Thorn Tree travel forum

1

Hi, Badaling is the most beautiful section of great wall.If you can speak Chinese, you can just take taxi to the Great wall, this can help you save money. If you don't,you can ask a local travel agency arrange a tour for you. Good Luck!

2

There will be many tourists at Badaling, and whether it is the most beautiful part is debatable.

Mutianayu is also easy to get to. If you have the word written in Chinese then a taxi driver can take you there - journey time around one hour - for RMB450 retrun with a couple of hours waiting.

The airport is 27km from the centre, about 25 minutes by taxi.

Taxis are fairly cheap in and around the centre. Otherwise there is the subway.

Hong Kong & Macau FAQs | Off the Beaten Track in Hong Kong | Hong Kong & Macau Places to Eat Trip Reports Guangxi, Guizhou & Hunan | Fujian & Eastern Guangdong | Huangshan / Huizhou villages | Taiwan | HK to Saigon | Sicily | Sichuan & Chongqing | Kaiping | Yunnan 07 | Yunnan 09 | Gulangyu island | China Rail Assistance | HK Map | A day in Hong Kong
cycle couriers of the world unite

3

a) Badaling is the most preserved and the most popular. Tourists everywhere. Y10 in a bus from deshengmen behind the coin museum will get you there. Other sites that others enjoy here are Mutianyu, Simatai, and Jinshaling. These are not as easy to get to as Badaling, but they are less crowded. There are other less visited parts of the wall.

b) to get from the airport you can take a taxi anywhere up to ¥100 for that. Beware of touts, only use the taxi's. There is a shuttle bus that drops off in 2 or 3 places in town. ¥16. Can't remember how long, allow an hour.

c) Travel around Beijing in Taxi's or use the Metro. very convenient and costs ¥3 Here is one map.

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road" - Henry Ward Beecher

4

badaling is the easiest part to go to. you can take a train there if you get to the northern station, but they have irregular service.

Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is the departure
upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Home, one feels once more happy. The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood... A journey, in fact,
appeals to Imagination, to Memory, to Hope, -the three sister graces of
our moral being.
- Sir Richard Francis Burton, 1856

5

My favorite section of the Wall is Mutianyu - it's much less crowded (depending on when you are there), still easy to get to and navigate, and I love taking my friends on the slide down the mountain. You can arrange with a driver, tour group, or hotel for a car.

As #3 said, at the airport, make sure to use the taxi line outside, and not the touts who will approach you inside the airport. In the city, taxis are certainly the most comfortable way to get around. The subway is convenient to many areas and cheaper, but can be very crowded.

6

I'd recommend Simatai.
The subway is alright for the city center, though if you're not on a budget taxis are reasonable and far more convenient.

7

Check this site : http://greatwalladventure.com/aboutus.htm
Also Leo guesthouse makes walking tours to the Wall (http://www.leohostel.com/index_files/leotours.htm)

Travel is the best thing to do.

8

DONT GO TO BADALING..Its like an amusement park. Nothing original, FULL of yankie doodle tour groups. AWFUL.

Mutianyu is less crowded and if you walk LEFT at the top you can escape into gorgeous areas with NO-ONE.

Simatai is also more remote and good!

DONT DONT DO BADALING! PLEASE.

We are all just transient passengers in a large, confusing airport

ether

9

Truckstophero is right. Walking left at the wall in Mutianyu will leave you almost totally alone - except for perhaps readers of this site!

Hong Kong & Macau FAQs | Off the Beaten Track in Hong Kong | Hong Kong & Macau Places to Eat Trip Reports Guangxi, Guizhou & Hunan | Fujian & Eastern Guangdong | Huangshan / Huizhou villages | Taiwan | HK to Saigon | Sicily | Sichuan & Chongqing | Kaiping | Yunnan 07 | Yunnan 09 | Gulangyu island | China Rail Assistance | HK Map | A day in Hong Kong
cycle couriers of the world unite

10

But why??? What's wrong with turning left?
Is this a political statement?

Thx

11

perhaps the op doesn't want to be alone. perhaps the op is a yankee doodle dandy.

Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is the departure
upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Home, one feels once more happy. The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood... A journey, in fact,
appeals to Imagination, to Memory, to Hope, -the three sister graces of
our moral being.
- Sir Richard Francis Burton, 1856