Trip Report - Great Wall Jinshaling to Simatei
Jun 15th, 2006, 01:31 AM
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Trip Report - Great Wall Jinshaling to Simatei
On this year's China trip, we took a day trip from BJ to the great wall (Jinshaling to Simatei stretch). My BJ friend arranged for her regularly used driver to drop us off at Jinshaling then drive to Simatei to wait for us whilst we walked the 10km between the two points. The fee was RMB 800 for this trip (inc tolls, excluding wall fees) which lasted all day. Asians value business relationships so using her regular driver gave us a sense of trust...he also made no tourist shop stops...basically he is just a driver with no interest in kickback stops and he doesn't speak english.
When we arrived at Jinshaling, paid our fee (can't remember but it was under RMB 50 i think). it takes a little time to orient oneself and you have the choice to take a cable car to the avoid some walking (we did not). it is not always clear where to head to go towards simatei (although this is a popular route).
as we walked past the turnoff for cable car, we noticed a fairly large group of chinese people playing cards, drinking tea and basically waiting around. they did not look like tourists. We were several paces behind about four other tourist/walkers. As we walked past this group of chinese card players, 3 or 4 of them emerged onto our path...one to "shadow" us and a couple to shadow the group of four hikers in front of us.
Needless to say, being followed so closely was a bit unnerving. my partner shifted around and the follower moved to stick close to her. we played a few games by slowing down and speeding up...yep, our friend stuck like glue. We also were not exactly sure where we were going and we did not trust these people to point us in the right direction. We tried to avoid looking lost. if we stopped to gather our thoughts, we were told "this way, this way". most of these instructions were wrong - we ignored all. not a good start...and the wall was not even in sight yet. our friend was silent....just followed...no plea to buy anything, nothing.
After a steep walk (maybe 20 minutes later), we made it up to the wall. At this point, our friend produced the book that she wanted to sell to us. she was very persistent. ok, we cannot have her following us anymore. So we say, "no souvenir, bye bye" we repeat "bye bye" and she finally turns back down. One shaken...things are looking up.
my partner reckoned that we needed to "turn right" when we got to the wall. some touts on the wall were shouting "this way" (indicating the opposite direction). there are signposts on the wall but none indicated simatai. the other group of walkers headed the other way. this doesn't feel right. we took some pictures after climbing for several minutes. and headed in the other direction. after several minutes we saw a wall official and confirmed that we were indeed headed towards simatei.
It was amazing that at this point, we saw no other walkers other than the small group in front of us. we started to feel alone (in a good way). the scenery is amazing - not just the wall but the mountains. things are really looking up now!
We proceed alone for a while and then see some more touts. One more followed us and started to point out things and basically being friendly (no offer to sell anything). I ignore (whilst remaining polite). My partner, however, falls into the trap of listening to her and engaging in conversation. she walks along for a while and i see where this is headed so i tell her nicely, "no guide". she becomes persistent that she is not a guide, just a farmer and asks for money. I remain very polite but firm...." we go alone...bye bye". "bye bye". she leaves us alone.
now i have increasing confidence in my "bye bye" to shake these ad hoc "guides" or anyone else. as callous as it sounds, my partner and i agree to engage in no conversations nor to listen to any tour guide commentary on the wall. a polite but firm "no guide, we go alone, bye bye" at the very start of them following us worked like a charm. no more worries. if the "guide" feels like he or she has given you a service, he will expect payment for it eventually. if you want a real guide, i think it is better to hire one (although i don't think a guide is at all necessary).
now we are free and the wall and surrounding scenery is beautiful. we see people selling various things and a couple more "guides" ...all easily dealt with. we walk some more...the wall is very steep in many areas and the footings are dodgy at times. however, this is much less treacherous than i expected. we now have been into it for about 1.5 hours and everything is great. so far, we have seen only about 6 or so other walkers and we proceed on the wall for about 1 hour with nobody at all in sight...ahead or behind. it is extremely quiet and beautiful. there is a village or two within close proximity to the wall on this stretch but basically, you see only the wall, trees, and mountains whilst walking this stretch...no civilisation.
my camera is blasting away every few minutes and we finally stop to eat the lunch that we brought with us. Over the last hour or so, it is sinking in just how much of an experience this really is. this day will never be forgotten.
As we get closer to Simatei, we meet a small group of other walkers and the wall actually becomes a bit tamer. we need to buy another ticket as we approach Simatei. It is a modest fee and there is no question that it is an official who collects it.
We finally make it to Simatei after walking for 3.5 to 4 hours (stopping a lot along the way). for someone with a little hiking experience, this is not a difficult walk. however, i would not attempt it if i were seriously out of shape or if i was not used to walking on uneven terrain. shoes with good grip and perhaps some ankle support are essential. we used lightweight hiking boots but sport sandles would probably do. Of course, you should take less chances in mainland China as compared to home so this is no time to stretch your abilities.
I believe that the wildest stretch of the wall in this area would be experienced if you continue along the wall through Simatei. As you look up beyond Simatei, the mountains become steeper and i have read that the wall is very treacherous/dangerous at times in this area. that's for another day.
Our driver was waiting for us in Simatei as agreed and we drove back to BJ, paying him upon our return (never pay any driver until he returns you home safely).
I know that this trip report probably focuses disproportionately on the touts along the wall. the reason for this is that they can easily compromise one's experience on the wall if not dealt with effectively. i want to let people know what to expect and how i dealt with it. Overall, we saw probably less than 20 other tourists during the whole walk. after speaking to people who visited the wall at badaling, this is far from the case there as it is very crowded and equipped with "features" such as new, smooth paving and piped in music along the way. also, it seems that even much more remote areas as compared to jinshaling/simatei are not without touts (and even worse, bogus "tolls" along the wall in very remote stretches, i heard).
overall, the great wall is an experience of a lifetime and i know that we made the perfect choice walking jinshaling to simatei rather than to visit at badaling. the whole day was something like 7:30 from BJ and returning around 17:00.
When we arrived at Jinshaling, paid our fee (can't remember but it was under RMB 50 i think). it takes a little time to orient oneself and you have the choice to take a cable car to the avoid some walking (we did not). it is not always clear where to head to go towards simatei (although this is a popular route).
as we walked past the turnoff for cable car, we noticed a fairly large group of chinese people playing cards, drinking tea and basically waiting around. they did not look like tourists. We were several paces behind about four other tourist/walkers. As we walked past this group of chinese card players, 3 or 4 of them emerged onto our path...one to "shadow" us and a couple to shadow the group of four hikers in front of us.
Needless to say, being followed so closely was a bit unnerving. my partner shifted around and the follower moved to stick close to her. we played a few games by slowing down and speeding up...yep, our friend stuck like glue. We also were not exactly sure where we were going and we did not trust these people to point us in the right direction. We tried to avoid looking lost. if we stopped to gather our thoughts, we were told "this way, this way". most of these instructions were wrong - we ignored all. not a good start...and the wall was not even in sight yet. our friend was silent....just followed...no plea to buy anything, nothing.
After a steep walk (maybe 20 minutes later), we made it up to the wall. At this point, our friend produced the book that she wanted to sell to us. she was very persistent. ok, we cannot have her following us anymore. So we say, "no souvenir, bye bye" we repeat "bye bye" and she finally turns back down. One shaken...things are looking up.
my partner reckoned that we needed to "turn right" when we got to the wall. some touts on the wall were shouting "this way" (indicating the opposite direction). there are signposts on the wall but none indicated simatai. the other group of walkers headed the other way. this doesn't feel right. we took some pictures after climbing for several minutes. and headed in the other direction. after several minutes we saw a wall official and confirmed that we were indeed headed towards simatei.
It was amazing that at this point, we saw no other walkers other than the small group in front of us. we started to feel alone (in a good way). the scenery is amazing - not just the wall but the mountains. things are really looking up now!
We proceed alone for a while and then see some more touts. One more followed us and started to point out things and basically being friendly (no offer to sell anything). I ignore (whilst remaining polite). My partner, however, falls into the trap of listening to her and engaging in conversation. she walks along for a while and i see where this is headed so i tell her nicely, "no guide". she becomes persistent that she is not a guide, just a farmer and asks for money. I remain very polite but firm...." we go alone...bye bye". "bye bye". she leaves us alone.
now i have increasing confidence in my "bye bye" to shake these ad hoc "guides" or anyone else. as callous as it sounds, my partner and i agree to engage in no conversations nor to listen to any tour guide commentary on the wall. a polite but firm "no guide, we go alone, bye bye" at the very start of them following us worked like a charm. no more worries. if the "guide" feels like he or she has given you a service, he will expect payment for it eventually. if you want a real guide, i think it is better to hire one (although i don't think a guide is at all necessary).
now we are free and the wall and surrounding scenery is beautiful. we see people selling various things and a couple more "guides" ...all easily dealt with. we walk some more...the wall is very steep in many areas and the footings are dodgy at times. however, this is much less treacherous than i expected. we now have been into it for about 1.5 hours and everything is great. so far, we have seen only about 6 or so other walkers and we proceed on the wall for about 1 hour with nobody at all in sight...ahead or behind. it is extremely quiet and beautiful. there is a village or two within close proximity to the wall on this stretch but basically, you see only the wall, trees, and mountains whilst walking this stretch...no civilisation.
my camera is blasting away every few minutes and we finally stop to eat the lunch that we brought with us. Over the last hour or so, it is sinking in just how much of an experience this really is. this day will never be forgotten.
As we get closer to Simatei, we meet a small group of other walkers and the wall actually becomes a bit tamer. we need to buy another ticket as we approach Simatei. It is a modest fee and there is no question that it is an official who collects it.
We finally make it to Simatei after walking for 3.5 to 4 hours (stopping a lot along the way). for someone with a little hiking experience, this is not a difficult walk. however, i would not attempt it if i were seriously out of shape or if i was not used to walking on uneven terrain. shoes with good grip and perhaps some ankle support are essential. we used lightweight hiking boots but sport sandles would probably do. Of course, you should take less chances in mainland China as compared to home so this is no time to stretch your abilities.
I believe that the wildest stretch of the wall in this area would be experienced if you continue along the wall through Simatei. As you look up beyond Simatei, the mountains become steeper and i have read that the wall is very treacherous/dangerous at times in this area. that's for another day.
Our driver was waiting for us in Simatei as agreed and we drove back to BJ, paying him upon our return (never pay any driver until he returns you home safely).
I know that this trip report probably focuses disproportionately on the touts along the wall. the reason for this is that they can easily compromise one's experience on the wall if not dealt with effectively. i want to let people know what to expect and how i dealt with it. Overall, we saw probably less than 20 other tourists during the whole walk. after speaking to people who visited the wall at badaling, this is far from the case there as it is very crowded and equipped with "features" such as new, smooth paving and piped in music along the way. also, it seems that even much more remote areas as compared to jinshaling/simatei are not without touts (and even worse, bogus "tolls" along the wall in very remote stretches, i heard).
overall, the great wall is an experience of a lifetime and i know that we made the perfect choice walking jinshaling to simatei rather than to visit at badaling. the whole day was something like 7:30 from BJ and returning around 17:00.
Jun 15th, 2006, 03:26 AM
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Thanks for the post. It brought back memories, exactly as you described! The touts were pesky but at times, for some in our group, they helped with those who needed it with all the uneven ground.
Did you see the big new mall they're building at the trailhead of Simatai? About 1/4 mile or so from where you paid your fee at Simatai, they're building a road that will take you to that part of the wall faster from Beijing, about 1.5 hours. Presumably this is being done for the Olympics. Lots of new changes. I'm afraid that part of the wall will no longer be so quiet.
Did you see the big new mall they're building at the trailhead of Simatai? About 1/4 mile or so from where you paid your fee at Simatai, they're building a road that will take you to that part of the wall faster from Beijing, about 1.5 hours. Presumably this is being done for the Olympics. Lots of new changes. I'm afraid that part of the wall will no longer be so quiet.
Jun 15th, 2006, 04:08 AM
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yes quim...simatei was where we ended up and we walked through this new "village" of shops as we went to the car park to find our driver. it was still being finished and no shops were yet opened.
i'm not sure how much of a threat this will be to the jinshaling to simatei stretch. i suspect that the modernised road and village will be used to deal with the crush of wall seekers that will be in BJ for 2008 and to generally divert people from the overworked badaling site. i think that most of the people who go directly to simatei (rather than to walk there from jinshaling) will remain fairly close to simatei and perhaps use the cable car to get up to a good viewing height.
but yes, better roads and more use of simatei as a base to see the wall will certainly change the complexion of a visit to this stretch. for what it's worth, i saw no sign of any modernisation of facilities or other projects at the jinshaling entrance.
i'm not sure how much of a threat this will be to the jinshaling to simatei stretch. i suspect that the modernised road and village will be used to deal with the crush of wall seekers that will be in BJ for 2008 and to generally divert people from the overworked badaling site. i think that most of the people who go directly to simatei (rather than to walk there from jinshaling) will remain fairly close to simatei and perhaps use the cable car to get up to a good viewing height.
but yes, better roads and more use of simatei as a base to see the wall will certainly change the complexion of a visit to this stretch. for what it's worth, i saw no sign of any modernisation of facilities or other projects at the jinshaling entrance.
