We want to take our boys (18,17,13) to see the Great Wall and early August is the only time. Is the heat really that miserable? and is it dusty with sandstorms so you can't see? We're from Hawaii, so we're used to warm weather, but we've been hearing that the heat is different and awful? Anyone been to Beijing and Great Wall in August? Thanks for any advice!

I was there mid August 2001. It was very hot but not especially humid (I live in NC, so am used to heat with lots of humidity). It was pretty empty, with mostly local tourists. Don't remember any dust, but I think that problem has gotten worse recently - I know it was MUCH hazier when I was in Beijing in 2004.

didn't see any dust but very very hot- if like us, that's the only time you can go- what can you do- just go and enjoy.

Dust is not really an issue in the summer, that is generally in the spring months. You may have heat and humidity (which is worse than the heat IMO), it is hard to predict what the weather will be in August. Take a look at weatherbase.com for historical temps to get an idea of what has happened in the past. You will most likely have Pollution haze, but that won’t appreciably contribute to heat levels that you will notice. If you go to the Mitianyu access point there is a cable car up, so you don’t have to walk up, which is the worst part if it is very hot.

I would say that if you get a heat wave, then being in the CITY is worse than being out on the Wall, where you can at least get a breeze and there are towers at spaces which are actually quite cool. I was in Bejing during a heat wave in June 1999 when it was over 100 F several days running, and the Wall was not really that bad, the city was much worse (the Forbidden City in a heat wave is no picnic, there is no shade there either...).

without dust in Augest,just hot,maybe sometimes with little smog.

Thanks for the input everyone! Now that we know dust is in spring and checked the weatherbase website, an average of 85...wish for lower than 3 digit temps and gotta go when we can!
Thanks, again for the sharing your experience!