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Dear Travellers, We’d like to have the following Great Wall travel tips to...
Dear Travellers,
Plan your Great Wall Tour? Needless to say, you will visit the Great Wall of China on your first trip to Beijing China. So, where to start, when to visit, which sections of Great Wall to visit, how to visit and where to stay?
The Great Wall of China was built mainly during the three dynasties - Qin Dynasty (221 B.C to 206 B.C), Han Dynasty (206 B.C.– 220 A.D ) and Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D - 1644 A.D).
The most powerful Yuan Dynasty and Qing Dynasty (the last dynasty) did nothing about the building of the Wall since they were "barbarians" against whom the Great Wall of China was supposed to have been built.
Basically most of the first time travellers would choose Beijing as their springboards to visit these sections of the Great Wall of China built in Ming Dynasty. Most of the sections of the Great Wall open to tourists here are tamed or reconstructed for the safety of travellers. But still there remain some wild ones (original and unrestored) - crumbling, overgrown and barred to walkers, but attracting adventure hikers.
Note: this travel guide is mainly focused on some practical travel tips for planning ahead your visit to the Great Wall of China starting from Beijing.
In Beijing, all the officially administered sections of the Great Wall are open to tourists all year round. The ideal months for the Great Wall hike fall on spring, early summer, and autumn: later March, April, May, June, September, October and early November.
Each year, March 15th is the official day of turning off the heating system in Beijing. This special date indicates the dry, harsh cold of Beijing's winter is coming to an end though Beijingers will still have some chilly days in March.
A warmer spring usually starts early April and ends early May. So a warm springtime in Beijing lasts over one month. Kindly reminder: There are possibly dust storms in March. But things are getting better with the efforts put into the local environment management. Generally speaking, Beijing is dry and windy in spring.
Spring is a delightful time to visit the Great Wall - mild climate, green trees and flowers. But if you hike the Great Wall, you still feel chilly and a bit cold especially in March, wearing jackets in the morning and evening due to the big temperature drop between day and night.
If you happen to visit the Wall in summer - later June, July and August, be ready for heat stroke prevention - sunglasses, sun cream, sun block, hat, and water. Summer is the rain season in Beijing and just bring waterproof in case. The weather in July and August is a bit muggy, so be well prepared for your hiking in summer.
You will expect a long queue, waiting to buy entrance tickets for the Great Wall mainly due to the large number of domestic tourists because of school vacations in July and August.
The foggy and cloudy days in Beijing's oppressive summer are leaving us, coming with Beijing's cooling autumn, with a blue sky, comfortable sunshine and the colorful leaves in and around Beijing.
Beijing autumn, specifically the two months from the mid-September to mid-November are the best season to visit Great Wall in a year. It's always comfortably cool outside.
The best period autumn colors starts from October 15 throughout November 15 in Beijing with many trees changing theirs colors with charming autumn hues. Snap pictures or just take in a feast for the eyes!
Fairly big difference in temperature between early morning and afternoon. Wear a thin jacket, or a warm coat in the morning, long-sleeve shirts or short T-shirts in the afternoon. So be mindful of the temperature difference in Autumn, comfortable sport shoes, rubber soled shoes for hiking. In afternoon, sometimes the autumn sunlight could be very strong, get ready for sunglasses, sun cream and sun hat.
Winter Great Wall Hike is a bit challenging mainly due to the frozen weather in later December, January and early February each year in Beijing. You are advised to dress warmly - winter hat with ear flap, ear warmers, gloves, scarf, warm jackets and their winter accessories.
It is better to hike the Wall during the weekdays instead of weekends. Strongly advise you not to visit the Wall during China public holidays ( Especially May 1-3, and October 1-7).
On these special days you will waste much of your valuable time on the way from your hotel to the Wall. On the Wall, you have to take group photos due to a great number of people on the Wall.
Jiankou is not open to tourists due to their wildness and treacherousness.
If you don't have much time, but you still want to have a glimpse of the Wall, especially on a busy day, choose Juyongguan Great Wall.
Juyongguan, literally "Juyong Pass"(居庸关), is situated in a valley named "Guangou" as long 20 kilometres, which is within Changping District, about 50 kilometres north of downtown Beijing. It is one of the three most famous passes of Great Wall in China。
If you want to see the most popular and gorgeous restored section of the Wall in Beijing, go to Badaling Great Wall. Badaling is also wheelchair friendly , accessible by the handicapped.
The two mountains faces each other with a valley in between from south to north, a strategic passage in the ancient times linking Inner Mongolia and Beijing. Now the valley has been turned into a fast developing Gubeikou Township under Miyun County of Beijing City.
It has become popular with hikers in recent years. This section of the great wall is about 1000 meters long and connecting Juyongguan Pass Great Wall and Badaling Great Wall in the west and Jiankou Great Wall and Mutianuyu Great Wall in the east. Now it is a quite challenge to climb the wall since it is overgrown and treacherous.
The famous general, Xu Da, of the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) supervised and directed the construction of the Great Wall. Later, Qi Jiguang led a number of defense works while guarding the north area in 1567.
Bus Fare: RMB 15
Minibus Fare: about RMB 50 ( you have to share a mini-bus for Jinshanling Great Wall)
Check out Take a taxi to the Great Wall for more information.
You can also charter a taxi for day trips to the Great Wall. The drive ranges from 1.5 hour to 2.5 hours from the city center according to the different sections of the Great Wall.
Below are the approximate taxi fares to the different sections of the Great Wall with waiting for about 2-3 hours while touring the wall:
Don’t want to make the do-it-yourself route? No worries, you can easily book Great Wall Bus Tour (daily group tours) or private day tour through your hotel or local tour operators. Check out Beijing Day Tour and Beijing Group Tour for more information.
Each morning, you will be picked you up from your midtown hotel, then you will go to visit the Wall together with other tourists.
Both Badaling Great Wall and Mutianyu Great Wall have accessible ramp paths. On the Badaling Great Wall, a special flat lane is built for wheelchair users to get to the third watch tower of the Great Wall. Even two elevators are equipped for easy ascending the wall if you book the elevator service in advance.
Badaling Great Wall has the upper hand over Mutianyu Great Wall with its gentle ramp leading to the first watch tower of the Great Wall.
Basically it is more convenient to use its smooth and gentle ramp leading up Badaling Great Wall. You don’t need to use the cable car. The area for the upper cable station is not wheelchair-friendly and teem with domestic tourists.
On the Mutianyu Great Wall, wheelchair users may take a cable car up and then use the accessible lane leading to the platform below the 14th watch tower for a good view of Mutianyu Great Wall.
The accessible platform for wheelchair users below the 14th watch tower on Mutianyu Great Wall.
you may choose half restored or wild sections of the Wall. But you have to be responsible for your own safety.
Don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route? No worries, We at Tour Beijing have some options for guided tours to Great wall Tours:
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