieces in glass cabinets.  After spending about an hour here, everyone got back on the bus to get to our next destination.

Jade Factory

The Jade factory we went to is more of a Jade store.  Tours purposely stop at these shopping places so that we can be convinced to buy overly priced low quality Jade pieces.  The staff inside try to get your attention and try their best to explain with the little English words they know about why you should buy their Jade.  Some even show you how they make their jewelry and sculptures.

The Jade factory stop is also where we ate our included Chinese lunch.  Our whole tour group sat together in a big round table and we ate a decent Chinese meal before we left to our bus to head to the Great Wall.

Badaling Great Wall Cable Car

After arriving at the parking lot of the Badaling section of the Great Wall, everyone was given the option to either to hike up many many stairs to get to the wall or use the cable car gondola.  The cable car option required each person to pay an extra small fee as this was the only activity that was not included with the tour price.  The cable car gondola is quite small and not wheelchair accessible at all.

My buddies had to carry me into a narrow door of the gondola to transfer me inside and there was only one seat for the 3 of us.  The space for our legs was so narrow, we had to send my collapsed manual wheelchair on the next gondola, while all 3 of us squeezed into one.

The ride wasn’t too long but the gondola did rock and shake a lot going up the air.  I was trying to hook my arms on the poles of the gondola to give me better balance during the ride.  The views of the mountain and the Great Wall was pretty magnificent and it made us even more excited about getting to the Great Wall.

Badaling Great Wall

We got as high up as we could but it still required my buddies and Michael to get me up to the Badaling section.  The first thing we noticed was that the air was thinner being so high up and that it was a little bit windy and cold.  Terrain was a bit rocky and bumpy but that did not bother me while I was being pushed.  I was just really happy and excited to be doing this.

There are elevators at Badaling that takes you to a small section of it but the elevators weren’t running when we were there, so again, I had to get help up a few stairs.  After getting up there, we all just took a moment and realized that we made our dreams come true and that we made it to one of the wonders of the world.

There are still a lot of bumpy, rocky pathways at the top and many stairs and inclines to get to other parts of the Badaling section, so I stayed behind with Michael while my buddies ventured out a bit to explore and take pictures.  The whole Badaling area was quite long, which meant that my buddies couldn’t get the chance to explore everything.  They even got stopped by other Asians to get photos with them since my buddies are Caucasian.

Silk Factory

Our last stop before heading back to our hotel was to a Silk factory.  Again, this was another mandatory and unnecessary stop to try to get tourists to buy their items.  Staff here showed us how silk is made and why we should buy their products.  It was interesting to learn about the fabric but we never ended up buying any silk products before leaving.

All 3 of us did really enjoy our full day heading out to the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China.  We probably could have saved some money by  driving ourselves or taking a cheap taxi for this, so that we can spend more time at the Great Wall and skip the side shopping stops.  Hopefully the next time I come back, the elevators will be working and that the gondolas will be more accessible.