We did the walk in Oct 2010 and had Gary as our guide. We did the old and the new part of the wall which I definitely recommend (5 hr hike). I was impressed with how well organised the company was and they came the day before our hike to bring us more information about the hike and complimentary t-shirts. Gary was very safety conscious and ensured that we were comfortable with the climb. We had an awesome day and I couldn't recommend it higher.

Original review on TripAdvisor18

Updated: November 7, 2010
Clients: James Robinson
Nationality: New Zealand

My wife and I spent the month of October in China and this day trip was our favourite day of our holiday. The tour organisation was faultless, it was great value for money and this section of the Great Wall is superb. Gary Lee, who runs the business, speaks English well and was very knowledgeable on the history of the Great Wall.

We booked over email and paid a small deposit via Paypal with the balance paid on completion of the tour (paid in yuan but they also take USD and AUD). Two days before the tour, Gary met us at our hotel to give us our souvenir shirts and a map of Beijing and surrounding areas (in both English and Chinese which was helpful).

We were pIcked-up from our hotel at 8am in a van by Gary and a trainee guide and arrived at the start of the Jiankou section about 2 hours later. Approx. 45min walk up a steep hill to reach the wall, 1-1.5 hour walk along unrestored section at Jiankou (few other tourists) and 1-1.5 hour walk along restored section at Mutianyu (many other tourists). To get down from the wall at Mutianyu, you can walk, take a cable car or toboggan. Cable car and toboggan are about Y80 from memory. We had lunch with our guides and the driver at a nearby restaurant. We stopped for 15min to walk around the Olympic sites (Bird's Nest and Water Cube) on the return to Beijing and were back at our hotel by 5pm.

We highly recommend this tour for those who are looking for a personal service and to see parts of the wall which are not overrun by tourists.

Original review on TripAdvisor20

Updated: November 8, 2010
Clients: Ryan Green & Elizabeth Devitt
Nationality: Australia

Truly enjoyed our experience with this company when hiking along The Great Wall. We stayed in Beijing in late September and one of our goals was to hike along the wall. Initially we wanted to hike along Jinshanling to Simatai as I heard that not only was it beautiful but that you could zip line off the wall! Unfortunately Simatai is closed for construction so I wanted to find an alternate route that was similar in length and beauty and had a bit of adventure. After researching online and based on reviews I decided to go with this company and hike the route Jiankou to Mutianyu. It seemed like a good alternative especially since there was a toboggan sled that could take you off the mountain.

We were able to book our trip the day before which we really appreciated. Gary was informative and quick with his responses and allowed us to have an alternative method of payment when our pay pal would not work. The next morning we were picked up promptly by our driver and our guide Peter. Our driver, his name escapes me, but he provided us with a safe ride. He was professional and we appreciated his friendly disposition. Our english speaking guide Peter was awesome. He was keen to our adventurous nature and made sure that we had an experience that was just the right amount of adventure and safety. My boyfriend and I are in our late 20's and are not the most physically fit of people, though we enjoy hiking often. This hike was not extremely strenuous though if you are not in the best shape it is a challenge. I would not advise this hike for small children as there were unsafe parts in the Jiankou section.

This was definitely the highlight of our trip to Beijing. Thank you Gary, Peter and our driver for a wonderful experience through Great Wall Hiking.

Original review on TripAdvisor22

Updated: November 21, 2010
Clients: Leslie Tutol & Aubrey Tolentino
Nationality: Unitede States

My husband and I enjoyed our private hike from Jiankou to Mutianyu on January 25th. The weather during our trip was a bit chilly but you could not have asked for a clearer day. The sky was a crisp blue and although there was a bit a wind it wasn't unbearable. Peter our guide met us promptly in our hotel lobby and escorted us to the car. Peter was a great guide and extremely flexible throughout our hike. I got a bad head cold the last few days of our trip and was a bit concerned about the hiking. He lent me his hiking stick and also gave us a few short cuts to cut down on the intensity of the climb. I would recommend the Jiankou to Mutianyu trip because the scenery is incredible. I especially liked the unrestored portion of the wall, Jiankou. Another highlight was our nice warm coffee break and a great lunch. The lunch was actually warm chicken and rice which felt so nice on a chilly day.

If you are going to spend a bit extra $$ on something in China, the Great Wall trip is definitely worth it!

Original review on TripAdvisor32

Updated: January 25, 2011
Clients: Sarah Phillips
Nationality: United States

We did the One-day Jiankou to Mutianyu trip. Everything was perfect and we even had a superb weather (little bit chilly however blue skies). My only little complaint was to the guide (thus no 5 stars), whom I expected to be little bit more talkative about the Wall, its history etc. Not that he didn't know it, or don't want to share it, but you needed to ask yourself, more than he would do some prepared narration. As for some this maybe preferred or unnoticeable I did notice :) Other than that everything was ok and I would strongly recommend this company.

Original review on TripAdvisor35

Updated: March 8, 2010
Clients: Adam Trcka & Iveta Janova
Nationality: Czech Republic

My very first adventure while in Beijing was to hike the Jiankou / Mutianyu portion of the Wall. Based on the reviews here on TA, I decided to go with Great Wall Hiking, which was an excellent choice. I liked the variety of itinerary options they have available, and selected the one I thought would not only give me a good amount of time on the wall, but would also expose me to the full variety the wall has to offer. The Jiankou section is completely unrestored, so it still possesses a lot of character and charm that you don't necessarily see in the modernized portion of Mutianyu. And the other reviewers are right - the views are breathtaking!

One thing I admit I wasn't expecting was the 45 minute hike up to the entrance to the Jiankou section. There is no car access, so you have to climb rather steep terrain over an uneven and very rocky dirt path. I did this in March so the weather wasn't as cold as some of the other reviewers dealt with, but there was still ice all over the place, which made things more difficult. It wasn't clear from the itinerary that this would be required, so it kind of caught me off guard. Thankfully, my guide was flexible and didn't pressure me to push ahead when I needed to take a break. He also lent me his walking stick over the really icy sections so I could better balance myself.

The reason I'm giving this only 4 out of 5 circles is because I had a similar experience to the other reviewer in that my guide was really quiet and only answered questions I asked him; he didn't offer anything. This made it difficult because once I ran out of things to talk to him about, we were basically silent for like the last 3 hours of the (5 hour) trip. I knew he'd just done a 4-hour hike the day before and he did look really tired, so I figured that was why. Overall, though, I was very pleased with this experience and would highly recommend this service to a fellow traveler.

Original review on TripAdvisor36

Updated: March 12, 2011
Clients: Cheryl Tedder
Nationality: United States

Meine Frau und ich wurden pünktlich im Hotel abgeholt und nach zwei Stunden Fahrt erreichten wir den Ausgangspunkt der Wanderung. Eine Stunde ging es durch Wald bergauf bis zur Mauer. Kein Tourist begegnete uns. Der Abschnitt von Jiankou ist noch nicht restauriert, aber gut begehbar, landschaftlich spektakulär und um diese Jahreszeit fast menschenleer. 4 Stunden wanderten wir auf der Mauer dann Richtung Mutianyu, einem sanierten Abschnitt der Mauer. Peter, unser Führer, war hervorragend und versorgte uns mit allen gewünschten Informationen.

Auf dem Rückweg stoppten wir noch für 45 Minuten am Olympiagelände.

Ein wunderschgöner Tagesausflug, den ich jedem empfehlen kann.

Original review on TripAdvisor37

Updated: March 5, 2011
Clients: Werner Knecht & Bernadette Knecht
Nationality: Germany

Anyone who wants to see the Great Wall in one day should do the hike from Jiankou to Mutianyu. It was an amazing experience. I wasn't happy that I had to pay a $50 deposit before our trip, but paid anyways since this was one of the few tours that offered hike from Jiankou to Mutianyu. Peter, our guide, and the driver (never got his name) picked us (one girl was already in the van, and coincidently two other hikers and I were staying at the same hotel) promptly at 8 in a decent minivan. We drove to a small village where we took a short bathroom break and Peter showed us where we were hiking to. Peter thoughtfully gave us a banana and snickers bar. The van had a box of bottled water. We drove to the beginning of the trail and started on our 40min-1 hour hike up the mountain. It was not particularly difficult, but definitely not an easy climb. After that, the view was just incredible. The hike along the wall was just beyond my expectation. There were some rough areas, but nothing too dangerous. After about 3 hours on Jiankou section, we finally reached Mutianyu section. It was nice to see the restored section after hours on unrestored "original" section of the wall. After the hike, Peter took us to a nice restaurant and bought us late lunch and some beer (food was pretty good- and he ordered plenty that there were some leftovers). After lunch, we came back to our hotel right around 6 PM. By far the best thing I did while I was in China. The only two things I did not like was that Peter, while decent guide, was not that talkative (some may prefer this) and that he did not know that the cable car at Mutianyu was closed all week for maintenance (it would have been nice to get the update on this since I was in pain and was looking for a nice rdie down from the wall instead of 40 extra minutes of hiking down). If you are an expert hiker and can speak Mandarin, there are plenty of guide books and websites that can show you how to do this hike without spending $120 or so. Since I am not an expert hiker and do not speak Mandarin, $120 was well worth it.

Original review on TripAdvisor38

Updated: March 8, 2010
Clients: Kyong Suk Choi
Nationality: United States

I was in Beijing on business and on the recommendation of TripAdvisor reviewers decided to hike the Jiankou and Mutianyu section of the Great Wall through Great Wall Hiking. Peter was our guide and went out of his way to make the hike a highlight of the trip. He shared his knowledge of the history of the wall and made sure we did not miss the best photo opportunities. Very professional.

I will definitily use Great Wall Hiking when I return to China on vacation with my my family.

Original review on TripAdvisor39

Updated: March 5, 2011
Clients: Darrell Cira
Nationality: United States

We throughly enjoyed our experience hiking the Great Wall with our guide Peter. The hike from Jiankou to Mutianyu was a nice challenge and had some breath taking views. We did not see another person for the first three hours of our journey. There were no stops to try to have us buy things, and we just passed all of the hawkers on the Wall without any problems. The post-hike meal was delicious, and the restaurant had a great atmosphere.

This was a great experience and I highly recommend Great Wall Hiking.

Original review on TripAdvisor41

Updated: March 14, 2011
Clients: Patrick Maxton
Nationality: United States