Hiking More on the Great Wall of China

After breakfast, you will be transferred to the Great Wall at Huangyaguan in Tianjin by your Great Wall specialist guide and driver. The journey takes about 3 hours. You will hike about 3 hours from Taipingzhai to Huangyaguan and have a late lunch afterward.

Look out for the two types of bricks — ask your guide why two types were used.

Distance covered: 4 km

Your hike will start at 9 AM after breakfast. This section is not as challenging as that in Jiankou. Though you will also hike about 5 hours at the wall, it is still a leisure experience. After the hike you will be driven back to Simatai New Village.

You will have a 5-hour hiking tour from the Gubeikou section of the Great Wall to the Jinshanling section. There you will discover the original Great Wall of China.

You will pass many watch towers and beacon towers, some of which were destroyed by rain and wind, only leaving foundation stones. The scenery is often bleak yet picturesque.

After about two hours hiking, you will reach a military zone. Visitors, except spies ;) will need to make a detour down the deep valley to begin the second, much tougher and challenging part, in bushes or fields, leading to the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall.

Distance covered: 10 km

Good to Know

The Jinshanling section of the Great Wall is a heaven for photographers.

It takes about 20 minutes from your guesthouse to the Great Wall at Jinshanling. Arriving at the wall early, you can photograph the amazing scenery with balanced light and no other tourists. You will hike about 3 hours eastward and get off at Kylin Tower. The east section of Simatai is closed, so you cannot continue eastward.

Compared to the Great Wall at Jiankou, there are more tourists in some parts. However, your guide will guide you to some parts with rare travelers and you can have the wall to yourself, like the Simatai West.

This section is extremely photogenic with panoramic views. Hike and record the bleak but beautiful scenery with wild and ruined walls. The watch towers and varied gradients give constantly wide views and changing perspectives.

There are 15 watch towers along this section, built with flat roofs or upturned eaves. In some two-storey or three-storey watch towers, you can have a wider view over the Great Wall.

Distance covered: 5 km

Though you will hike about 3 kilometer in day 5, it still takes about 4 hours for the rugged steps and the sharp rises and descents in this section. Starting from Xizhazi Village, you will spend about one hour walking up to the wall, and then continue westward to the foot of Sky Stairs (Ladders to the Heaven and you will skip this place), one of the most dangerous place of Jiankou.

You will enjoy a picnic lunch on the Great Wall. This night you will stay at a local famer’s guesthouse.

Distance covered: 3 km

You will experience the original Great Wall at Jiankou and the restored Great Wall at Mutianyu. Built along the rolling ridgeline, the hoary walls and the verdant vegetation set each other off, offering graceful scenery.

Your private guide and diver will pick you up at your hotel after breakfast and drive you to the foot of Jiankou. It takes about 2½ hours. Your hike will begin at Xizhazi Village, a small village at the foot of the mountain.

Built with local material — hoary dolomite, the Great Wall at Jiankou is eye-catching at a distance. Zhengbei Building, a nearly-intact watchtower standing at the peak of Jiankou, will offer you a panoramic view of the beauty of Jiankou.

Continue your hike eastwards. After the challenging walk on the original rugged steps and broken wall, you will arrive at the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. There you will enjoy a leisurely walk on fully-restored Great Wall. You can try the fun toboggan down the mountain instead of hiking downhill or taking a cable car.

Distance covered: 10 km