BEIJING: The Juyongguan section of the Great Wall in Beijing launched a helicopter tour service on Wednesday, allowing tourists to have a bird’s-eye view of the World Heritage Site.
A helicopter carrying four tourists took off from one of the resort’s parking lots at 10 a.m., marking the inauguration of the service, according to the government of Changping District, where the Juyongguan Great Wall is located.
Tourists can choose from three routes for the service, which is operated from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day. In addition to Juyongguan, they can also enjoy the views of Guangou Valley nearby, as well as the Ming Tombs for the other two routes.
The routes take three, five, and 15 minutes, which charge each person 298 yuan (about 42 U.S. dollars), 398 yuan, and 888 yuan, respectively, for the flights.
The Great Wall, with a total length of more than 20,000 km, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and consists of many interconnected walls.
Beijing has a total of 520 km of Great Wall sections within its territory, and the Juyongguan section is about 60 km from the downtown of the city.
The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. –Agencies
