Badaling Expressway
Encyclopedia
| Badaling Expressway Facts | |
| Road Numbering | G025 |
| Length | 69.98 km |
| Passes through | Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... |
| Starting point | Madian, Beijing |
| Terminus | Kangzhuang, Beijing |
| Exits | 17 |
| Service Areas | 1 |
 |
|
The Badaling Expressway (Simplified Chinese: 八达岭高速公路, Traditional Chinese: 八達嶺高速公路, Hanyu Pinyin: Bādálíng Gāosù Gōnglù) is an expressway
Controlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...
in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
which links urban Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
to the Badaling
Badaling
Badaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military...
stretch of the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
. It continues toward Yanqing
Yanqing County
Yanqing County is a subdivision of the municipality of Beijing located northwest of the city proper of Beijing...
and leaves Beijing, becoming the Jingzhang Expressway
Jingzhang Expressway
The Jingzhang Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Zhangjiakou. It forms part of the Jingda Expressway from central Beijing through to Datong in Shanxi province....
.
Starting north of Madian Overpass on the Northern 3rd Ring Road, it runs for approximately 50 kilometres in a direction toward Beijing's north-west.
The Badaling Expressway gets its name from the Badaling
Badaling
Badaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military...
stretch of the Great Wall
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
.
History
The expressway was constructed in January 1996 in three stages, culminating in the creation of a 69.98 kilometre long expressway in September 2001.The previous expressway did not link with the Jingzhang Expressway
Jingzhang Expressway
The Jingzhang Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Zhangjiakou. It forms part of the Jingda Expressway from central Beijing through to Datong in Shanxi province....
. After the linking was complete, the stretch to Yanqing
Yanqing County
Yanqing County is a subdivision of the municipality of Beijing located northwest of the city proper of Beijing...
and Kangzhuang was opened, and the toll gate at Juyongguan
Juyongguan
Juyongguan or Juyong Pass is located in an -long valley named "Guangou" which is inside Changping County more than from Beijing City. It is one of the three greatest passes of the Great Wall of China. The other two passes are Jiayuguan and Shanhaiguan....
was put out of service soon after.
Road Conditions
Warning
Kilometre sections 49-50 heading out of Beijing are areas where fog may occur. The same applies for the stretch between ShaheShahe
Shahe is a county-level city in the prefecture-level city of Xingtai, in the southern part of Hebei province of the People's Republic of China.-Administrative Divisions:Subdistricts:...
and Xisanqi, especially at night. The Valley of Death (see relevant part of this article) is a (potential) speed trap
Speed Trap
Speed Trap is a live jazz album by Peter King, recorded at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in September 1994, and released in 1996 under the Ronnie Scotts Jazz House label...
and a black spot for traffic accidents. Other speed traps are around the area leaving urban and part of suburban Beijing.
Speed Limit
Before Qinghe Toll Gate, maximum 80 km/h; after Qinghe Toll Gate, maximum 100 km/h. (60 km/h only in mountainous area between Nankou and BadalingBadaling
Badaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military...
; heavily enforced heading into Beijing in "Valley of Death".)
In cases of rain, snow or fog, a maximum speed limit of 60 km/h for the stretch southeast of Nankou applies (40 km/h northwest of Nankou). Most bridges southeast of Nankou have a maximum speed limit of 80 km/h but this is neglected by all and enforced by virtually none.
Speed checks are concentrated in the Madian - Bei'anhe area and get less after that, but are notoriously plenty in the "Valley of Death" part of the expressway from Badaling
Badaling
Badaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military...
to Nankou, heading into Beijing.
Tolls
CNY 0.5/km as of 5th Ring Road intersection for sections south of the toll gate. (The 5th Ring Road intersection is free only for vehicles heading north toward Badaling.)Entire stretch north of the 5th Ring Road to Kangzhuang costs CNY 35 (price for small passenger cars). Networked with 6th Ring Road toll system, but not with Jingzhang Expressway
Jingzhang Expressway
The Jingzhang Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Zhangjiakou. It forms part of the Jingda Expressway from central Beijing through to Datong in Shanxi province....
system.
Lanes
6 lanes (3 up, 3 down) from Madian - Nankou; 4 lanes (2 up, 2 down) thereafter.Traffic
Mainly concentrated in Madian - Huilongguan section. Shangqing BridgeShangqing Bridge
Shangqing Bridge is an overpass in Beijing.It is an intersection where the northern stretch of the 5th Ring Road and the Badaling Expressway meet....
is a traffic bottleneck. Potentially slow after Juyongguan
Juyongguan
Juyongguan or Juyong Pass is located in an -long valley named "Guangou" which is inside Changping County more than from Beijing City. It is one of the three greatest passes of the Great Wall of China. The other two passes are Jiayuguan and Shanhaiguan....
(mountainous).
Warning: Horrendous traffic jams can clog up to the extent that the stretch from Madian to Jianxiang can become a three-lane car park during rush hour. For the stretch after that until the Qinghe Toll Gate, the right part of the expressway can get clogged up with vehicles leaving the expressway. During both rush hour periods, the Huilongguan exit is likely to form a huge traffic line.
Major Exits
Beijing Section: N. 3rd Ring Road, N. 4th Ring Road, N. 5th Ring Road, Huilongguan, N. 6th Ring Road, ChangpingChangping District
Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
, Nankou, Badaling
Badaling
Badaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military...
, Yanqing
Yanqing County
Yanqing County is a subdivision of the municipality of Beijing located northwest of the city proper of Beijing...
.
Service Areas
One for both directions near Xisanqi and near Baige/ChangpingChangping District
Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
.
Connections
Ring Roads of BeijingRing Roads of Beijing
Beijing is one of the very few cities to possess multiple ring roads .-1st Ring Road:The 1st Ring Road no longer exists under that name. In the 1920s, around half a dozen routes were established in Beijing for the first tram lines of the city...
: Connects with the N. 3rd Ring Road at Madian, the N. 4th Ring Road at Jianxiang, the N. 5th Ring Road at Qinghe, and the N. 6th Ring Road at Baige.
Jingzhang Expressway
Jingzhang Expressway
The Jingzhang Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Zhangjiakou. It forms part of the Jingda Expressway from central Beijing through to Datong in Shanxi province....
: Becomes the Jingzhang Expressway west of the City Boundary toll gate.
The Expressway and the Great Wall
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
in the Badaling region. As a result, it offers three exits which are linked immediately (or in the vicinity of) with the Great Wall. (Note: All of these exits are in the split section of the expressway heading out of Beijing.)
Juyongguan Exit - Exit No. 15: The Great Wall at Juyongguan Pass is linked immediately with the expressway. Juyongguan Pass is a fort which is nearest Beijing the most. Needless to say, a stretch of Great Wall is also next to the Pass.
Shuiguan Exit - Exit No. 16: The Great Wall at Shuiguan is little-known, but interesting, and also very challenging. It is extremely steep, but at the top, offers you a spectacular view and even allows you to see (though not visit up-close) a stretch of the Wall which has yet to be repaired (also known as "the wild Great Wall"). Note: There is no entry back into the expressway; you must proceed by minor routes back to Juyongguan.
Badaling Exit - Exit No. 18: By far the most famous and the most frequented of all three exits is the one at Badaling. After passing a large car park, you head for the Badaling Great Wall, which has been frequented by millions of visitors.
The "Valley of Death"
The Problem
Kilometre sections 50-55 of the expressway into Beijing has what the road sign labels as "serial downgrades". It actually means that there are continuous curves heading downward, spiralling downward. If one speeds in this section, fatal accidents can occur -- and many have, racking up a horrendous death toll. Thus the nickname "valley of death". It begins right after the first tunnel after the expressway splits at Badaling, entering Beijing.The Measures Taken in Response
After seeing more than enough vehicles and people plunge to premature deaths in this part of the expressway, the Beijing police authorities reacted vigorously and enacted a low speed limit of 60 km/h for light-duty vehicles and 40 km/h for lorries. Lorries with questionable brakes get forced into a service area; ditto for overloaded lorries. Massive, repetitive and nearly ubiquitous signposts were put in place, urging people to slow down. Meanwhile, numerous cameras are on permanent lookout for people who drive too quickly. For speeders, a valley-wide loudspeaker system broadcasts their vehicle licence number, and an electronic display records the licence plate of the speeding vehicle. Those who are caught face punishment (read: stiff punishment); according to the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of ChinaRoad Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China
The Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China is a law which was passed by the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on October 28, 2003, promulgated by Decree No...
, if one drives in excess of 50% of the regulated limit, one loses one's driving licence for good (plus a 2-year waiting period for reapplications) and gets a whopping CNY 2000 fine (approximately $260 USD).
Five speed cameras and a GPRS wireless network for violator data transfer make this system apparently undefeatable. There is little tolerance outside of the signposted speed limits.
In rare cases, police have reportedly stopped speeders near the disused Juyongguan toll gate.
Safety and Results
Car safety is also a big feature on this part of the expressway. There are plenty of Emergency Brake-Fail areasRunaway truck ramp
A runaway truck ramp, runaway truck lane, emergency escape ramp or truck arrester bed is a traffic device that enables vehicles that are having braking problems to safely stop. It is typically a long, sand or gravel-filled lane adjacent to a road with a steep grade, and is designed to accommodate...
, where cars in distress can brake by rolling into an upward hill full of pebbles, which would slow the car down. There is what is called a "Vehicle Self-Check Line", or actually an emergency bay, where questionable cars can be parked and the car itself be checked for any technical glitches.
The results are paying off. Over two hundred days after the implementation of the new system, a fatal accident has yet to occur. Meanwhile, drivers are driving more carefully, and speeders are given the punishment they deserve. The strong anti-speeding deterrent is also working well.
Beijing Section
Listed are exits heading north and northwest as of Madian (N. 3rd Ring Road).Symbols: ↗ = exit (↘ = exit only, → = only when heading for Kangzhuang, ← = only when heading for Madian), ⇆ = main interchange; ¥ = central toll gate, S = service area
- ⇆ 1: (Interchange with 3rd Ring Road) N. 3rd Ring Road
- ⇆ 2: (Interchange with 4th Ring Road) Beisihuan
- ↗ Anxiang North Road
- ↗ 5: (→, ↘) Qinghe and "999" Station
- ¥ Qinghe Central
- ⇆ 4: (Interchange with 5th Ring Road) N. 5th Ring Road -- exit numbering fell into disarray here
- ↗ 7: Xisanqi
- S Service Area, Filling Station
- ↗ 8: (→) Huillongguan
- ↗ 9: Bei'anhe
- ↗ 10: (→) Shahe, Yangfang
- ↗ 11: XiaotangshanXiaotangshanXiaotangshan is a small town in the Changping District of Beijing in the People's Republic of China. It is the location of the Xiaotangshan Modern Agricultural Science Demonstration Park- the largest modern agricultural park in China...
, Baige Road - ⇆ 12: (Interchange with 6th Ring Road) MentougouMentougou DistrictMentougou District is in west Beijing.Spanning 1,321 square kilometres, with 266,591 inhabitants , it is subdivided into 4 subdistricts of the city proper of Beijing and 9 towns ....
, ShunyiShunyi DistrictShunyi District is an administrative district of Beijing, located outside of the city proper.-Overview:...
(N. 6th Ring Road) -- note: Road connection to Mentougou ✕ - S Service Area
- ↗ 13A: (→) Science Park
- ↗ 13B: (→) ChangpingChangping DistrictChangping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
, Ming Tombs - ↗ 13C: (→) ChangpingChangping DistrictChangping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
Xiguan - ↗ 13: (←) ChangpingChangping DistrictChangping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
, HuairouHuairou DistrictHuairou District is situated at northern Beijing. Huairou District, covering an area of 2,557.3 square kilometers, is divided into 2 subdistricts of the city of Huairou, 12 towns and 2 ethnic rural townships with a population of 296,002...
, Ming Tombs - ↗ 14: Nankou, ChenzhuangChenzhuangChenzhuang is a township-level division of Lingshou County, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China....
- ↗ 15: (→) The Great WallGreat Wall of ChinaThe Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
at JuyongguanJuyongguanJuyongguan or Juyong Pass is located in an -long valley named "Guangou" which is inside Changping County more than from Beijing City. It is one of the three greatest passes of the Great Wall of China. The other two passes are Jiayuguan and Shanhaiguan.... - ↗ 16: (→, ↘) The Great WallGreat Wall of ChinaThe Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
at Shuiguan - ↗ 18: (→, ↘) The Great WallGreat Wall of ChinaThe Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
at BadalingBadalingBadaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military... - ↗ 19: YanqingYanqing CountyYanqing County is a subdivision of the municipality of Beijing located northwest of the city proper of Beijing...
- ↗ 20: Kangzhuang (→) / Kangzhuang, BadalingBadalingBadaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military...
(←) - ¥ City Boundary
- Continues as Jingzhang ExpresswayJingzhang ExpresswayThe Jingzhang Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Zhangjiakou. It forms part of the Jingda Expressway from central Beijing through to Datong in Shanxi province....
See also
- China National HighwaysChina National HighwaysThe China National Highways are a series of trunk roads throughout all of mainland China. Although they are called highways , they are not necessarily expressways...
- Expressways of BeijingExpressways of BeijingBeijing was first linked to outside areas by the Jingshi Expressway in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Now, nine expressways link Beijing, and more are to come.-History:...
- Expressways of ChinaExpressways of ChinaThe Expressway Network of the People's Republic of China is one of the longest in the world. The network is also known as National Trunk Highway System . The total length of China's expressways was at the end of 2010, the world's second longest only after the United States and slightly longer...