The Great Wall of China

This trip I and my boyfriend went to the Great Wall of China, from Zhengbeilou to Mutianyu. It was 2 days hiking trip. We stayed on the great wall for 1 night!

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We read many reviews from the internet, started packing our stuff and headed to Beijing. Stayed in the city for a night.

In the morning, we took a bus from our place to Dongzhimen Public Transport Hub and took 916 Express bus (12 Yuan) to Huairou North Avenue (Huairou Beidajie). There will be someone call you to go out.

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From that bus stop, we walked a bit to McDonald’s (at the corner of the street) to have breakfast. Our next bus, H25, will come to the bus stop in front of the McDonald’s (another bus stop). Bus line H25 has only 2 times; 11.30 and 16.30

We took the bus H25 (12 Yuan) to Nanjili village. We passed many resorts and restaurants on the way. Then, the bus staff told us to drop off. Here is the first start of hiking the Great Wall of China.

On this trip, we planned to stay 1 night on the great wall. So we had a tent, 2 sleeping bags, food and a gallon of water with us. Our bags were so heavy.

We started walking at 1 pm. The way from the village to the great wall is the mountain. This way is kind of a warm-up part that we can enjoy the wildness and beautiful mountainous views.

We took about 1.30 hours to get to Zhengbeilou tower. I think it is the most perfect one in this zone. From this tower, we can enjoy stunning views from all around. We had lunch here until 3.30 pm. we started to continue walking to the Mutianyu tower.

the way up to the tower

view from Zhengbeilou tower

Zhengbeilou tower

In this zone, we have to walk through the crumbling brickwork with many soil-grown obstacles. It is the totally unrestored section of the Wall. I was amazed and wonder how people in the past built this great wall.

On the way, we passed the most dangerous spot named “Ox Horn Edge”. It is the highest tower in this part (altitude 1,025m.) It is steep slopes with loose bricks and stones also add the difficulty of our climbing. We had to be aware of every step and also hug the wall all the way down. Actually, I liked this part very much. It was so fun.

Ox Horn Edge; the most dangerous spot for hiking

the way up to Ox Horn Edge

the peak of the great wall (this zone)

the way down is slippery

After passing the Ox Horn Edge, we passed a few towers and found some tower to put the tent. About 5.20 pm., we set everything up and enjoyed the sunset on the Great Wall.

Good morning from the Great Wall!

We woke up at 5.30 am. After enjoying the sunrise, we packed everything, said goodbye to the tower and started walking at 7.20 am. I had a good sleep and didn’t have any leg pain. That’s good.

After this point, the way is easier. We took a short rest for breakfast and continued walking. We arrived at the Mutianyu tower in an hour. It is the end of the hiking part.

About half an hour, we reached the connecting point between the hiking part and Mutianyu tower is also the challenge spot that we have to climb the wall to get there.

The Mutianyu is one of the best-preserved and best-known Great Wall sections. They renovated this part for tourism. It is a very beautiful part to take pictures and it has more than a thousand stair steps for climbing. To be honest, I don’t like this part because I don’t like to climb down from the stairs from tower to tower. And from the tower to the ground, we also need to take the stairs to go down. My legs were so painful for many days.

Actually, from the wall to the hill, you can take the cable car to save your legs and energy. It cost 100 yuan. Moreover, we don’t need to buy the entrance ticket for Mutianyu Great Wall if we come from the hiking zone.

At the hill, we saw a lot of people on the line waiting for taking the cable car. We walked past and bought the minibus ticket (10 Yuan) to go to the entrance. From the entrance, we walked to the main road to get to the bus stop. We took the bus line H23, H24, H35, H36 (3 Yuan) to go to Huairou North Street (Better use Baidu map). Then, we took the bus line 960 Express (11 Yuan) to Dongzhimen.

Tips:

Prepare the proper shoes for hiking
Prepare wet tissue (must have!)
Prepare food and drink. Recommend vacuum eggs, bread, and McDonald’s
There is an internet signal (almost everywhere)
Use Baidu map, this application is very useful – Translate everything to Chinese, copy and paste to Baidu map
Wear long pants or leggings because we have to walk through the jungle
If you want to do a 1-day trip, it can be. It takes only 4-6 hours on this route.
The last real toilet is at McDonald’s next to the bus stop. So, don’t miss it.