Great Wall - Mutianyu, Beijing

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For me, this was the highlight of the whole trip. I had wanted to visit and walk the Great Wall for many years and, finally, the time had come. After much research mainly on vt, we decided that Mutianyu was the best place to go and that Alvin was the best guide to take us there!! Alvin was recomended by many VTers, he was discovered by Homer and Eddie many years ago, and highly praised word of mouth on VT has gained him many followers.

Our day included pick-up at our Hotel at 8am, 2hr drive to Mutianyu, cable car up to the top, walking the wall for several hours (3hrs in total spent at the Wall), then lunch in a local Dumpling Restaurant, we then drove back to Beijing and spent one hour at the Lama Temple. We then went back to our room for a shower and reflection time! Then, pick-up by Alvin once again and off to our Acrobatic Show, pick-up after that at 8.30pm, dinner at the Loft Restaurant and back to our rooms by about 10pm. It was indeed a very busy and tiring day, but one I will remember for the rest of my life.

The weather at Mutianyu was perfect, a light breeze, light cloud coverage making it not too hot and we could see for miles and miles. I was warned by Steve from Brisbane that you HAVE TO take the cable car to the top, and now I agree totally with him. I had thought that we would give it a miss, cos we wanted to walk as much of it as possible, but you really do need to take the cable car - TRUST ME!!! My legs were sooooooooo sore the next day, and we had only covered a relatively short section of the wall.

We could not actually enter the Wall for about half an hour as they were holding an Army swearing in ceremony at the entrance, so we just watched that for a while, which in itself was rather interesting. And then came our time to start walking the Wall. The Mutianyu section of the wall is quite well restored, but there are still some parts that are a bit tricky to manoevre, and some very steep sections and uneven ground to cover. The views from the wall are simply magnificent, breath-taking and amazing. Every where you turned, there was something new and amazing to see and take a photo of. I took well over 100 photos that day, and each of them is worthy of keeping.

Alvin is a wealth of knowledge and information, he speaks fluent english, although with a somewhat quite heavy accent. He is the guide on the day, and also the driver, which means his price becomes very reasonable, as you are not also paying for the services of a driver. I would highly recommend you to hire Alvin and his services. If anyone wants his contact information and info on his prices, please email me.

The cost of entrance to the Wall, including return cable car was 90rmb. Also added to his bill was 20rmb to take the tollway there and back, allowing for more time actually on the Wall.

We were in Beijing about 4 years ago and found our hotel on the internet, it was basically a Hotel used by Chinese Nationals and Austrian Air crew when on holidays. We went to the Mutianya section of the wall in a car from the hotel, there was also a lunch stop included on the way back, from memory it was $40 or $50aus. The only person who spoke english at the Hotel was Mr Rennie his email address is rennwei@yahoo.com Hope this helps.

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The wall here is a lot quieter than at the other 2 places that people can go to climb on it.

Here, it is quiet, not overrun, and very serene.

You need to take the cable car from the car park (unless you are totally mad,) dodging the stalls on the way up and down of course.

It's a fair climb to the wall so you will appreciate the cable car.

The wall itself is fantastic. parts have been restored, but this has not diminished the beauty of the whole thing.

There are lots of steps on the wall itself, so be prepared for some activity.

The scenery is wonderful, the history unbelievable, and the sense of wonderment overpowering.

I spent my birthday here.

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Who would not dream of seeing the Great Wall in his/her lifetime? I am very grateful for having been to Mutianyu because I could proudly say "I've been to the Great Wall of China". Many claim that it is the most beautiful part of the Great Wall. I've to see the other parts to make a judgement reall. One thing is for sure, the steps at Mutianyu are not as steep as those I've seen in another part of the Wall. It was easier to climb and therefore, I find it safer.

Mutianyu is in the Huairou Country. There are not so many people as in Badaling. I am sure that the tourists at Mutianyu will insist to stay longer to the irritation of the tour guide! Once you finish a section of Mutianyu, you want to climb some more and more and more. It gets more beautiful and interesting as you climb it. The temperature was very high as I visited it but I finished 4 sections!

While climbing up the Mutianyu, I realized that those who built the Wall suffered tremendously. The weight of the materials, the height of the wall, the challenges they face in constructing it - be it weather or the location - they must have had a very hard time and we owe them a big Thank You.

The Great Wall was built to defend them from enemies. The towers are so built to enable them to detect attackers in motion. Do you know that they used rice as glue before? Some bricks had to be replaced because of strong earthquakes in the past. I took photos of new and old bricks. The Chinese were excellent Engineers because they thought of everything including the drainage system. If it rained hard, the water found its way out and the soldiers did not have to get worried of getting drowned.

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IT IS A 1 HOUR AND 30 MIN DRIVE AWAY FROM BEIJING.
WE PARKED AND WALKED UP TOWARD THE SKI LIFT CHAIR UP TO THE GREAT WALL.
Who would of think taking a ski lift chair up the Great Wall??
While walking up the wall steep steps looking at each step, arch way, tower section.
There are also vendors selling water and chinese crackers,chips etc by each arch way or tower section. We also took the Ski Gondola=Cable ride down. There was also a Tobaggon slide ride down, I did not see anyone go down?

I did not see to many people while walking on the Great Wall but maybe we missed them while on the ski lift and Gondola? but When we got down near the parking lot vendor area i saw more people.

When visiting the Great Wall at Mutianyu, take one way ticket for the cable car. Once you are up, you can look around a little bit on the left, but mainly walk the wall nto the right and come down back to the parking by taking the ropeway. This way you are mainly walking down most of the way on the wall with very few sections where you need to climb. Perfect way to see the wall for those with below average physical fitness.

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Comparing photos of Mutianyu and Badaling, it is hard to say which is more picturesque with the mountains and majesty of the ridge lines.

As I did my walk, I came across a sign that read “Many sections of the Great Wall are built at the knife-sharpened-like mountain peak, point to the sky straightly and combine majesty, steepness and beauty into one. It is the masterpiece of the Great Wall.” Very true, but some are more majestic and rugged, while others are more flowing and subtle.

I may have opted for one that was a little more subtle, but not by much. But the trade off was the serenity and peaceful isolation. During my ~3hrs on the wall, I only ran into 6 other tourists. Maybe I was lucky that most thought it was going to be cold, or that many were on holiday. But compared to the swarms of people on the Badaling section, it was much more peaceful.

Similar to Badaling, you can barter with a taxi for ~500Y round trip, gear up with a group and get a tour, of you can take a public bus (what I opted for to avoid crowds and call my own schedule).

There are several popular tourist destinations for the Great Wall of China.

The earliest is Badaling. Mutianyu which is further away has become popular too with the availability of cable car, chair lift and luge to get up or down the wall.

The view is outstanding with a large tower fortress.