If you want to walk the major wild sections of the Great Wall around Beijing, this will be the perfect one. You will hike at Jiankou, Mutianyu, Gubeikou, Jinshanling and Simatai West in 4 days. Every section is different from the other and all of them are breathtaking beautiful. You will also have the chance to stay at the local farmer’s guesthouse and enjoy some of their local specialties. This trip needs you prepare more before departure from home.

Day 1 Beijing- Great Wall at Jiankou (4 hours, 3 km hiking)

Our driver and guide will pick you up at 8 am at your hotel lobby, and then drive 2.5 hours to Xizhazi village where we base ourselves. We will walk the Wall at Jiankou section today, and it will take about 4 hours on the wall. We will start the hiking from Jiankou and then continue the hike westward to the foot of Ladders to the Heaven (or the Sky Stairs and we will skip this section).

The Great Wall at Jiankou is completely untouched, original and authentic. The Wall was built on the narrow mountain ridges with large pieces of dolomite as basement. The superstructures are mainly bricks which were baked in the kilns in nearby villages. These watchtowers were abandoned after the Manchu people took over the power in 1644. It has superb scenery, dense vegetation and many fine watchtowers. The most difficult section of the climb is a 15-20 meter descent. The stone steps are the width of your foot and there is only a single balustrade of wall here for balance. You will be rewarded by the breathtaking scenery for your great effort. As it’s not easy to access, there are just a few hikers at weekend and holidays.

After the trek, we will stay at Sun’s family guesthouse at Xizhazi village. Sun has been living here since he was born and he also witnessed the dramatic development of this isolated village near the Wall in the past 5 years.

Meals: picnic lunch, dinner
Accommodation: local farmer’s guesthouse

Day 2 Jiankou - Mutianyu (5 hrs, 10 km hiking)

Start the hiking at 8 am, and it will take 5 hours hiking on the wall. You will hike on both restored and original walls. Shorts are not recommended since you will meander through jungles and bushes.

Jiankou to Mutianyu section offers a wonderfully satisfying experience of the Wall. It has superb scenery, dense vegetation and many fine watch-towers in an excellent restored section which is about six metres broad. The brickwork is elaborate, with crenellations on both sides and finely curved eaves on some watch-tower roofs. There are decorative gables with animal statues, and tablets bearing calligraphy above some entrances. The first one hour is going straight up and reaches the wall, and then hikes unrestored towers. The wild Wall to the west is the original Ming Dynasty with fine stonework, and there are almost no other people. You will be rewarded when you approach Zhengbeilou Tower, where you will have a breathtaking view of Jiankou section. There will be a sharp contrast when you arrive at Mutianyu with the restored wall and towers.

Today we will stay at a local farmer’s guesthouse at Mutianyu village. Mutianyu now is becoming increasingly popular among both local people and overseas travelers. You have the chance to try a local specialty, trout in our host’s fish farming pond tonight.

Meals: breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner
Accommodation: local farmer’s guesthouse

Day 3 Gubeikou – Jinshanling (5 hours, 10 km hiking)

Finishing breakfast at 8 and then we drive two hours to next section of the wall, Gubeikou, from where we trek to Jingshanling (5 hrs).

Gubeikou is located 146 kilometres north of Beijing. It has the Panlong (Coiling Dragon) and Wohu (Crouching Tiger) mountains in the background and is linked to the Qingfeng (Green Wind) and Dicui (Piled Verdure) peaks. The Chaohe River runs across the foot of the wall from north to south. In 1378 (the 11th year of Emperor Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty), General Xu Da ordered this section of the Great Wall rebuilt. Gubeikou has seen probably more battles than any other part of the Great wall, including some of the most famous in Chinese history. On the southern slope of Gubeikou stands a temple dedicated to Yang Ye, a famous Great Wall garrison general of the Song Dynasty. There are quite a few temples in China dedicated to this general, but this one is perhaps the oldest. Our walk takes us eastward along the old city wall, passing numerous watchtowers and other parts of the wall that have not yet been restored.

We will stay at Jinshan hotel tonight.

Meals: breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Jinshan Hotel

Day 4 Jinshanling - Simatai West- Olympic venues-Beijing (3 hours, 5km hiking)

Today we will walk from Jinshanling to Simatai West (3 hours). Walking eastward along the old wall, passing numerous watchtowers and walls that have not yet been restored. Due to the recent closure of Simatai East section, we cannot walk through all the way to Simtai East. We will get off the Wall by Kylin Tower. We will drive and pass by the Olympic venues at Bird Nest. You will get back to hotel by 4 pm.

Jinshanling is the name given to an 11-kilometre section of the wall situated on the Jinshan Mountains. The earliest bit of this structure was built in the 6th Century AD, but most of what you see now dates from the Ming Dynasty. This section of the wall has 67 watchtowers, each built in a different style of architecture. The walkway along the top is paved with square bricks providing a level surface wide enough to construct or erect batteries. Poems and tablet writings can be found on the Jinshanling Great Wall left from the time General Qi Jiguang directed building of this section of the Great Wall. Barrier walls were built leading to the enemy towers to protect the towers. Some of the towers were storerooms for food, hay and weapons.