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Any good parts of the Great Wall not near Beijing?

Replies: 5 - Last Post: 28-Jul-2007 01:20 Last Post By: sewage

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captainstubing

captainstubing avatar

09-Jul-2007 05:54
Posts:  96

Any good parts of the Great Wall not near Beijing?

Every search for the Great Wall seems to turn up only Beijing-related threads. I'm hoping to see some parts of the real Great Wall that are not developed, just lying there, perhaps in ruin. Next week I'll be in northern Shaanxi near Yulin and northern Shanxi near Datong. Has anyone trekked out to sections in these provinces that are relatively close to civilization? Any tips greatly appreciated!

Confucius

Confucius avatar

09-Jul-2007 08:57
Posts:  279

1

How can there be an old part of the Great Wall in Dunhuang when the western end of it is at Jiayuguan?
Oh, you're a Chinese tour guide, that's why!

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ZHET

ZHET avatar

09-Jul-2007 09:07
Posts:  1,328

2

I'm not a trekker, but I saw the ruins of the Great Wall just outside of Yulin. I took a taxi to the restored watchtower. It's been restored, but the walls leading to it haven't been restored. This may not be wild enough for you, though.

I heard that outside of Datong you have to do some walking and climbing to get to the ruins.

While you are in northern Shaanxi, be sure to stop by Shenmu. It's not even in my old LP, but it has two fascinating mountain-top temple complexes. One you can drive up to and the other has to be climbed.

!! Be warned that "students" who want to practice English with you may actually be scammers. In Shanghai they try the Tea Ceremony Scam. In Beijing it's the Art Student Scam. Be very wary if a stranger wants to speak English with you, especially if you are in a tourist area. !!

baozi_fan

baozi_fan avatar

10-Jul-2007 22:58
Posts:  43

3

We saw the eastern end at Shanhaiguan (if you'll be in Beijing again) - there's a bit that is in the sea and there's another bit a Jianshan where you can walk on the old unreconstructed bit of the wall into the mountains. It was great. We were the only people on that bit of the wall (there is a reconstructed bit which was beautiful and pretty quiet too). Shanhaiguan is about 3 hours on a T train from Beijing. Bear in mind that the guide books mention lots of places to eat/stay inside the city wall. Everything inside the city wall has now been pulled down ready for reconstruction. There is a hotel still in the walls but make sure you bargain on the prices as they have rooms for 140RMB but don't tell you. You'd be better off in a hotel outside the wall. We're heading for Jiayuguan next so may be able to update you on that in a couple of days if we can manage to get a train out of Lanzhou).

ellyse

ellyse avatar

28-Jul-2007 01:09
Posts:  8,932

4

#1, there IS a section of the Han dynasty Great Wall near Dunhuang. Very original and not touristy at all.
Cheers!

sewage

sewage avatar

28-Jul-2007 01:20
Posts:  394

5

#2, what was that temple complex by Shenmu? I saw it when my bus went through Shenmu last year.

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