Great Wall of China... need advice

[Bellzoil]

All,

My gf and I are travelling to Beijing in early November and want to include a day's worth of hiking at the Great Wall. Now I've done a preliminary research on Badaling and don't like what I've seen as far as reviews go...

I'm interested in personal accomplishment rather than a $5 certificate of appearance.

My questions;

Has anyone gone to Simatai? If so, what are your thoughts as far as challenges, costs, unknown surprises etc...

Any feedback is appreciated

Thanks in advance

[heymikey]

Yeah, we did a hike from Simatai to Jinshanling (or vice versa -- I don't remember). It's around 19 km I think. I booked at the hostel I stayed at (I don't remember the name) and you don't have to stay there to join the tour. It's not a traditional tour where someone goes with you and talk. You hike at your own pace and the entire group don't have to go together. The hike is about 5 hours but that should give you a lot of time to take pictures. Some people finish in about 3 hours. It doesn't include lunch and there are no restaurants along the wall. I didn't go to Badaling so I can't compare but one thing I like about the hike is not a lot of the parts is unrestored so it feels like a ruin. Some areas are very steep so bring comfortable shoes.

I think I posted this before so if you do a search on this forum, you may find a post from me with a link of the hostel I booked with.

[Bellzoil]

excellent. Thanks!

Did you travel to Simatai from Beijing? If so what was the transportation cost?

[porphyra]

I havent been to Simatai (alas my schedule was tight or else I would have). Instead did a compressed Badaling and Ming Tombs trip (as I wanted to see the latter). However, Badaling left me highly disillusioned. It should be called the "Great Wall of Tourists". Immensely crowded and over restored, only once you manage to break away from the crowds do you appreciate some beauty.

I heard from my companion that Simatai would have been a much better fit for me. So I am sure you will enjoy it.

[heymikey]

Did you travel to Simatai from Beijing? If so what was the transportation cost?
Yeah... there was a van that picked us up at the hostel and we drove to the start location, and then the van picked us up at the end location. The price includes transportation and entry fees. When converted to CAD dollars, it probably costs me around $10-15. Make sure you bring lunch. This German guy I was hiking with and I sat on one of those watchtowers overlooking the wall snake around the horizon while eating lunch. And we were the only ones there. The best part is that it's not busy at all. We went there during Golden Week and there are times were you can't see anyone walking along the wall.

[Dan8G]

I did Simatai this past summer. My girlfriend and I started in Beijing and took an early morning bus (don't remember which number, but you can find the details online) from the main bus station in Beijing to Muyen. Got to Muyen in about 2 hours. Take the bus to the end of the line (the Muyen bus station), there will be some scam artists who come on the bus trying to pull you off, telling you that this is the stop to go to Simatai. Once you get to the Muyen bus station, there will be cabs there who hassle you for a ride. See if the busses are running that day, they are the cheapest way to get there, otherwise the taxi is a good deal (if you can bargain them down to a reasonable price). They take you there (about an hour drive), and wait for you until you are done.

It was a fun day. Simatai is such a beautiful portion of the wall, untouched and a great hike. Bring some small bills to buy fans from the old ladies who hike with you, telling you they need money to buy food for their kids.

[Sgt_Strider]

All,

My gf and I are travelling to Beijing in early November and want to include a day's worth of hiking at the Great Wall. Now I've done a preliminary research on Badaling and don't like what I've seen as far as reviews go...

I'm interested in personal accomplishment rather than a $5 certificate of appearance.

My questions;

Has anyone gone to Simatai? If so, what are your thoughts as far as challenges, costs, unknown surprises etc...

Any feedback is appreciated

Thanks in advance

Yes, definitely don't go to Badaling as it's a tourist magnet! I've been to most of the famous sections of the Great Wall in Beijing (Badaling, Mutianyu, Simatai, Jinshanling, Juyongguan).

In my opinion I don't think the hike from Simatai to Jinshanling was that challenging. The only thing that might scare you is that it's a pretty long hike. It's hard to say how long it'll take because if you stop to rest and take pictures, it can take hours. I think it took close to 6 hours for me and my friends to finished that hike, but it was amazing. There are a lot fewer people there than at Badaling, but the only problem is that it's a alot harder to go there. My friends and I just hired a driver to drive us there. I think it cost about 150RMB per person for the 6 of us to hire him for the day. My advice for you is to get there as early as possible to give you enough time to do the hike, take some pictures, and then return to Beijing proper. Otherwise, you might find yourself being stuck there for the night. Btw, sunset in Beijing now is at around 5:22 PM. I know because I'm currently in Beijing until late next week. You probably want to start heading back from either Simatai or Jinshanling by around 4:15 PM or so.

[Sgt_Strider]

I havent been to Simatai (alas my schedule was tight or else I would have). Instead did a compressed Badaling and Ming Tombs trip (as I wanted to see the latter). However, Badaling left me highly disillusioned. It should be called the "Great Wall of Tourists". Immensely crowded and over restored, only once you manage to break away from the crowds do you appreciate some beauty.

I heard from my companion that Simatai would have been a much better fit for me. So I am sure you will enjoy it.

When I was at Badaling in 2007, once you pass tower 9, in the north side I believe, you'll start seeing significantly less people as the climb becomes progressively harder. Also, once you pass tower 11, there is a very steep descend that scares a lot of people. I think by the time I got there, I saw no more than 5 people around me.

[Byrns]

I hiked from Jinshanling to Simatai, and it took me about 4 hours to go about 10km. Any Hostel in Beijing should offer this.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294212-i2147-k1915035-What_to_do_Great_Wall_Tour-Beijing.html

http://www.greatwalladventure.com/aboutus.htm