One of our main reasons for traveling to Beijing was to visit The Great Wall of China. Prior to going, we thought it best to decide how we were going to get there and also which part of the wall we were going to visit. The most touristy and commercialized part of The Great Wall is at Badaling, which is situated about 70 kms from the centre of Beijing. After much research, we decided to give Badaling a skip and instead go to Mutianyu, about 90 kms northeast of Beijing. Many people who have been to both, highly recommend Mutianyu over Badaling, not just because it is less crowded and commercialized, but also because it is beautiful.
The Great Wall at Mutianyu is the 2250 metre-long granite section of The Great Wall, that was built during the Ming Dynasty on the remains of an earlier Northern Qi dynasty conception. Mutianyu served to protect the capital from enemy forces from the north. Mutianyu is known for its numerous Ming dynasty guard towers and breathtaking views. There are 22 watch towers distributed along this part of the wall, and trees and forests cover over 96% of the total scenic area (thus it is beautiful during all four seasons, especially as the leaves change colour).
We decided to hire a driver to take us to The Great Wall and managed to find a reliable one on the internet. We contacted John via e-mail and arranged everything before we got to Beijing. John came highly recommended by other travelers who had used his services, so we were pretty confident we were in good hands. We hired John for the day and arranged for him to drive us to The Great Wall, The Summer Palace and the Olympic sites. John was a great driver, who spoke English well enough for us to converse with him. He picked us up from the hotel at around 8:00 am and drove us to The Great Wall. It took about an hour and a half for us to get there and when we did arrive at Mutianyu it was fortunately not very busy.
We could see parts of the Wall from the car park, but didn't get a true sense of the magnitude until we were in the cable car going up. The Wall is amazing and impressive, and it was pretty surreal when we got to the top. The cable car took us to an elevated part of the wall and when we got off here we had two options - we could either turn right and walk down the Wall to the lower watch towers to take the toboggan down, or we could turn left and take a walk/hike up to the highest point allowed (tower 20 where restoration of the wall has stopped). We had read that the views from tower 20 are amazing and well worth the strenuous walk and steep climb. We decided on the second option, with the idea that we would walk a little towards tower 20 to see part of the views and then backtrack down the other side of the Wall to take the toboggan down. However, once we started walking on the Wall and the closer we got to tower 20, it became apparent that there was no way we could turn back after coming all this way.
Fortunately we were there relatively early, so there weren't that many people on the wall and there were some sections where we had the wall to ourselves (it was a different story later on in the day when it did get busier). It took us over an hour to get to the bottom of a steep flight of many stairs leading to tower 20. We contemplated whether or not to climb this section and decided to give it a go. We eventually made it to the top of these stairs, but then there was one last section of very steep stairs to the top of tower 20. It was at this section that we and many others were on all fours (surprisingly coming down was easier than going up). The view from the top was amazing and we are we so glad we decided to go up all the way. It was breathtaking to see the majestic Wall winding through the high mountains and ridges and into the valleys, truly amazing and remarkable ! We couldn't go any further as the rest of the Wall was cordoned off (the rest of the wall going up is even steeper and has yet to be restored, so it is not safe).
We descended the stairs with a great deal of satisfaction, knowing that we can honestly say we have climbed The Great Wall. We walked back to the cable car tower and we were thinking about walking further down to the lower towers to take the toboggan down, but that would have meant at least another hours walk on the Wall and we didn't have time as we had planned to meet John at 1 pm. In order to meet John at the time arranged, we decided to just take the cable car down. The neat thing was when we got into the cable car to go down, we noticed a sign that said we were sitting in the exact car that President Bill Clinton took down when he visited Mutianyu in 1998. That was a nice coincidence and it made up for us not taking the toboggan down. The Great Wall of China spans 9 provinces and has a total length of 6700 kms. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it is a true marvel. It is also a testament to China's greatness and its past history and empires.
The Great Wall at Mutianyu is the 2250 metre-long granite section of The Great Wall, that was built during the Ming Dynasty on the remains of an earlier Northern Qi dynasty conception. Mutianyu served to protect the capital from enemy forces from the north. Mutianyu is known for its numerous Ming dynasty guard towers and breathtaking views. There are 22 watch towers distributed along this part of the wall, and trees and forests cover over 96% of the total scenic area (thus it is beautiful during all four seasons, especially as the leaves change colour).
We decided to hire a driver to take us to The Great Wall and managed to find a reliable one on the internet. We contacted John via e-mail and arranged everything before we got to Beijing. John came highly recommended by other travelers who had used his services, so we were pretty confident we were in good hands. We hired John for the day and arranged for him to drive us to The Great Wall, The Summer Palace and the Olympic sites. John was a great driver, who spoke English well enough for us to converse with him. He picked us up from the hotel at around 8:00 am and drove us to The Great Wall. It took about an hour and a half for us to get there and when we did arrive at Mutianyu it was fortunately not very busy.
We could see parts of the Wall from the car park, but didn't get a true sense of the magnitude until we were in the cable car going up. The Wall is amazing and impressive, and it was pretty surreal when we got to the top. The cable car took us to an elevated part of the wall and when we got off here we had two options - we could either turn right and walk down the Wall to the lower watch towers to take the toboggan down, or we could turn left and take a walk/hike up to the highest point allowed (tower 20 where restoration of the wall has stopped). We had read that the views from tower 20 are amazing and well worth the strenuous walk and steep climb. We decided on the second option, with the idea that we would walk a little towards tower 20 to see part of the views and then backtrack down the other side of the Wall to take the toboggan down. However, once we started walking on the Wall and the closer we got to tower 20, it became apparent that there was no way we could turn back after coming all this way.
Fortunately we were there relatively early, so there weren't that many people on the wall and there were some sections where we had the wall to ourselves (it was a different story later on in the day when it did get busier). It took us over an hour to get to the bottom of a steep flight of many stairs leading to tower 20. We contemplated whether or not to climb this section and decided to give it a go. We eventually made it to the top of these stairs, but then there was one last section of very steep stairs to the top of tower 20. It was at this section that we and many others were on all fours (surprisingly coming down was easier than going up). The view from the top was amazing and we are we so glad we decided to go up all the way. It was breathtaking to see the majestic Wall winding through the high mountains and ridges and into the valleys, truly amazing and remarkable ! We couldn't go any further as the rest of the Wall was cordoned off (the rest of the wall going up is even steeper and has yet to be restored, so it is not safe).
We descended the stairs with a great deal of satisfaction, knowing that we can honestly say we have climbed The Great Wall. We walked back to the cable car tower and we were thinking about walking further down to the lower towers to take the toboggan down, but that would have meant at least another hours walk on the Wall and we didn't have time as we had planned to meet John at 1 pm. In order to meet John at the time arranged, we decided to just take the cable car down. The neat thing was when we got into the cable car to go down, we noticed a sign that said we were sitting in the exact car that President Bill Clinton took down when he visited Mutianyu in 1998. That was a nice coincidence and it made up for us not taking the toboggan down. The Great Wall of China spans 9 provinces and has a total length of 6700 kms. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it is a true marvel. It is also a testament to China's greatness and its past history and empires.
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