It was my 5th wonder of the world and Stefano’s 6th. The Great Wall of China. In all of my years of learning and reading about the Great Wall of China, nothing quite prepared me for the actual feeling of seeing the Great Wall, in person.
To say I was excited was an understatement. We had done tons of research and we knew we wanted to have this experience without a tour guide. We had seen crazy photos of the Badaling section of the wall over run by people and tourists. Don’t get me, we were tourists, but we wanted to have this experience as much to ourselves as possible.
THE GREAT WALL BASICS
The Great Wall of China is over 2,300 years old and spans a total of 21,196km in length. Making it the longest and biggest ancient architectural structure in the world. Most of the sections you can visit today date back to the Ming Dynasty. These sections span across 9 different provinces.
THE DIFFERENT SECTIONS & THE SECTIONS WE VISITED
Deciding which section to visit, was the hardest part of our visit. With so many tours, day trips, multi-day trips and overnight camping trips, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and end up having an underwhelming experience. Most parts of wall are totally feasible as day trips from Beijing. The most popular are Badaling, Simatai, Lupiguan, Mutianyu, Jinshanling, Gubeikou, Jiankou and Huangyaguan. We’ve highlighted some of the sections above and how to reach them with local transportation from Beijing center.
//Badaling//
The Badaling section is the most visited section of wall. Depending on the time of year there could be up to 65,000 people visiting per day. This section often sees the most number of tour groups and is the easiest to visit from Beijing.
Length: 7.5 miles
How to Get to Badaling: there’re a number of tour groups, often times you can book directly with your hotel or hostel. If you’d like to visit Badaling on your own you can take Bus 877 which departs from the Deshengman bus station. The total travel time is about 1.5 hours.
//Mutianyu//
Mutianyu is located about 1.5 hours drive from Beijing. It’s a family friendly section of the wall that has been fully restored. This section of the wall offer cables cars and is complete with a restaurant onsite. If you’re looking to do some longer hiking on the wall, this may be a good option as it connects with Jiankou.
Length: 5.4km (3.4 miles)
How to Get to Mutianyu: Bus 867 departs from Dongzhimen bus station twice daily at 7:30am and 8:30am and takes about 2.5 hours. Note, this bus does not operate in the Winter time. A second option, is bus 916 from Dongzhimen directly to Huairou then take a minibus to Mutianyu.
//Simatai//
Simatai is located northeast of Beijing about 120km (74.5 miles). It’s only partially restored, meaning you can experience and see alot of the original structure. At the moment visitors can only visit the eastern section of Simatai, watch towers 1-10. Towers 4-6 are also open for night visits and tours. Part of the wall is accessible by cable car.
Length: 5.4km (3.4 miles)
How to Get to Simatai: the most affordable option is to take the local bus 980 from Dongzhimen Station to Miyun County. From there take a taxi to Samati Great Wall. The total journey takes about 3 hours. Alternatively, you can take the long distance bus from Dongzhimen or the tourist bus from either Tian’anmen Departure Center or Xuanwumen Dispatch Branch Center.
//Jiankou//
Jiankou is accessible either by hiking from Mutianyu or directly from Beijing. It’s easily considered one the most dangerous section of the wall due it’s wild and unrestored nature. Technically it’s not open to the public, but you can still visit with a tour or by paying locals. The Jiankou section is divided into three sections. The Beijing Knot is often a popular place to camp for a night.
Length: 7.9 km (4.9 miles)
How to Get to Simatai: Although it’s not adviced to explore the Jiankou on your own you can take bus 916 Express from Dongzhimen station via Xizhazi Village.
//Gubeikou & Jinshanling//
I’ve combined these two section because these are the sections we opted to visit. After seeing some amazing pictures and getting some advice from the hotel staff, we had decided we wanted to visit Gubeikou and Jinshanling. Jinshanling is located in Luanping County in Hebei province. The Jinshanling portion was built under Qi Jiguang, during the Ming Dynasty. It has 67 watchtowers, five passes and 3 beacon towers. Simply put it’s huge and for the most part pretty well preserved. It’s also one of the few sections of the wall that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s located a bit further away from Beijing which helps minimize the crowds. From what we gathered, most of day trips leave Beijing around 6-7 am, therefore the wall is empty until around 10 am. We arrived at the entrance of Jinshanling around 7am and we had the entire wall all to ourselves for about 2 hours. Seriously, we were the ONLY people there. It was one of the most incredible moments in our entire 2 years of traveling full time. Our day was a bit cloudy, but it made for the most magical and mystical experience. At around 9 am we started to see a couple of people, but even around 12pm which is when we left, there still wasn’t very many visitors at all. Jinshanling is a fantastic section to visit, since it’s only half restored, so you still get a see the Great Wall in all it glory.
HOW TO GET TO GUBEIKOU & JINGSHANLING
There are a few different options. The directions we are outlining below takes you to Gubeikou town in Miyun which is a quick 15 minute taxi ride to Jinhsangling. The second option, is to hike from Gubeikou to Jinhsanling which take around 3 hours.
BUS/PUBLIC TRANSPORT: This the cheapest option, and it’s also the option we used. The total journey time was about 4 hours. It’s a bit challenging to do this journey as a day trip.
- Take the subway to Dongzhimen Bus Station, once at the station follow signs for “Bus Hall”
- At the Dongzhimen Long Distance Bus Station find and take bus 980 Express (3-4 USD), which will take you to Miyun Bus Station. Miyun is the final stop on bus 980 Express and takes about 1.5 hours.
- After arriving at Miyun Bus Station, cross the major road (Jingmi Road), walk about 30 seconds
- You will come across a public bus stop, find and take Bus Mi 25 (1-2 USD), the journey will last about 2 hours. Buses are often late or early
- Bus Mi 25 will take you to Suidaokou Station at the entrance of Gubeikou
WHERE WE STAYED
There is no doubt that visiting the Great Wall is an unparalleled experience, but the journey of getting there and staying at a local homestay was equally as exciting and exhilarating.
Chengtao Xiaozhu Folk Inn
We opted to spend one night in Gubeikou town in Miyun at a local homestay in run by an incredible family! They were friendly, super helpfully and us a cook delicious dinner and breakfast. The owner also speak fantastic English. We booked a private room with an ensuite bathroom for $37USD. It was simple and clean. The property is located about 5-10 minutes from the entrance of the Gubeikou section, and if you wake up early enough before the entrance opens you can get into the wall without purchasing an entrance ticket. If you stay more than one night they offer authentic dumpling cooking lessons.
HOW MUCH DID IT COST US
Total transport: $44USD
- Getting from hotel in Beijing to the homestay in Miyun cost us about 10USD per person
- The taxi ride from the homestay in Miyun to the entrance of Jinshaling cost about 12USD each way
Total accommodation: $55USD
- $37 for one night for both of us
- $4 for breakfast for each person
- $10 for dinner for both of us
All-in-all it will cost you about $100USD for two people using public transport and eating locally at your homestay. Food options outside of your homestay are limited unless you have your own method of transport or you want to pay for a taxi. However, compared to the tour costs, this is far more affordable and honestly so much fun!
