Great Wall - Mutianyu, Beijing

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Mutianyu is one of the sections of the Great Wall about 2 hours from Beijing. There are tourist buses that go to the area or you can take local buses to the Huairou area and arrange for a taxi to drive you there and back. Since there were 3 of us, we took the easy way out and asked our hotel concierge to get us a taxi. We paid 600RMB* and the taxi driver picked us up at around 7am and got us to the Great Wall at about 8:45am, 15 minutes after the box office opens. We arranged for him to wait for us for 2 hours. We ended up staying 3 hours and he was very nice about that.

(*I think people had said on message boards that you can get a ride as cheap as 450RMB, but our taxi was pretty big and nice and we were not that great at bargaining.)

Due to the time constraints, our plan was to take the cable car to the 14th tower, walk as far as we could, possibly up to the 20th tower (the last restored section), and then climb down to the 6th tower and finally ride the slide car down. The cable car and the slide car are actually operated by different companies, so make sure you don't buy the return ticket on the cable car if you plan on tobogganing down.

The first half of the walk was pretty easy until you get to the 18th tower. The good thing about getting there at 8:45 by taxi was the sheer lack of other tourists. In the 30 minutes (incl lots of photo time) for us to reach the 18th, we may have seen 6 other tourists, so it was really cool having a section of the Great Wall to yourself. (Especially if you've spent a few days in Beijing where personal space was scarce.)

From 18th to 20th though, there were stairs. Lots of steep stairs. We may have taken 20 minutes just to go up this part, panting all the way. The view from the 20th was amazing - you can see the structure snaking alongside the misty mountains and suddenly, you appreciate how massive these walls were. Marveling aside, we had a schedule to keep, so after lingering for 10-15 minutes, we had to run down to the 6th tower to meet our other friend.

Naturally, we had overestimated our athletic abilities (and our poor "un" warmed leg muscles). The path down was more "treacherous" now that the hordes of tourists had arrived and there were a couple of parts that were not in good shape. We found the slide car station, which was not very well signed. We paid for our ride and were given these boards with wheels. Instructions - pull on the brake and it slows. The ride was pretty exhilarating as you see the landscape rush by the slide car tracks, knowing the car could technically go off the track at every turn. It took me about 4.5 minutes to get down to the bottom - I could probably have gone a little faster, but there was someone in front of me who had to stop a couple of times.

We got back to town at around 1pm, so we still have time to go check out the Tienanmen Square and the Opera house, so we were pretty happy about it.

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You really need a moderate level of fitness for the Wall - there is a lot of walking involved and you can walk for miles and miles (kms!!) but unfortunately for every km up you have to do the same km down!!

There are many uneven surfaces, many steep stairs to climb and a lot of walking to do but it's simply amazing - we spent about 4 hours on this part of the wall and loved every minute of it - it just kept getting better and better the further up we went and it's not till you come back down that you realise just how big it really is.

There are 3 ways to get to the bottom -

1. Walk - down heaps of stairs which would take approx half an hour - you will no doubt be on time restraint so not a great option if you're in a hurry and very tired.
2. Chair Lift - unsure of cost for this option
3. Cable Car Ride - 45rmbs p/p - but why do the same thing twice??
4. Toboggan ride down (luge) definitely the way to go - yep a ride at the Great Wall - it's a great way to end a great day and suitable for 'nearly' everyone - and you're at the bottom before you know it - definitely the fastest way down - 50rmbs per person.

You have to pay for everything in China (even toilet paper in most public toilets!!).

Entry fees to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall was 40rmbs + we paid 45rmbs for the cable car ride (per person) - our guide was free!!

There are 3 ways to get to the top -
1. Walk - climb heaps of stairs uphill (very steep) which would take approx an hour to reach the top - we decided to save our energy for the actual walk along the wall!!
2. Chair Lift - unsure of cost for this option and we'd consider coming down this way... until
we found out there's a toboggan ride down (luge) definitely the way to go - although Alvin wasn't too keen but after a lot of coaxing he agreed to do this also!! 50rmbs per person.
3. Cable Car Ride - this was amazing and the scenery is awesome - 45rmbs per person

On arrival you will be in awe at the amount of vendors selling their wares along the way up to the entry to the Great Wall - all trying to sell you their goodies. Obviously you aren't going to cart the souvenirs up with you so you tell them you'll look on your way down.... they have memories like elephants and heaven forbid if you give them your name - they'll remember it!!!

They sell everything from silk goods, to 'seal' carvings (these are sold everywhere in China) they will carve your surname in English and in Chinese for sealing on envelopes - cool gift, t-shirts, pottery warriors, food, water and even cold beer!!

Don't worry about carting food up to the wall - you'll be able to buy chips and cold drinks (yep beer too) along the Wall also.

If you decide you don't want to go on a group tour to the wall.... I would recommend Alvin.
He is prompt, reliable, very knowledgeable, extremely friendly and is so keen to ensure this is a special part of your trip to Beijing. He has a great sense of humour and we all thoroughly enjoyed his company on the day.

We were like kids at Christmas when the day came that we were finally going to climb that Great Wall. Prior to our trip to China, we'd looked at tours and as we aren't group tour people, we looked at other options and Lindy (VT) recommended Alvin - a private tour guide. We contacted Alvin quite a few months prior to our departure to book his services and he did not disappoint. He was punctual and at 8.00am picked us up from Red Lantern House in a very clean and roomy 4 door sedan - with heater!!!

He explained much about Beijing's history and about the Meridian Line which is so important in Chinese culture. We drove past Olympic Park heard his stories about this monumental event and about 1.5 hours out of Beijing arrived at Mutianyu. It was Monday 5/4 and a public holiday in Beijing & Oz too - "Grave Sweeper" Day when they clean their dead's graves in Beijing and Easter Monday in Australia!!!

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The Great Wall is an amazing, incredible structure which can be seen even from space. Coming to Beijing and skipping the chance to see this wonder of the world is not easy to explain to anyone. For me, it was one of the main reasons to visit Beijing. Badaling section is easy to reach and very popular so I decided on Mutianyu section. Although it takes around 2 hours to reach from Beijing city center, the rewards of Mutianyu were worth the travel. We were not the only visitors, but it felt like it was just us and The Great Wall. It wasn't crowded and it was very peaceful. There were no noisy tourist groups, no pushy guides or hawkers. We used the cable car to go up and down which cost us 65 Yuan per person. We stayed in the area and walk around the Great Wall for 3 hours. You can arrange by yourself to come to Mutianyu by bus or private driver. The other option is to take an organised tour. A full day tour including Ming Tombs, Mutianyu, Jade factory, Lunch and Silk Factory costs 25 USD per person. Our guide was fluent in English and our group was just 5 people including me and my wife. It was almost like a private tour and the lunch was very very good. The only extra we had to pay was the cable car. You can find more details on this tour in another tip.