The Badaling Great Wall is majestic during the day and the Badaling Great Wall at night.
Jia Fenfang rushed forward with full horsepower, trying to grab a good photo spot at a high place before the night fell completely; Young couples hold hands and take selfies on the north first floor holding up their mobile phones; Wang Jie, a security guard, was on duty as usual, and every time he looked at it, he felt that the Great Wall in front of him looked good, "it is not the same as the daytime." ”
This is different and beautiful, and it is set off by 530 lights. Golden lights illuminate the walls, white lights illuminate the road, and the green trees on both sides of the walls are also arranged with dotted lights. The entire Badaling Great Wall is outlined in a clear shape and stretches along the mountain.
This once completely abandoned thousand-year-old city wall, after restoration, began to open to tourists in 1958, and is the earliest Great Wall opened on the mainland. In 1981, the Badaling Special Economic Zone Office was established, and the modern tourism history of the thousand-year-old city wall officially began. In 1995, the Night Tour badaling Great Wall project was launched. In this thousand-year-old building, some people once sat on the bench to watch outdoor movies, some people sang karaoke without emotion, and unknown small bands performed here.
From the initial restoration, to the launch of the night tour of the Great Wall, and even the later discouragement of loose shops in order to dilute the commercial atmosphere, all of them have promoted the Badaling Great Wall to form today's scene.
The night tour of the Great Wall project was once suspended, and in 2020, under the background of "resuming work and production" and Beijing's construction of a night economy, the night tour of the Great Wall was launched again.
On August 26th, the Badaling Great Wall at night, although exquisite, is still majestic. Standing in the distance, the most dangerous part of the light is like a star hanging in the sky. Tourists climb up like picking stars.
In August 2022, badaling Great Wall, tourists tour the Great Wall at night. Beijing News reporter Tao Ran photographed
"Glass Dragon"
On the evening of August 26, the clouds of fire were layered on top of each other, like a giant phoenix tail. At 7:20 p.m., at the moment when the sunset disappeared, the lights came on. The mighty Badaling Great Wall in daylight has become a different look.
White spotlights are placed on both sides of the road of the city wall, separated by more than 10 meters, illuminating the roadways on the city wall. Under the city wall, yellow spotlights are set in groups of two or three, rendering the ancient city wall in the daytime into a golden "dragon" in the night. The two colors are contrasted, and the meandering "dragon" is set against a dark blue background, and the lights are as bright as glass.
In the crowd, Wang Jie stood with his back to his back and back, walking back and forth on the city wall from time to time. Countless tourists poured in from the entrance to the building, passed by him, and ran towards the four enemy buildings in the north. A father held his child and walked slowly around the platform, reaching out to the child to show the light not far away.
Wang Jie has just been here at badaling For a month and is responsible for the security of the Great Wall. On August 26, more than 1,800 tourists passed by him, a not much number — in the summer, the Badaling Great Wall at night received more than 3,000 people at most.
There are also people who run forward, walking through the steep city towers, through the thousand-year-old enemy towers, to the highest place. Looking back, it was a different story.
Wang Jie felt that he could understand the feelings of tourists. The first time he saw the Badaling Great Wall under the illumination, he was shocked, "Shocked." He thought about it and felt that there was no second word to describe, "Watching the lights come on and people pour in is shock." ”
At the feet of the people, these stones, the walls, and the enemy towers are witnesses to the history of thousands of years.
After Qin Shi Huang was east of Jieshi, he passed through Badaling to take Datong and then returned to Xianyang; Yuan Taizu entered the customs, the Ming Emperor Northern Expedition, the Qing Dynasty Tianzi personal conquest... Badaling is a must-pass place. In the collision and exchange of nomadic and agricultural civilizations, the Badaling Great Wall has always fulfilled the duty of guarding defense and establishing order.
Today, some people are slowly moving forward with their children in their arms, and some people are watching a sunset, waiting for the lights to come on. History and modernity, where disputes and peace meet, there is nothing like a bright light that celebrates and pays homage.
In August 2022, the Badaling Great Wall, tourists visited the Great Wall at night and took photos. Beijing News reporter Tao Ran photographed
The first "tourism"
The Badaling Great Wall is the earliest Great Wall on the mainland to be opened to tourists, located at the north entrance of the Jundu Mountain Guangou Ancient Road, more than 60 kilometers northwest of Beijing. According to records, its architectural history dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period. The existing Badaling Great Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty's "Chang'an Ke dialect" recorded: "The road is divided from here, and it is connected in all directions, so it is called 'Badaling', which is the highest person in Guanshan." "Here, the two peaks are sandwiched, condescending, and the situation is dangerous." The danger of Juyong is not in Guancheng, but in Badaling. ”
Since the Qing Dynasty, the Badaling Great Wall, which once played an important military defensive role, has become increasingly abandoned.
In 1953, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage instructed the people's government of Yanqing County (now Yanqing District) to repair 23 broken and fallen places, such as "Juyongwai Town" and "North Gate Lock Key".
According to the historical pictures stored in the Badaling Great Wall Management Office, by the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the city wall on the right side of the "North Gate Lock Key" was obviously in decline, causing the connection between the city tower and the city wall to be blocked. In addition, the four words "North Gate Lock Key" have been weathered to the point where the original appearance is almost invisible, and the walls on the city walls and many enemy towers have also been significantly damaged.
In 1961, the Badaling Great Wall was listed by the State Council as the "first batch of national key cultural relics protection units", and the four enemy towers in the north and south of guancheng were restored and opened up for tourism.
"At that time, the government investment was equivalent to about 3 million yuan now to restore the Great Wall." Wang Tielin, secretary of the party group of the Badaling Great Wall Management Office, told the Beijing News that during this time, the Badaling Great Wall came under the jurisdiction of the Beijing Municipal Government.
In 1981, the "Badaling Special Zone" was established.
For Li Dong, a former Badaling Special Economic Zone and now a staff member of the Badaling Great Wall Management Office, as a local in Yanqing, the Great Wall is a familiar and cordial existence. There is a martyr's tomb at the foot of the Great Wall, and every Qingming Festival, the school will organize a tomb sweep. Every time he looked up, Li Dong could see the enemy towers on the city wall, occupying the most dangerous corner of the mountain tip, and the momentum was fierce.
However, from 1958 to 1981, and even before 1990, the tourism development of the Badaling Great Wall was not ideal.
"Not to mention the tourists' dining, shopping and transportation, even the staff commuting and dormitories are very laborious." In Wang Tielin's view, during this period, the tourism industry of the Badaling Great Wall was almost "completely undeveloped".
In 1986, two new pairs of tourist buses were opened from Xizhimen to Badaling, and a month later, Badaling had a ride-up and drop-off lane. Prior to this, the road from downtown Beijing to Badaling was narrow and there were no direct vehicles, making it very inconvenient.
At the beginning, there were only two tea stalls near Badaling, and shopping and accommodation services were almost zero.
Because the Badaling Great Wall is far from Yanqing City, some employees choose to live in staff dormitories and go home once a week or two. The dormitories are bungalows, and two rows of houses need to accommodate 60 employees. In winter, you also have to burn your own kerosene stove for heating.
"There is no shuttle, everyone commutes by bicycle. Most of them live in Yanqing, cycling for an hour in the winter and 40 minutes in the summer. Wang Tielin said.
In August 2022, the Badaling Great Wall, the landscape avenue was "dressed" with lights. Beijing News reporter Tao Ran photographed
From hundreds of thousands to more than 4 million
In the early 1990s, the management of the Badaling Great Wall began to make many attempts to attract tourists.
In 1991, on behalf of the Great Wall of China, badaling Great Wall accepted the "World Human Cultural Heritage Certificate" issued by the United Nations. In 1995, the Badaling Great Wall was named "National Patriotism Education Base".
In the same year, the ruins of Guyalju officially received tourists, and the Badaling Dengcheng Ropeway began to operate, which is also the first single-line circular off-hook passenger ropeway in New China.
Also in this year, Beijing United Air Tourism Company set up helicopters at the Dingling Road Crossing in Changping to provide flying aviation services for tourists and opened flights from Dingling to Badaling.
Various activities are held intensively on the Badaling Great Wall: antique art festivals, wedding celebrations, music concerts... At the same time, the exploration of tourism projects around the Badaling Great Wall is also being carried out simultaneously. In June 2019, the Badaling Special Economic Zone Office invested 4 million yuan in the Shuiguan Great Wall jointly built with Badaling Town to officially receive tourists.
"When tourism was first opened, the annual number of tourists in Badaling was about hundreds of thousands, and by 1995, this number was more than 4 million." Li Dong said.
The "Night Tour of the Great Wall" also came into being at this time.
In 1995, badaling Scenic Area invested 2 million yuan to place 650 color floodlights on both sides of the Great Wall from the north first floor to the north fourth floor 1,000 meters, so that the Great Wall lit up at night. On October 1 of that year, the Night Great Wall was officially opened to tourists.
The first time the lights came on, it was the year when Li Donggang went to work in badaling scenic spot. Li Dong said that the initial idea was, "Every day so many people look at the Great Wall, but it is all daytime, as soon as the sun sets, all the bustle is silent." What will the Great Wall look like at night? ”
The moment the lights came on, Li Dong felt a huge impact. "It's spectacular, like a golden dragon." The golden walls, the white-illuminated horse tracks, and the woods lined with the walls made him feel "dreamy".
After the official opening of the night tour program, Badaling was also lively at night. Singing is often heard on the Great Wall, projection movies are occasionally played, and sometimes unknown small bands come to perform.
"I was twenty-four or five years old at the time, and I used to go to the Great Wall to see movies and performances." In his impression, the most popular is still karaoke. He likes to sing "Tomorrow Will Be Better" and "Song of the Great Wall", "Everyone is very excited, you think, can sing on the Great Wall, who has seen that formation?" ”
Wang Juncheng was transferred to badaling scenic spot in 1996 and was responsible for sound work. "Just two old-fashioned loudspeakers and a couple of benches." It was still necessary to write a number before each song and wait for someone to sing it. There was also a queue to sing, and at one point there was a fee to be paid. "The charges are not much, mainly because some people are too 'Mai Ba', and he sings for one night without stopping." Wang Juncheng laughed.
In the archives of the Badaling Great Wall Management Office (formerly the Badaling Special Administrative Region), some 1998 videos are still stored. In July of that year, the first Badaling Night Great Wall Summer Festival in Yanqing County (now Yanqing District) was held, and a stage was set up on the "North Gate Lock Key", and the girls on the city wall walked in front of the camera with their hot waves. In the small square at the foot of the city wall, food stalls and various performances of gongs and drums are noisy. After watching the model performance here, you can turn your head to see the flower car over there. The sign of the small shop full of age is flashed in the video, and the flow of people is weaving and bustling.
In August 2022, on the Badaling Great Wall, tourists wore Han costumes to take photos while touring the Great Wall at night. Beijing News reporter Tao Ran photographed
Ride the "Olympic East Wind"
In the 27 years since the opening of the Great Wall Tour Project Chinese New Year's Eve 1995, due to the inconvenience of transportation and the less than expected effect, the Badaling Night Great Wall has also had a brief "partial closure", only open for tour group reservations and government receptions and important holidays.
In 1998, the second phase of the Badaling Expressway was completed and opened to traffic, with a total length of 61.87 kilometers, making it the longest expressway in Beijing at that time. The opening of this highway has saved tourists travel time, and it takes only 40 minutes to travel from beijing to the Badaling Great Wall, saving an hour and a half compared with the original.
Two years later, the Badaling Transit Line, which lasted 1103 days, was completed, replacing the S216 line, which was once crowded with large and small trucks and cars, and all transit vehicles no longer crossed the Great Wall Scenic Area. On the other hand, the transit line connects the Badaling Remnant Great Wall, wildlife park, Badaling Ski Resort, Shuiguan Great Wall and other scenic spots, which promotes the development of tourism.
By 2007, when Wang Tielin came to work in the Badaling Special Zone, the scenic spot received nearly 6 million tourists a year. Under the reputation of "not a good man less than the Great Wall", Badaling's tourism industry has always continued to grow steadily. Five or six stalls in Guancheng, one of thirty or fifty square meters, are all rented out, and the annual rent of one stall can exceed one million yuan. There are also several shops in the north and south west cities, surrounding Badaling, eating tourist meals.
It was also from this year that the Badaling Great Wall began to be fully upgraded in preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games the following year.
On August 8 of that year, the transformation of Wangjing Square and the construction of barrier-free ramps where the Wangjingtai Scenic Area of the Great Wall was located began.
In 2008, the restoration project of Wangjing Temple in the scenic spot was completed. By May of that year, the scenic monitoring and broadcasting systems had also been fully upgraded. A total of 56 new monitoring probes were installed, which basically covered the main areas such as the south one to the north twelfth floor; The scenic broadcasting system has completed the digital upgrade, and a total of 60 broadcast points have been set. The barrier-free ramp was also officially completed this month, starting from opposite Wangjing Square outside the east gate of Guancheng, passing through Beidengchengkou, and ending at the east platform, with a total length of 180 meters.
35 upgrading projects, including the renovation outside the West Gate, the renovation of the Great Wall Museum, the reconstruction of the whole week cinema, the reconstruction of the construction street, and the construction of the parking lot, were also completed on July 20, 2008. The total investment of the project is 430 million yuan, and the total transformation area is 238,000 square meters.
While upgrading, Wang Tielin and his colleagues face another difficult task: to dilute the business atmosphere. "According to the plan, we need to tear down a lot of commercial stores and restaurants, which is very difficult." At the most difficult time, Wang Tielin did not go home for three days, although they were all villagers, but he was also blocked by people. "Don't see the money and don't go, before and after more than 20 shops and 45 small stalls, we spent more than 2.6 million yuan to persuade them to quit."
In preparation for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the lights of the Night Wall have also undergone the largest renovation ever made.
"Mainly to replace the luminaires. At the same time, on the basis of the original North Great Wall, the South Great Wall was laid. The street lights along the scenic area have also been transformed. Lighting works were carried out from the south first floor to the south fourth floor. In anticipation of the Winter Olympics, the cables and the lights on the city walls and tracks were also renewed. Chang Jiang said. He is the maintainer of the Badaling Great Wall lighting system and has worked in the Badaling Great Wall for more than 20 years.
This solemnity is so that the world can see a more complete and complete Great Wall at the Winter Olympics. "During the Winter Olympics, a number of iconic points were broadcast live globally without delay. There are a total of 9 points in Beijing, and Badaling is one of them. Li Dong said that the live broadcast was 24 hours a day and lasted for 32 days.
This is also the longest lighting since the opening of the Badaling Night Great Wall, "This is the moment to show the world the Great Wall of China, but also to show China to the world." ”
The east wind of the Beijing Olympic Games has promoted the rapid development of tourism on the Badaling Great Wall. From 2008 to 2019, the annual passenger flow of the Badaling Great Wall rose by 4 million passengers. 2019 is the highest peak in the history of the Badaling Great Wall, reaching 10.35 million passengers.
In 2008, in order to meet the needs of Olympic tourists to visit the Great Wall, the Beijing Metro S2 line was officially opened, from Beijing North Railway Station to Badaling Great Wall, 74 minutes to reach.
In August 2022, Badaling Great Wall Landscape Pedestrian Street, tourists watched the performance. Beijing News reporter Tao Ran photographed
"More than just a tourist activity"
As a once huge military defense facility, "The Danger of Juyong" has changed over time and has become a global tourist destination. According to Li Dong, 11 million people now come here every year to touch the ancient civilization. Since its opening, the Badaling Great Wall has welcomed a total of 200 million tourists.
In 2003, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranilwi and his wife visited the Badaling Night Great Wall, which was the first head of government to receive the Badaling Night Wall. Up to now, 525 heads of state and government have climbed the Badaling Great Wall.
In June 2019, Badaling Great Wall began to implement a full-network real-name reservation ticketing system. "The results were excellent after the online appointment. In the past, the situation of long queues during peak tourism periods has been effectively improved, tourists can choose the tour time more precisely, and our operational pressure can be more calm. In fact, after online ticket sales, the number of tourists has increased significantly. Wang Tielin said that on the one hand, tourists can have a better experience, on the other hand, they can also protect the Badaling Great Wall more effectively.
The existence of the entire Badaling Great Wall is an excellent carrier for world cultural exchange activities. International mountaineering events have been held here, and choirs have played under the city walls; Rock 'n' roll youth have been shouting here, and sports stars have repeatedly visited this majestic wonder.
Countless tourists from home and abroad come here to fulfill their wishes. The leaders of various countries stepped on the city wall again and again to see the magnificence of the mountains and rivers of China.
In 2015, on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, the Badaling Great Wall lit up the "United Nations Blue"; On Ireland's National Day, "Irish Green" also appears on Badaling more than once. Li Dong was most impressed by the excited scene of the young Irish people who came to watch, "they cheered and hugged." As the manager of the Great Wall, I am sincerely proud of our great cultural heritage. ”
For more than 20 years, the Badaling Great Wall has held dozens of activities on average every year, and has become a stage for exchanges between people of all ethnic groups in the world.
In 2020, under the call of "prevention and control, while recovering", Beijing proposed the concept of night economy. Li Dong said that under such circumstances, the Badaling Great Wall Management Office decided to reopen the Night Great Wall in its entirety. "At the same time, taking the opportunity of the Winter Olympics, the equipment of the Great Wall of night will be repaired and the cultural and commercial street under the city will be improved."
The night tour of Badaling is launched again. Every Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the summer, the lights of the Great Wall come on time to welcome visitors from all over the world.
After the resumption of the Badaling Great Wall Night Tour Project in 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, tourism revenue has not been able to recover steadily, and has not reached the expected effect and level. However, in Li Dong's view, the significance of the Great Wall of Night is not limited to commercial effects, but also has a positive effect on the resumption of work and production and the provision of tourism projects to surrounding citizens. "It's not just a tourist activity, it's also a confidence boost."
Now, in the Great Wall Museum of China at the foot of Badaling, the history and culture of the Great Wall have begun to be displayed to tourists by means of digital technology. In the dome theater, every day people try to touch the traces of yesterday through modern technology.
"As a key project in the construction of the Great Wall National Cultural Park, the Great Wall Museum of China is undergoing a closed upgrade, and after the upgrade, it will be opened to tourists with a newer appearance." In addition, the development of our cultural and creative products and commercial streets is also deepening. Li Dong said.
On August 26, a couple from Shandong who came to Beijing to play boarded the "North Gate Lock Key" tower, and the night tour of Badaling was an important part of their itinerary. As they left, another group of young people was climbing the stairs, some in Hanfu, some taking selfies, some taking videos, and someone streaming live. The lights of the Great Wall of night, which were supposed to go out at 9:30 p.m., continued to shine in the autumn breeze.
(Jia Fenfang is a pseudonym)
Beijing News reporter Yang Xue Editor Yuan Guoli Proofreader Wu Xingfa