Dying a Slow Planning Death at the Great Wall
 

I've planned numerous foreign trips but I have literally run into the wall trying to plan a day trip to the Great Wall (yes, this should be the greatest problem in one's life! :) ). We are stumped as to what section of the Great Wall to visit. We have read every post on Fodors and visited every web site we can find. We are a couple in their early 50's who always travel independently. We are in decent shape and like to travel a little on the adventerous side. The only conclusion we have come to is to NOT visit Badaling and to skip the Ming Tombs. We are considering a trip to Mutianyu and had almost settled on going there. But everytime we see pictures of some hiker from Jinshanling to Simitai we waver to doing this trip. We are both photographers and usually differ to the more scenic/photogenic when given a choice. We are really stumped as to whether the hike would be a "true wall" experience or would be too physically taxing. We also wonder if the hike become too repetitious after a while. Does Mutianyu give you all the scenic beauty of the hike with the physical taxation? Such problems ;) We're truly stumped and would appreciate anyone's fresh spin on this matter. We will be visiting in late September so still have some time to overcome our wavering. Thanks!!!

We agonized over the Great Wall experience as well. We finally went to Mutiyanu (early September) and we thought it was great. All of the vendors (except for 1 water vendor) were at the bottom by the cable cars. Access was easy by cable car, the Wall was uncrowded and we thought the photo opportunities were good. You can walk for quite a way on the Wall at Mutiyanu. Have a great trip!

Here is your earlier post and a reply.

I just hiked the Jinshanling to Simatai section of the wall last week. I also agonized over this decision because I am only in so-so shape and, in truth, don't really like strenuous hikes. But after a week in Beijing, I was tired of seeing all the big sites amid crazy throngs of tourists that I literally had to push past. So I decided to swallow my fears and take on this less touristed (for now) section of the Great Wall.

What amazed me about the experience was how peaceful the walk was. We certainly saw other hikers along the way (many, I should note, in their 50s), but for most of the walk, we felt like we had the Great Wall to ourselves. Atop many of the watchtowers, we were able to sit and drink in the views undisturbed for long stretches of time. I especially enjoyed taking photos without other tourists in the picture. If you go, I would strongly recommend that you visit on a weekday as we did; I hear that weekends are much busier.

To get a sense of the difficulty of the hike, take a look at the watchtowers in my photos (http://lillian.smugmug.com/gallery/1724997) There are roughly 30 of these towers between Jinshanling and the exit at Simatai. As you can see in the pictures, some of the towers have long flights of stairs up and down. Others are just ill-paved incline paths. The first few towers struck me as the toughest; I'm not sure if they actually got easier or if I just acclimated. However, once I got to the Simatai section of the hike, the paths definitely seemed more tame (I think they had been repaved).

It took me four hours to complete the hike, but I stopped several times along the way to rest and take photos. My friend, who charged ahead, only took three hours.

Though physically demanding, I didn't find the hike particularly dangerous (i.e. I didn't encounter any rock slides). You just need to wear sturdy shoes and watch your step because the stone paths are worn (many loose and broken stones). Also, be sure to keep an eye out for the orange arrows. They tell you whether to go around the watchtower or to go inside. (One watchtower near the Simatai end has an exit that you are NOT meant to use; you should go around this tower.)

Also, know that the Simatai exit is very soon after the little suspension bridge. Don't make the mistake my friend did; she missed the exit and hiked up six more super steep watchtowers before turning back.)

Other tips: Pack very, very lightly. I took one pint of water, a banana, two candy bars, and my camera. If you need more water, you can buy some along the way from the women vendors who station themselves at various places along the way. Yes, they charge much more than you'd pay in Beijing, but it saves you the extra weight. (They try to charge 5-10 yuan a bottle, though my friend bargained one down to 3 yuan.)

If you're worried about rain, I'd also suggest packing an ultra-light poncho instead of an umbrella (it would be tricky to balance on some of the paths while holding an umbrella.)

After you buy your ticket at Jinshanling, you have the choice of climbing up to the wall or taking a cable car. If you take the cable car up, though, your starting point is somewhat further away from Simatai, so you will hike a few more watchtowers. I'm not sure which choice saves you more energy.

One more word about the souvenir vendors: throughout China, you will find persistent vendors at the major tourist sites who try to follow you and sell you drinks or souvenirs. They are super strong and fast climbers so you can't really outdistance them. The best thing to do, I've found, is to keep a good sense of humor about it and just politely decline. At the Great Wall, at least, once they were convinced that we would not buy a souvenir book from them "later," they just left us alone.

Hope this helps a little!

I understand the Simitai portion, though a strenuous hike, is really rewarding, on the other hand, if you want something not so strenuous, but far less touristed than Badaling, then it seems Mutianyu is your best choice. Whatever you do, if you want to avoid the crowds (and it was AWFUL when I was there in April 2005-would not want to repeat that experience) stay away from Badaling!

Thanks all for your responses. Especially thanks to Lil for her very informative post. Not only was it informative, but it was inspiring and pushed us to attempt to follow in her footsteps. Great pictures as well. Thanks!

ttt

If you're still out there jrlaw10...just curious how the Simatai trek turned out.