When you think of China, the great wall comes to mind. Maybe it's because it has become a symbol of China and its culture, or for being one of the Eight Wonders in the world. Regardless of the reason, the Great Wall of China is the world's longest and ancient wall and a must see when visiting China for many reasons. However, visiting the great wall can be challenging. Before we get into the tips lets debunk some myths that people still believe to this day. Towards the end of this post is my personal experience to help you avoid mistakes I made.
DEBUNKED MYTHS
"It's filled with dead people."
Not a single corpse, body, bones or remains of a human have ever been found. It's just some rumor that people started and now it's used to attract tourists.
"You can see it with your naked eyes from the moon."
No, you can't. That statement was made 30 years ago with no evidence before anyone went to space. On top of that, it was proven to be false when a Chinese astronaut stated he couldn’t see anything of the great wall from orbit during the first Chinese space flight.
"It's one huge long wall."
Not at all. There are many walls because they were all built in different historical periods, and over time some sections have scattered. In some places, the wall doubles or even triples itself.
"Most of the wall has disappeared"
Okay, so this is not really false but only 1/3 of the wall has actually disappeared. Excluding the most famous sections of the wall, the rest are in danger of being lost because of natural causes and vandalism.
OVERVIEW
The Great Wall stretches across China for over 21,000 kilometers and has many sections throughout 15 provinces of China.
It's divided into many sections, but the ones in Beijing are popular and well known because they are well protected and open for tourists, while other sections in some regions are believed not to be open to tourists yet.
Beijing has many sections and among them are six wild wall sections. These have not been reconstructed, but they are now starting to break apart little by little due to natural causes. Nevertheless, these sections reveal the full change of history. Unfortunately, the Great Wall of China is eroding from natural factors and human activities which is causing it to disappear year by year.
THINGS TO KNOW & WHAT TO EXPECT
The Great Wall is definitely a tricky place to get to if you are not part of a tour, so the first thing you need to do is figure out which sections of the wall you want to visit. Consider some factors such as transportation, crowd, level of hiking, traveling with kids/elders, and how much time you have. It will narrow down your options. Don't know which section to visit? Click here.
The most famous Great Wall sections are Badaling and Mutianyu. Because they are famous, they are crowded with tourists. But they are also very convenient and easy to access from Beijing. I went to Badaling and I had an interesting experience. As long as you know the best time to go (which I will talk about later) you can avoid the big crowd. If you are short on time, these two are your best options.
If you want to go to the wild sections, please be aware that it is more for professional hikers, and some of them you can't hike, you can only photograph. For more information visit here.
There is an entrance fee and it depends on your section. For Badaling it's 40 CNY (US $7)
Avoid going on weekends and Chinese holidays.
Hiking the great wall isn't as easy as hiking mountains. Be prepared for a steep hike and weird stairs. So make sure you are well rested the night before, you have enough energy, and super duper comfortable shoes.
No matter where you decide to go, make sure you to take a lot of water, food/snacks, and wear very comfortable shoes. There are stands you can buy food from, but it’s over priced and not worth the money. Take sunscreen, sunglasses, and hats if you are visiting during the hot seasons.
There are many ways you can visit the great wall and booking a tour is the easiest but also the priciest option. So, if you are like me, and you are on a budget or hate tours, you can totally do it on your own. However, keep in mind depending on the section you want to visit, it will either be a little challenging or a complete headache.
WHEN TO GO
You should avoid going May to August. China gets extremely hot during those times and it gets crazy crowded. The experience will not be worth it, and you will not tolerate the hike. Unless you can bare 95°F weather don’t do it. Instead go during the cool months between late September - November. No matter when you go, there will always be visitors. If you are looking to avoid big crowds, don't go on weekends or any national Chinese holiday.
HOW TO GET THERE
There are multiple ways to get to any of the section of the great wall.
Tours
Easy to do but expensive. You can choose your tour here.
Taxis
Avoid them at all costs. They will overcharge you and even if they don't, the average price from central Beijing is about CNY 600 and above (US $95+)
Private drivers/Minivans
If you are taking them from Beijing they will be as expensive as taxis. However, if you are close to the wall and you are getting out of subway stations, it's hard to avoid them, then you can take them. Normally they will be about CNY 50 to a 100 (US $7 - $15) round trip depending on how many people they are taking. You can easily bargain here.
Buses
Depending on location and route it will take about 2 or more hours one way from Beijing. The cost for one way is CNY 20 (US $3) for Badaling.
Routes & Directions
MY EXPERIENCE
The day I visited the great wall was the day I left Beijing. So I didn't have much time left and because I was with a friend who lives in Beijing and had visited the wall many times, he decided it was best to go to Badaling.
We stayed in the Haidian area of Beijing so we had easy access to the subway. So we grabbed lunch and headed to the wall after. We took multiple subways which took roughly 30 minutes.
We got off in one station and from there we had to take a private minivan. It was another 30 minutes ride to get close to Badaling. The driver took us and five other people to a small village area of the wall. Once we got off he gave us about 3 hours to explore so he could take us back to the subway station. We agreed to pay him CNY 50 round trip. So we had to pay him half at this point, and we did. We had to walk for about 15 - 20 more minutes before we came across the main entrance. We paid our ticket and began hiking.
At this point, I was already feeling sick and my head was pounding! It was crowded and super hot. On top of that, hiking the steep path didn't really help much. I didn't really enjoy it. I think it also had a lot to do with the fact that cameras were constantly pointed our way. I was also dehydrated, and I didn't sleep much that day. I had brought two water bottles with me, but it wasn't enough at all. After hiking for like 45 minutes. I couldn't do it anymore. The view was nice though.
I think it would have been much better if the heat wasn't a nightmare! My migraines got worse, so we took one of the buses that were leaving back to Beijing because we couldn't wait two more hours for the driver.
I think one thing I wish I did was to rest up in between. I also wish I didn't go during a Chinese holiday. If the weather was a bit cooler, I could've hiked longer and enjoyed it more. Overall, it was an experience of its own, so I don't regret anything. I do want to say, China's heat is really really bad, so if your choose to explore China during summer, good luck!
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