Weekend Trip to the Great Wall - how?

[lanzhoumian]

I have a friend coming to Beijing and he wants to go and see the Great Wall. However, I dont want to go (again) and he speaks no Chinese, so taking the bus up there is a bit unrealistic, while hiring a taxi for a day to take him out there is probably a bit expensive (I was quoted 600RMB when I asked a guy today). Anyone know of good companies that do trips up there? I remember a friend of mine who staid at some hostel near Nanluoguxiang did a day-trip with a company that advertised, cost about 200RMB, there and back and they go every day.

Other suggestions for more "high end" trips are also welcome.

[roddy]

Any hostel will do a trip - chances are you'll end up on the same minibus whichever one you go with. You could also look at the Chinese Culture Club and Beijing Hikers?

[lanzhoumian]

do you have the contact for a tour offered by a hostel? I agree, its probably the same company offering it to all of them. I can cycle to Nan Luo Gu Xiang this week and ask, but in case someone has it here, that would save me the trip ;)

I heard good things about Beijing Hikers, but I think their trips might be a bit more physically challenging then what my friend is looking for. With Chinese Culture Club, do you mean them: http://www.chinaculturecenter.org/ ? http://www.chinesecultureclub.org/ came up with a non-functioning web-site when I just tried.

[roddy]

Yeah, that's the one, sorry. Did a trip to Mutianyu with them about 18 months ago - well-organized, guides are good, generally older crowd of more-or-less independent tourists - ie people staying in a nice hotel and figuring out what to do from there, rather than on package tours, bus was comfortable, lunch was good and had enough tourist-friendly staples like egg and tomatoes to makes sure fussy eaters didn't starve. This one, it would have been.

At RMB 420 per adult it's not particularly cheap and if there's more than one of you a car and driver might make more sense.

[muirm]

He could take the train to 八达岭, which might be easier than taking a bus. The train leaves from the 北京火车北站 (right next to 西直门 subway stop). I think tickets are around ¥20 for a soft seat, each way.

[lanzhoumian]

ok, thanks. Will also try to find out the one offered by hostels and post the information on here when I get it

[lanzhoumian]

muirim, does the train go directly to the wall? Would definitely be the best option and I guess he could find Xi Zhi Men and buy a ticket, but after that - is it doable for a non Chinese speaking tourist?

[muirm]

Yes, the train stop is really close to the Great Wall (closer than the parking lot, I believe). The most difficult part would probably be buying the tickets, but that can be surmounted with a little preparation (writing down destination and ticket type in Chinese to show to clerk). After that, you just wait at the gate, get on the train, and get off at the right stop. I don't think you can buy the return ticket until you get to 八达岭. It certainly wouldn't be a stress-free travel experience for someone who can't speak any Chinese, but with enough gumption, I think it can be done.

That being said, if the couple hundred kuai is not a big issue I would probably just have him do whatever tour you decide on, since that would be much more straightforward.

[Ludens]

The first time I was in Beijing I spoke no Chinese at all, and managed to get to different parts of the wall by myself (by bus + shared minivan) without great difficulty. If you write down you friend 's destination in Chinese, tell him which buses to take, and give him a price indication for the minivan, there's not that much that can go wrong.

[prateeksha]

I made a trip to the 八达岭 great wall the weekend that just went by and went exactly the way muirm has mentioned. The train cost me RMB 6 on both sides because I had the transportation card. I would advise that if your friend could get the transportation card it will be many times simpler for him to travel by the subway as well as the special 八达岭 train - avoiding the queues, no need to worry about buying the return ticket and of course cheap. After he reaches there, there are ample directions in English.

[roddy]

That sounds a lot easier than braving the buses at Deshengmen.

[jkhsu]

Some advice for first time tourists hoping to see the Great Wall and are looking at local tour companies. When I went with my native Shanghainese friend and her parents to see the Great Wall a few years ago, we were "tricked" to see the Shui Guan Great Wall section instead of the well known Badaling Great Wall section. While the tour was dirt cheap at $100 rmb per person including transportation and lunch, they falsely advertised taking us to Badaling. Because the official Chinese name of Shui Guan Great Wall is "八达岭水关长城", we thought we were going to famous 八达岭 section. Although my friend and her parents are native Chinese, they were still misled by the tour company even though they asked if it the tour was going to Badaling. The tour company also tried to con more money out of us by trying to sell us fake jade and fortune telling services. I only found out what happened after the trip when I realized my pictures didn't look like the ones others took at Badaling. My friend, however, has decided to never tell her parents about the truth because her parents probably won't take another trip to Beijing to see the Great Wall and it would crush them to know they never saw the Badaling section, when they thought they did.

By the way, I have nothing against other sections of the Great Wall. I went to see Mutianyu the year before and it was beautiful. However, I knew I was going there and not Badaling. To be tricked is another thing. Some links about this:

http://zhidao.baidu....estion/13247006

http://www.itourbeij...ravel-guide.htm

Excerpt: "Sometimes innocent visitors will be guided to Shui Guan instead of their original intention of their Great Wall hiking tours, especially in peak season or holidays."

http://www.tour-beij...-tourist-traps/

Excerpt: Scam # 02: “Fake” Badaling Great Wall - Badaling Great Wall is one of the five popular sections of the Great Wall around Beijing. The other four are Juyongguan Great Wall, Mutianyu Great Wall, Jinshanling Great Wall and Simatai Great Wall. Badaling Great Wall is the most visited section of the Great Wall of China. Opened to the public in 1057, it is the most well-preserved section of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It has a spectacular view, firm, magnificent, well preserved and leading to the all directions, hence the name of “Badaling”. But along the Badaling Expressway between Juyongguan Great Wall and Badaling Great Wall is located another section of the Great Wall – Badaling Shuiguan Great Wall (Shuiguan or Water Pass Great Wall). The Shuiguan Great Wall is a short restored section which is created in an effort to reduce the tourist volume and overcrowding at Badaling Great Wall. It’s not the best choice for your first trip to the Great Wall in Beijing. Some of the “black” tour buses use “Badaling Shuiguan Great Wall” to replace Badaling Great Wall covertly since the former is much cheaper than the latter.

[imron]

instead of the well known Badaling Great Wall section

Personally, I wouldn't have felt too bad about it. Badaling is well-known, but that does not mean it is good. If you'd already seen Mutianyu you probably would have been disappointed by the disney land experience at Badaling. For my 2 cents, Badaling is best avoided if it can be helped.

Also, given the restoration that's gone on at Badaling, your friend's parents probably saw a more authentic part of the wall at Shui Guan anyway.

[jkhsu]

If you'd already seen Mutianyu you probably would have been disappointed by the disney land experience at Badaling.

That's the reason why I decided to see Mutianyu at that time, but I'm talking about being misled. Her parents know there are other sections but they wanted to see the Badaling section. I don't think explaining to them that Shui Guan is more authentic is going to do any good.

[zhouhaochen]

I agree that being ticked sucks. Having people try to sell you jade and fortune telling sucks even more.

However if any part of the wall sucks....its BaDaLing

Just my opinion

[moncrieffalgy]

I'd like to add another voice to the people above who didn't like Badaling. Way too crowded and touristy; we were flanked by aggressive sellers on our way up and our way back down!

My friend bought a hat for RMB 50 only to discover that it was selling for RMB 10 later down. Needless to say, the rest of us had a good laugh at his expense...

[roddy]

So, Lanzhoumian, how'd your friend get on?

[Brian US]

Many tours will lead you to a tourist trap of inflated prices and fake goods, but just be prepared to sit around for an hour saying "no." I know it sounds bad, but keep in mind the guy buying the picture book of the Great Wall for 400 kuai and getting ripped off, is to some extent subsidizing your tour cost.

[muirm]

Just wanted to post a little more info because I finally took my own advice and rode the train to 八达岭. As prateeksha said, the tickets were only 6RMB one way (and we didn't have to have any transportation card). The trains leave approximately every 90 minutes from the Beijing North Train Station at 西直门. The tickets were not for a particular time or seat; you could get on any train headed to 八达岭, and the seats were first-come-first-serve. The train is all soft-seaters with loads of leg room. We arrived at the Great Wall around 2:30 and there was a huge line to purchase tickets for the way back. When we finished hiking on the wall around 5:30 there were very few people in the station, so I recommend going in the afternoon to avoid the crowds if you have a choice (at least in the winter, probably busy all day in the summer).

[Friedrich]

does anyone know if it is possible to buy the tickets online beforehand? My parents are coming and I would like to not make them stand around for an hour waiting for me to get them a ticket