Beijing Yanqing Scenic Train: A Great Wall Day Trip for Foreign Visitors

The Beijing Yanqing scenic train, the S2 suburban line, is a pleasant ride into the mountains. Few people would build a whole day around it. Most pair it with the Badaling Great Wall or Longqing Gorge, and the smart ones sort out the trip home first.

The S2 has started from Nankou, out past the city's edge, since the first train on October 25, 2025, according to the Beijing Suburban Railway's route-change notice. Only a handful of trains run each day. A common plan is to take it one way, then come back on a high-speed train you can book ahead with your passport. Go on a clear day. 

You've seen the photos: a green train threading through pink blossoms below the Great Wall. Locals call it the "train to spring." Getting that view takes more planning than the pictures suggest.

Is the ride itself enough?

Not really. The scenery worth seeing is all between Nankou and Badaling, and the line finishes in Yanqing, a district town where the station has little around it. Ride out and back, and you’ve spent a long day with not much to show for it.

From Nankou, the line climbs through the Juyongguan valley while the Great Wall runs along the ridges overhead. On the way up to Badaling, there’s a switchback where the train reverses, left over from the old mountain railway.

Past Badaling, the land levels out toward Yanqing. That stretch is pleasant enough, though nobody comes for it. 

What you'll actually see

• Once the train pulls out of Nankou, steep, scrubby hillsides close in on both sides of a narrow valley.
• The pass at Juyongguan has restored sections of the Great Wall climbing either side. This is where the spring blossom photos are taken.
• The train halts near Qinglongqiao and reverses to tackle the slope.
• Watchtowers on the skyline tell you Badaling station is close.
• Beyond Badaling, the hills fall back into the Yanqing basin, and you’ll see farmland with the town up ahead.

Is Yanqing town worth a stop?

Only if you have something planned. Yanqing is a quiet district center, and you’ll find buses around the station rather than anything to see. The Beijing Expo Park and the Guishui River paths are close by, and Longqing Gorge is a bus ride away. 

If you ride to Yanqing just to turn around, you'll spend more time waiting for the train back than looking at anything.

Route options at a glance

Sources: Beijing Suburban Railway route-change notice; Beijing Bendibao S2 and Longqing Gorge guides. Costs are bands, since fares and tickets vary. 

How long is the ride?

Budget about 40 minutes from Nankou to Badaling, and a little over an hour if you're riding through to Yanqing. On the spring 2026 timetable, the morning S201 pulled out of Nankou at 9:03 a.m. It was due at Badaling around 9:41 and in Yanqing around 10:07.

Beijing Traffic Radio confirmed the 9:03 departure in its spring report. Back when the line started at Huangtudian, the run to Badaling took about 1 hour 22 minutes. You spend less time on the train now, though getting to Nankou takes longer.

The operator moved some departure times again on April 21, 2026, in a notice posted on the Beijing government portal. Outside holidays, the operator's notices give a regular pattern of two pairs of trains a day from Tuesday to Thursday and three pairs from Friday to Monday. For the latest times, look on the "Beijing Suburban Railway" WeChat account (北京市郊铁路), or ask staff at the station. Anything printed before October 2025 is out of date.

Which pairing works in a day: Badaling or Longqing Gorge?

Choose one. Badaling is the better pick for a first look at the Great Wall, and it’s a short walk from the S2 station. Longqing Gorge means a bus from Yanqing, but both places have high-speed trains back to the city, so getting home is simple once that ticket’s booked. 

Ride plus Badaling

Get off at the S2's Badaling station. The Beijing tourism bureau's guide says the ticket office is about 1 km on foot from the platform.

Badaling's hours, per Beijing Bendibao's attraction guide:

• April 1 to October 31: 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• November 1 to March 31: 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Expect a real climb. Badaling's main sections are restored but steep, and the crowds thicken from mid-morning. A cable car takes some of the effort out, and Trip.com's listings suggest arriving early to beat the tour groups.

The Night Great Wall ran from April 30 to October 6, 2026, with entry checks from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m., Beijing Bendibao reported. It's a separate ticket, and it only works if your return is a late high-speed train or a car.

For the return, use the Badaling Great Wall high-speed station. It's a different station from the S2 stop, about 1 km to the southeast. Ticketing sites show trains to Qinghe in about 20 minutes and Beijing North in about 35 to 40.

Ride plus Longqing Gorge

Stay on the S2 to Yanqing. From Yanqing town, buses Y15 and Y43 run to Longqing Gorge, according to Beijing Bendibao.

The gorge is a winter star. The 2026 Ice Lantern Festival ran from January 15 to early March, open 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., with the glacier canyon closing at 4:00 p.m.

Outside the festival, hours change with the season, so check the gorge's Trip.com page before you go. Then ride back from Yanqing station on the high-speed Yanqing line, which reaches Qinghe in about half an hour, per Beijing News. 

If the S2 timing doesn't work

Some days the morning S2 is too early, too late or cancelled. Then skip it and ride the high-speed train both ways to Badaling Great Wall station or Yanqing.

You lose the valley views and the switchback. You gain a booked seat, passport ticketing in English and a much shorter trip from the city.

If you'd rather skip rail entirely, bus 919 runs between Deshengmen West, on the northern Second Ring Road, and Yanqing, per the operator's route-change notice. It's slower in traffic, but it's a fallback when no train fits. 

Why not both?

You can't do both well in one day. The S2 runs only a few trains, the wall takes three to four hours, and the gorge sits on the far side of Yanqing. Cramming them in means rushing both and racing for the last train.

A sample day

Build the plan around the morning train you can catch, since everything else hangs on it. 

How do you board the S2 with a passport?

You don't book the S2. You pay at the gate with a transit card or a transit QR code, or buy a paper ticket at the station window. Seats are first come, first served, so arrive early.

Beijing Bendibao's S2 guide says you don't need to buy a ticket in advance; you simply tap in at the gate. That means no online booking and no real-name form to fill in. 

Sources: Beijing Bendibao S2 guides; Beijing Traffic Radio report; Beijing Suburban Railway route-change notice. 

Getting to Nankou

This is the new hassle. Nankou has no metro station, so from central Beijing you'll ride the metro north and finish by bus or taxi.

The operator's route-change notice added bus links around Nankou station and a peak-hour connector to Changping Xishankou on the Changping Line. Check the route in a map app the night before, and leave a generous buffer for the first morning train. 

The same notice explains the shorter schedule. Platform works at Nankou cut the number of trains, while fares on every section stayed the same.

The change isn't permanent in its current form. The old Nankou to Huangtudian section is being rebuilt into the new Northeast Ring suburban line, which will let riders change trains at Nankou.

Using a passport

You won't need your passport to tap in, but carry it anyway. You'll need it for the high-speed train home and for the Great Wall or gorge ticket, since both use real-name booking.

If Alipay's transit code won't link to your foreign card, buy a paper ticket at the window. Have cash in small notes ready.

If you ride the metro on a Yikatong card or the Beijing Yikatong app, S2 fares count toward the same monthly discount. Once you've spent 100 yuan in a calendar month, later rides are 20% off. After 150 yuan they're half price, and the discount stops at 400 yuan, per Beijing Bendibao.  

The boarding queue

Spring weekends are the crush. In spring 2026, the S2 ran five pairs of trains a day from March 26 to April 12, rising to seven pairs on March 28 and 29 and from April 3 to 7, around Qingming, per the operator's notice on the Beijing government portal. Beijing Traffic Radio reported that the morning S201 and S287 were the tightest for space. 

To cope, Nankou station added a second security lane, doubled its entry gates to four and raised staff on duty from 6 to 16. Join the platform queue well before the five-minute cut-off. With unreserved seats, the people at the front pick the window seats.

Photos from the train

Plan to shoot through the glass in case the S2’s windows are not opened. Wipe the window, press your lens close to it, and turn off the flash.

The best shots of the train in the blossom are taken from outside it, at the Juyongguan flower boardwalk. From Nankou station, buses 879, 919 and Chang 20 go to Juyongguan, then it's about a 1.3 km walk.

When is the best season for the Yanqing scenic train?

Go in late March or early April for the blossom, in October for autumn color, or from mid-January for the Longqing Gorge ice festival. Summer is green but can bring storm cancellations.

Sources: Beijing Suburban Railway service and cancellation notices; Beijing Bendibao spring guide and Longqing Gorge festival page. 

Spring timing

Beijing Bendibao says blossom along the lower valley opens first, from mid to late March. Higher sections near Qinglongqiao and Badaling flower about a week later.

The 2026 Juyongguan flower boardwalk opened March 21 to April 19. Bloom dates move with the weather each year, so watch local reports from mid-March.

Autumn and winter

October brings red and gold to the ridges and clear air for long views. It's also Golden Week season, so avoid October 1 to 7 at Badaling.

In winter, the hills are bare and brown, but the air is often crisp and the crowds thin out. The wind on the ridge is bitter, so dress for it, and save winter for the Longqing Gorge ice festival if you can.

Winter service can be thin, too. During the 2026 Spring Festival travel season, from February 2 to March 13, the S2 ran three pairs of trains a day. On Lunar New Year's Eve it ran just two, per the operator's Spring Festival notice. 

Summer storms

The S2 runs on an old mountain line. In 2026, rain warnings canceled S2 trains on at least six days in July and August, including July 10, July 23, August 2 and August 25, according to the Beijing Suburban Railway's notices. Check the operator's notices the evening before a summer trip.

Public holidays work the other way. The operator's notices show the S2 ran five pairs of trains a day around May Day, with extra trains added from May 1 to 5. Around the Dragon Boat Festival it ran three pairs a day, plus two more pairs from June 19 to 21.

Common mistakes and failure cases

Most failed S2 days come from old information. The line moved, runs fewer trains and doesn't run every train every day, so check both ends of your day together.

Payment trips people up too. A foreign card that won't link to Alipay's transit code means a queue at the ticket window, so carry some cash as a backup.

If you do miss the last S2, you still have a way home. Connector buses link the Badaling area with Badaling Great Wall and Yanqing high-speed stations, per the operator's route-change notice. The 12306 app shows same-day seats.