Explore the Great Wall of China which stretches westward across the provinces and municipalities of Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Ningxia Autonomous Region to Gansu in the west.

The Great Wall of China can be visited at many places along its length of several thousand kilometers. Its condition ranges from excellent to ruined, and ease of accessibility varies straightforward to quite difficult. Note that different sections also each have their own admission fees, e.g. if you want to hike from Jinshaling to Simatai then you probably have to pay twice.

History of the Great Wall of China    

Flora and fauna

Chinese wildlife is diverse, considering all of the different habitats available along the length of the Great Wall. From the rare Siberian tiger in the northeast to the protected and rare Giant Panda which lives in southern Gansu, Sichuan, and Shaanxi, you never know what you might see on a given day.

Wild mammals can be found in the north, such as the Manchurian weasel, brown and black bears, northern pika, and mandarin vole. Deer species include Sitka deer, roe deer and the long-sought-after spotted deer, which has many uses in Chinese medicine.

The birds of the region include various pheasants, black grouse, pine grosbeak, various woodpeckers, mandarin duck, and the fairy pitta, a rare migratory bird. Cranes are especially revered in China. Common, demoiselle, white-napes, hooded, and red-crowned cranes all breed in China.

You can find many tonic plants along the Great Wall, such as the rare ginseng (Panax ginseng). Chinese medicine has had many thousands of years to discover and use these tonic plants for the benefit of mankind.

Climate

Northern China has all four seasons and they arrive with a vengeance. Summer and winter temperatures normally reach extremes of over 40 degrees Celsius (105+ °F) and -20 degrees Celsius (-4 °F) respectively.

What to see. Best top attractions of The Wall of China

As the Great Wall of China is rather on the long side, there are a large number of places to visit it. The following list is divided by province/municipality.

Beijing

Badaling and Juyongguan are nearest Beijing, and these two are among the most crowded sections of the Great Wall. On the weekdays, Badaling is less crowded and it is the easiest to reach affordably (i.e., without hiring a taxi

The hike is still a challenge with plenty of very steep hills, so don’t get disappointed if you took the cable car up and see a huge crowd – once you get a bit into the wall the crowd thins quickly, and even on a weekend you can find yourself alone on a whole section of the wall. On weekdays, there are much less vendors chasing you on the wall; they stay in the little town area. In addition, there are sun bears that you can feed carrots to in the little town.

Make sure you wear the proper shoes such as tennis shoes or sneakers. The stones the wall is made of have been polished by millions of tourists like you, and are very slippery. If you wear flip-flops, you’d be looking for a disaster. Walking barefoot or in a thin sole shoes would be very uncomfortable because the stones get very hot in the sunshine.

The cable car before the entrance (they can also sell you the Great Wall entrance ticket at the booth). As well as taking out a good bit of uphill, it puts you right into a quiet area of the wall. Once you get off the cable car a left turn will lead you to the regular entrance. But a right turn will provide a pleasant walk along the wall for a while until the path becomes closed.

It takes 2-3h to do the whole wall depending on your fitness/weather/crowd.

In winter, expect to lose 5°C between Beijing and the Wall. This plus the wind from the mountain, you will cherish every layer of clothes you can have. The vendors will be here to sell everything you may have forgotten, although the price is not reasonable. For the good part : the crowd is then much lighter, and almost nobody go after the first peak. The winter sun and, if you’re lucky, the snow will give you amazing views on the walls.

Mutianyu is slightly further than Badaling, equally well restored, significantly less crowded, and has greener and more scenic surroundings. Historically, most tour groups did not go here, so this is a generally a better option than Badaling. Mutianyu has a cable car gondola to get onto and off the wall (though walking via stairs is also possible) and a toboggan ride down! Misplaced, but fun.

If, after exiting the cable car, one turns to the left and hikes up stairs for about an hour, one can reach the unrestored, “wild” wall. As of March 2017, a 60cm high wall at tower 20 has been built in order to discourage passage. Signs will tell you that visitors are not admitted to this area of the wall. You should not go beyond this point. A man may ask you for money to allow passage, however he is not an employee of the facility. You should not pay him to go beyond this point. The terrain gets rougher, there’s bushes growing in the way and some parts are so destroyed, one has to actually climb to go on. Please note that mobile phone reception drops off sharply here and there’s only very few to no people around, so in case of an emergency, you’ll be on your own. Good hiking gear advisable. Frozen and slippery in winter. Loose Rocks.

If you are further interested in this unrestored “wild wall”, the ideal way to experience it is a hike from the Jiankou section to Mutianyu. Allowing a more in depth exploration of the untouched overgrown decrepit walls and towers, it also enables you to go down the stairs of the restored section instead of the long arduous climb up. Some offer self-guided tour packages including transportation from Beijing to Jiankou and pickup from Mutianyu to get back to Beijing.

Because several English-language guidebooks now recommend Mutianyu over Badaling as less crowded and less overdeveloped, a few tour companies have switched to Mutianyu as their preferred Great Wall segment for their China tours. If at all possible, try to book an escorted group tour with a Mutianyu visit as an integral component. That will provide the most convenient and seamless experience, since small tourist motor coaches with the appropriate paperwork can take you directly from a Beijing hotel to a small parking lot very close to the cable car base station. The driver will wait with the motor coach while your tour guide takes your group up to the Great Wall, then when you are all done, you get back on the motor coach and go directly back to Beijing.

In addition, the cable car to the wall costs more than the wall entrance. This option is overall the best; you should save your walking energy for on top of the wall, which is very long.

Alternatively the 20-30 min. climb uphill through steps in the forest is free. However the climb is fairly steep, and does not offer views until you reach the great wall itself. If you’re not afraid of walking through some shrubbery, and you’ve got some grip on your shoes, continue on past the restored section and head to the highest local watchtower. You will be greatly rewarded for your effort!

There are two different cable cars in Mutianyu which are operated by different companies. One is a cable car to get to a high part of the great wall; the other is a chair lift to another point on the wall where you can toboggan down. They start at roughly the same point at the entrance to the area; however they operate in different directions.

Note that the walk on top of the Great Wall involves significant amount of climbing steps, which vary from short steps a large part of the way, to some sections with quite steep steps.

Do not miss the stone museum just past the main ticket office on the right, which features beautiful caves with lighted rock art. Entry is free.

If you miss the bus, there is accommodation to be found near the shops in Huairou. There is a tourist information office that remains open during normal office hours, though it may seem closed due to lack of visitors. They will be able to help you find accommodation that is licensed to take foreigners, should you need it. The nearby “Yanxi Nightless Valley” area is full of small forest resorts, where you can pay for  a fresh, farmed trout. Stay in the valley the night before, then hire a taxi out direct to one of the nearby Great Wall sections in the morning.

Huanghuacheng one of the most well-built sections of the Great Wall that caused the beheading of Lord Cai, the builder, for mismanagement and waste

It’s far less crowded than Badaling and Mutianyu…. mostly before more difficult to access and less renovated.

Arrive at Shuishangcheng, you can access to the reservoir trough an entrance gate, where you can see the wall. However, to climb on the wall, you can also go to the parking in front of East entrance, then take a small trail at the left of the toilets (without passing the entrance gate so): you’ll be able to access the wall without paying the entrance fee.

Gubeikou, Jinshanling and Simatai are a bit farther from Beijing than other sections, but the extra time it takes to get there is rewarded with a very significant reduction in crowding and tourist traps. Services are also limited, however; make sure you bring your own supply of water and extra film. The most authentic part of the Wall (at least portions closest to Beijing) is at Simatai; the Wall here is of original construction unlike Badaling. These three locations are 130 km (80 mi) northeast of central Beijing. Jinshanling is well restored and offers some round-trips : get on the wall at the Zhuanduo pass, you can get off at Shaling pass (~= 5 towers), at the cable car (~= 10 towers), at the Houchuan pass (~= 13 towers, less than 4h round trip from the gate) or at the “Tower with Five Arrow-holes in the East” (~= 20 towers, a few steep parts, you will get off at the East Gate where you can catch the 3pm direct bus to Wangjing West Station. You can no longer go to Simatai from Jinshaling.

Jiankou Many published photos of the Great Wall are from this area. ‘Jiankou’, is translated as ‘Arrow Nock’ in English, because the shape of the mountain is like an arrow, with the collapsed ridge opening as its arrow nock.

There are many famous sections of Jiankou Great Wall, such as ‘The Nine-Eye Tower’, an important command post during the ancient wars. It has three layers, and there are nine holes which look like nine eyes on each side. ‘The Beijing Knot’ is the meeting point for three walls coming from different directions. ‘The Sky Stair’, is a precipitous stair whose angle of elevation is 70 to 80 degrees. It leads to ‘The Eagle Flies Facing Upward’, a watch tower built on the lofty peaks. It is so dangerous that even eagles have to fly facing upward to reach the top. ‘Zhengbei Tower’ is the right place to appreciate the beauty of the sunrise and the sunset.

Shuiguan Located near the Badaling Great Wall, the Shuiguan Great Wall is sometimes called the ‘Badaling-Shuiguan Great Wall’. It often happens that innocent visitors are guided to the Shuiguan Great Wall instead of their original destination – the Badaling Great Wall, especially during holidays or peak periods.

This portion of the Wall was opened to the public in 1995 after repair. Besides climbing the wall, you can also visit the Genghis Khan Palace, the Stone Buddha Temple, Luotuo Peak (Camel Peak) and the Great Wall Stele Forest nearby.

Hebei and Tianjin

• Shanhaiguan, at the Old Dragon’s Head, the wall juts out into the sea. To get there from Beijing takes about 3 hours by train.
• Panjiakou Reservoir – sunken part of the Great Wall
• Huangyaguan – worth a visit for its water run-off controls, well-preserved towers, challenging hiking and striking scenery

Liaoning

• Hushan – can be explored from Dandong
• Xingcheng – a Ming dynasty walled town
• Jiumenkou – located 18 km east of “The First Pass Under Heaven’ at Shanhaiguan

Shanxi

• The Outer Wall of Shanxi – Li’erkou to Deshengbu, Juqiangbu to Laoniuwan, and along the Yellow River
• The Inner Wall of Shanxi – Yanmenguan, Guangwu Old City, Ningwu Pass and Niangziguan

Shaanxi

• Yulin and Shenmu – garrison towns in the time of the Ming dynasty

Ningxia

• The Eastern Ningxia Wall – Hongshan Castle and Water Cave Gully (Shui Dong Gou)
• The Northern Ningxia Wall – in the area of Helanshan
• The Western Ningxia Wall – Zhenbeibu and Sanguankou

Gansu

• Wuwei – garrison town
• Minqin – oasis town
• Zhangye – garrison headquarters
• Jiayuguan – Fort at Jiayu Pass, nicknamed “Last Fort Under Heaven”
• Lanzhou – former walled town that now is capital of Gansu Province