#Beijing Travel

Getting to the Great Wall can be hit and miss – do not get fooled into visiting Ming Tombs (not worth your time). Firstly, do a google search and decide on which section of wall you would like to visit depending on your group. Mutianyu, which we did was a good option for people who do not want to hike as it had a cable car to the best towers (14 and 15).

When choosing transportation to get there, be 100% sure that you are NOT on a ‘shopping tour’ as you will only get 40 rushed minutes on the wall as they waste your time trying to sell you overpriced souvenirs! We got stuck on one of these and would rather have paid 650-700yuan to hire a taxi for the day instead of our cheap waste of time ‘shopping tour’. The section we visited was called Mutianyu and were not disappointed, I would recommend this for groups wanting to spend around 4 hours there. In April, the crowds were not bad in the area in the afternoon. Pack some fruits and water as there are many shady spots for you to sit and enjoy the experience. At the bottom of the wall are restaurants for buying a meal or snack. I recommend starting the wall with the cable car (not the chairlift). The cable car is 120yuan return (or 100yuan one way). This takes you straight to the best viewing towers (tower 14 & 15). You can choose to go left (uphill) for a challenge or downhill for a leisurely stroll towards the chairlift (an easy hour walk). My biggest recommendation is to stay and enjoy the wall as long as you can as it is a big ticket item when visiting China. We were rushed at this awesome place to visit and really regret it, I’d love to go back with a picnic and take it all in properly!