Great Wall - Mutianyu, Beijing

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One of the greatest parts of our trip was the trip to the Great Wall. Although the tour was typical of Chinese tours (i.e. stops to copper vase shops, pressure to buy etc, overpriced food stops), the 2 1/2 hours spent on the wall was extraordinary.

Due to the weather (-4 degrees celsius) we were the only two people on the whole wall!! It was just great. The views and terrain were awesome

Highly recommended

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Mutianyu is a section of the Great Wall that can be reached from Beijing in a day trip. The other two sections are Badaling(very touristy and commercialized) and Simatai(haven't visited this one). I enjoyed this trip because it wasn't over-crowded and the wall could be walked at my own pace. For this trip, I hired a driver who had been waiting in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Lido for someone like me to happen along. Travelling at my own pace and keeping my own schedule was worth the $50 (400rmb) that I paid.

It felt amazing to be on the Great Wall. To imagine that it goes so far around China. To imagine what it would have been like to have to build such a massive construction by hand. To imagine all the people who died building it and who were built into the walls. I was walking on an amazing feat of history.

I went to the Mutianyu part of the Wall.
Not so touristy/well known as some other parts. Not crowded at all, so it was very good!
Because I'm not a very atheletic sort of person, I opted to cable-car up to the wall instead of walk up the mountain. Then, after walking the wall to my heart's content (up stairs, down stairs, many many stairs!!), I caught a ride down by a slide! haha, that was fun.

The view was beautiful, a little misty/polluted, but still good. You can see the wall twisting off into the distance.

Hint: Bring water and food. Both these things are v. highly priced at the wall!
ALSO, if you are going to eat at the wall, ask / bargain the price of your meal first. I know people who were charged 120 RMB for 2 bowls of noodles because they didn't ask the price before they ate!

The Great Wall is on most peoples wannado lists and it doesn't disappoint.

Most people travel from Beijing to Badaling to see the wall. For this reason I recommend travelling the extra half hour to join the wall at Mutianu. I visited in July and still was able to take photographs of entire stretches of the wall without any other people on it.

It was very hot and humid on the day I went and if that is the case my recommendation is that you take the cable car up, walk the length of the wall and back and then decide if you can walk down or take the cable car. Needless to say - take plenty of water.

I'm afraid I can't give any tips on how to get there though since I was taken by my host, however I believe you could get the concierge of your hotel to arrange a taxi for day-hire.

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I chose Mutianyu because I had heard that Badaling is an over-renovated madhouse. Well, I had Miutanyu all to myself for at least one hour, and my thought was "who's going to find me if I die of thirst and exhaustion?"

My friend Happy_Maoron and I arrived at Mutianyu very early, before the cable car started for the day. The climb from the parking lot to the wall-proper is very long, with more than 1,000 steep steps. And the wall itself entails a lot of step climbing.

Fortunately, I recovered from the climb and was able to enjoy the watchtowers and the arid beauty and think of the poor wretches who gave their lives building the wall.

On the way back down, I tried to encourage panting Westerners who had just arrived.

ADVICE: In the dead of Winter, at the crack of dawn, Badaling would probably have been just as well. If you go to Mutianyu, the cable car is not just for sissies. Have a water bottle, and a candy bar with you. Brace yourself for the aggressive peddlers near the parking lots (they are the bane, I have been told, of a third segment, Simatai).

It was very impressive standing on the great wall one of the amazing wonders of the world, so much so my friend and I kept saying "dude we're on the great wall!"

We were on a limited time schedule so we took a taxi ride from our Hotel, The Great Wall Sheraton to Mutianyu Great Wall it cost us 900 rmb round trip. The Driver waited 2 hours as we walked the wall.

The way up to where the cable cars were was infested with merchants trying to sell everyting related to the great wall. Be warned that these vendors can be very aggressive. I had one guy grab at my arm several times and then he shouted some obscenity at me when I haggled him down to low. He called me cheap, "you too cheap" it was for a t-shirt, I wasn't going to spend more than 20 rmb for it.

Other vendors have cards and they write their name and station number on these cards to remind you when you come back down to visit their shop. Some shout "I remember you" don't give them your name like my buddy did because they will go to town calling your name.

The wall itself was phenomenal, with breathtaking views of the mountains. It is amazing that the majestic mountains alone were not enough to keep the Mongol hoards from invading.

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The Great Wall at Mutianyu is not as much frequented by tourists as the Great Wall Badaling. In Mutianyu the Wall is in very good condition now. You can either walk up to the Wall or go by lift. On top of it you have a wonderful view and you can see the wall meandering along the mountains.

The ticket office (tel. 010/6162-6873) is open 24 hours. Admission is ¥35; the cable car costs ¥50 round-trip.

Getting There -- Mutianyu is not as easy to reach as Ba Da Ling. Most hotels can arrange guided group tours for around ¥250. The Route no. 6 combines a trip to Mutianyu with visits to a temple and a lake; it leaves from the northeast side of the Xuanwu Men (206) metro stop (Sat-Sun 6:30-8am, every 30 min.; ¥50). The bus stops at Mutianyu for about 3 hours. A taxi will cost between ¥200 and ¥400.

I would like to thank the virtual tourist community to give me very good tips for China in general and specific for The Great Wall. I had found some people over here who had recomended a great guide called Alvin. So I had contacted him and booked his services. He picked us up at the hotel with a mini van and he drove to the Mutianyu's section of the Great Wall. We arrived there in about 1 hour, the sun was shining. The visit was cool, we were almost alone, Alvin's informations were very interesting, we climed about 2 hours over there, the landscape was amazing and the temperature was good. Alvin's gave us some tips of how to bargain with the souvenir's shops sellers. After the visit, we went to a dumpling restaurant nearby, the food was delicious and the price really cheap! When we came back to Beijing, we stoped to the Olympic stadium and all that area. After that, we went to the acrobatic show which was incredible. After the show, Alvin booked a Beijing's duck restaurant for us, where the food was very good.
We had a perfect day with Alvin, we will never forget him for the great service he gave us and also cheap!
So, if you are planning to visit the Great Wall, I recomend you to contact him to help you to organize your visist, here you have his e-mail address: alvinbenton@yahoo.com