Wall of adventure and splendor

Badaling section of the historic structure gives tourists a taste of the past with modern comforts, Yang Feiyue reports.

Short but intense storms have sprung upon the capital city since early June, often with little warning. Yet, as swiftly as they come, they retreat, leaving in their wake a stunning sunset and crystal clear blue sky.

This cleansing effect seems magical when one drives to Yanqing, the outer suburban district northwest of Beijing.

Badaling Great Wall is one of the district's popular areas that take people's mind off from the bustling city center. It rests on the mountain ridges and seems to have its features — the thick curves of yellow bricks and rugged edges — brought into sharp relief. The clarity somehow magnifies its size and makes it look very close to viewers from the meandering mountainside highway.

About a 20-minute drive northward from the first sight of the Badaling section, camp tents, watchtower-like walls and an enclosed horse racetrack emerge at Beijing Expo Park. Men and women dressed in ancient-looking warrior costumes pulling stunts on the back of racehorses are visible upon walking into the facility carrying the Great Wall elements. The crack of their whip and the sheen of horse manes under the sun bring people back in time.

It is part of an immersive experience that local authorities have developed to bring visitors closer to the history and culture of the Great Wall.

The arrangement of such prelude eases tourists into the grand drama, Dream of the Great Wall, further into the facility, where various periods of major Great Wall development, from the Qin (221-206 BC) to the Han (206 BC-AD 220) and the Tang (618-907) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, are delivered onstage and walk the audience down history lane.