Badaling, China

First built in 1505 to protect the Juyong Pass, Badaling was fully restored in the 1950s and was the first section to open to tourism. Badaling is also the last major tourist centre and is where the Wall that most people know about ends. 

Stretching across mountain ridges, the width of the Wall is 19ft (5.7m), intentionally built to accommodate five horsemen galloping across side by side or ten soldiers marching shoulder to shoulder. Split into north and south, Badaling has 30 watchtowers – eight south of the main gate and 12 north of it. Its highest point is at 3,300ft (1,500m) with grand panoramic views of lush landscape and rocky terrain. Boardwalks and railings have been installed as part of the renovations.  

Close to Beijing, Badaling was a major defence border on the northern frontier. When Genghis Khan unified the Mongolian tribes and established his empire, he set his sights on China. Many military conquests north of the Wall ensued over the next sixty years until his grandson, Kublai Khan, ascended the throne as Mongol Emperor in 1260. Establishing the Yuan Dynasty a decade later, he set up his capital in modern-day Beijing. When in 1279, he conquered the Song Dynasty in southern China, Kublai reunified the country and became the first Mongol to rule all of China. The Yuan Dynasty ruled until 1368 when they were defeated by the rebel leader Zhou Yuanzhang, who founded the Ming Dynasty.

Famous merchant and explorer, Marco Polo, spent 17 years in Kublai Khan’s court. He learned the language and served as a messenger. He was promoted several times to government official positions, something that was unheard of before, when most of China was closed to foreigners. Kublai Khan encouraged foreign trade and many envoys travelled by sea to visit China. When Polo returned to Venice, it was a turbulent time and he found himself thrown in jail. It was in jail where he penned his book, ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’. For a long time, his book was seen more as fiction than fact but in recent times his accounts have been verified by academics and other explorers.

When Christopher Columbus set off across the Atlantic two hundred years later, he carried with him Marco Polo’s book. Fact or fiction, Marco Polo inspired generations of globetrotting adventurers.