Getting to Badaling: high-speed rail, S2 and bus

Get the wall ticket first, then the train: Badaling is booked online by session (morning or afternoon, up to 7 days ahead, no ticket window), so the slot you win decides which train you need — book the ticket before the train, not after. This page covers getting to the wall: three official ways to reach Badaling without a tour, plus what the official site itself points foreigners to. The three are the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed line to Badaling Great Wall station (the deep one under the mountain), the suburban S2 railway from Huangtudian, and buses 877 / 880 / 919 from Deshengmen.