The Great Wall of China
Ok, wow, this was such an incredible experience!! I visited two sections of The Great Wall, on two different days– Mutianyu and Simatai. The three most popular sections to visit are Simatai, Badaling, and Mutianyu. Apparently the Badaling section is the most crowded, followed by Mutianyu. Simatai is one of the less crowded sections, because it’s farther away from Beijing (but not my much), and you have the option to visit at sunset/evening (I think most parts are closed before sunset).
For my first visit to The Great Wall, I chose to book a day trip via GetYourGuide to the Mutianyu section, and I HIGHLY recommend it! I selected the trip that includes the entry ticket, a chair lift up, and the toboggan ride down (SO much fun!!). This section of the wall is only like an hour drive from Beijing (and it’s a pretty drive), and they pick you up and drop you back off at your hotel. It’s in a comfortable van with about 8 or 9 other people, and the guide fills you in on all of the important info. And water is provided. This is the second time I’ve booked an excursion through GetYourGuide (the first was snorkeling in Egypt), and it’s always a fun group of people. Use promo code JUJUPANTS5 for GetYourGuide.
The visit to Mutianyu on this particular day was actually not very crowded. From the van, we caught a bus (I think it was like a 5 minute ride?) to the ticketing line (which surprisingly moved very quickly). A quick note- be sure to pack your passport with you. Once inside, we made a plan to meet back at a certain time, allowing us to walk the wall for about 1.5 hours (at our own pace), and then take the toboggan down. This area of the wall is actually very steep. Photos can’t capture the incline, and we were all surprised at how steep it is. When you are ready to head to the toboggan, you can stop by the little store nearby to grab a few beers. This is also where I purchased my commi hat ha. Oh, and there are photographers along the wall offering to take your photo and air drop it for super cheap- glad I gave in.
On my second visit to The Great Wall, I decided I wanted to see the Simatai section at sunset. THIS IS THE ONE THAT I HAD BASICALLY ALLLL TO MYSELF!! It was surreal. Not only was the experience of walking the wall at sunset just amazing, but I really enjoyed spending the day in the Gubei Water Town first. I will post a blog on that separately. It was so easy to get to this part of the wall– I just walked across the street from the cute canal clad town and hopped into a gondola, which I had all to myself. I purchased my night admission ticket to the Sinai section of the Great Wall (which includes the gondola ride) through Trip.com, and it was only like $30.
I hired a personal driver through GreatWallHiking.com to take me to the Gubei Water Town from Beijing, and it was about a 2 hour ride each way. It was only $145 for a car all to myself, and the driver waited for me all day, and was flexible on when I wanted to return. I arranged to be picked up from my hotel at 11am, and I caught the car back to Beijing at like 7pm. Just be sure to have a translator app handy, because that’s the only way you’re getting around China (unless you speak Mandarin). And it’s a good idea to download the languages offline.
Important things to know before visiting China:
- Get your Typhoid vaccine before you go (it’s like $185 at CVS… most insurance does not cover it, since it’s not a necessity), and anything else you may be out of date on.. they recommend Hep A and B shots.
- Download the Didi app– this is China’s version of Uber
- Set up AliPay- people use this everywhere instead of credit cards and cash (I took cash and never needed it)
- BE SURE to set up a VPN before you enter China. China blocks our sites, so you can’t use gmail, IG, Facebook..without it. I used ExpressVPN, and it worked great.
- Download Amap- Google Maps don’t work there.
- WeChat is also good to have- some hotels or bookings will message you via WeChat. It’s also great to have WhatsApp– a lot of my bookings messaged me on there with confirmations.
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