The Great Wall

Visiting a Sliver of this impossible Project

The statistics on this enormously long and famous structure are breathtaking and its an essential part of a visit to China leave alone Beijing. Beijing though makes it easy, it was perhaps the focal point of this extraordinary piece of engineering.

I can't compare the one I went to with the ones I didn't, but I used existing information to make my choice.

Badaling is considered the Boardwalk at Belmar (NJ) of the Wall or the Times Square of the Wall, evidently its mostly reconstructed in modern times, has good facilities around, parking lots, joy rides and of course stores to shop souvenirs by the dozen. It is also mostly accessible and nearby and last but not the least, crowded.

I decided that looking at an Older part of the Wall may give me a better feel of the structure without all the modern fixtures attached, well at least too many.

My original plan was to meet the wall at Gubeiku, about 120Km north east of Beijing for an overnight-er with a stay at the Great Wall Box House . We had rooms booked there as well. 

The fact that the wall is largely unimproved and broken down in places (called the "Wild Wall") and the fact that an Overnight trip needed us to scramble our luggage and adjust reservations  made me drop this destination.

What was left was Mutiyanu . This is a it farther than Badaiing and North East of the City and gave me hopes of taking the Chinese Country side in stride and not being mobbed by T-Shirt sellers (that never happened anywhere, but those were my fears).

We took a Van with a Chinese speaking driver and I decided to forego the "English Speaking driver/guide" and the "trip to Silk Factory" and "Chinese Tea Ceremony" that seem to be standard fare.

Booking the van from the US the cost of this trip was Yuan 1200, when I walked around my area I saw Vans for Yuan 600 for the same. I decided that I was going to pay a little extra and settled on Yuan 800 + Cost of Tolls and Parking. There were many offers of beating this price, but I was comfortable with "Desi" who spoke English and we got introduced when she handed me her card on our first walk about in Wangfujing. She was also very good at responding to queries on "WeChat" - I suggest you do install that at least on one of your phones for quick communication with local Chinese facilitators of your trips.  It must be noted that I was paying more as I was also planning to hit the Summer Palace on the way back from the Wall.

Having a driver who did not speak any English was not a problem she was efficient with Google Translate in her Phone and we had Conversations using that.

Mutiyanu for all its "wildness" is becoming Badaling from the looks of it. You can go up by Cable Car or Walk up and return by Cable Car, Toboggan down or Walk down.

Beware that if your Driver/Guide is as enthusiastic about showing China as mine was, she may end up booking the Toboggan way down. I stopped her at the last minute fearful of safety standards there and used the Cable car up and down. There is no way to get tickets at the Wall, so make your mind if you plan to walk up but not sure if you have the energy to come back down. My suggestion is to take the Cable Car up if you can afford it and then walk as far as you can on the Wall.

They have monetized it well, The Cable Car/Toboggan return ticket is Yuan 60, the Wall Entry is Yuan 45 and getting to the Cable Car which is about 3km of Twisty roads from the Parking area is Yuan 15

The Wall is a trek and the little I did under two miles one way was a very steep climb. 

The Wall from the Cable Car going to tower 14

The Steep Scramble and Walk down from Tower 17

The View from lower part of Tower 17, Its at an incline alright.

The gentler part of the Trek from one of the watch towers

As you'd expect there is Burger King, Subway and host of other local offerings at High prices, a bottle of water up the wall is Yuan 20. The approach area to the Shuttle Bus is a huge market and prices quoted can be 10 times what you can bargain it down to. My kids had their most memorable moment when I talked down a Yuan 250 Straw hat to Yuan 25 and thee was room for more bargaining there. Most merchants here it appeared understand and speak some English.

Eat a good breakfast before you get here, the food on offer isn't good or priced within reason. There are no nearby towns with lot of options either. You may have to wait until you hit the outskirts of Beijing to find something. Google can be put to good use here, but do some homework of where the part of the wall you are visiting is and what local delicacy you want to sample from one of the more popular restaurants and let your driver know of the plan.