Huanghua Great Wall - Any good? Still open? - Lonely Planet travel forum

Huanghua Great Wall - Any good? Still open?

Replies: 7 - Last Post: 17-Oct-2007 18:20 Last Post By: mountainstuss

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sagar1206

14-Oct-2007 11:07
Posts: 3

Huanghua Great Wall - Any good? Still open?

Hi all,

I'm in Beijing at the moment and am trying to sort out my trip to the Great Wall.

I would prefer a more "authentic" Wall experience and therefore do not want to visit Badaling. My friends have recommended I visit the Huanghua section of the Wall.

Does anyone know if this section is still accesible to travellers? If so, what is the easiest way to get there? The travel desk at my hostel (the Far East Int Youth Hostel) said that this section is closed for renovation, but I suspect this may be because they wanted to sell me an expensive tour to Simatai.

I plan on going this Tuesday, 16th October. If anyone would like to join me, feel free to email me at: sagar (dot) thakur @ gmail (dot) com

Cheers,

ST

Sarah55

14-Oct-2007 12:48
Posts: 19,529

I don't know anything about Huanghua, but if you can get in touch with the Leo Hostel, they run an excellent 'secret wall' trip to a totally unspoiled section of wall, where you'll not see anyone else.

Kashgar lies where the maps in people's minds dissolve.

Sarah55

14-Oct-2007 12:49
Posts: 19,529

Here.

Kashgar lies where the maps in people's minds dissolve.

vegasgambler

14-Oct-2007 19:34
Posts: 720

What do you mean by more "authentic" A wall is a wall is a wall. There are more tourists at B and M. Besides that averything else is the same.

Sarah55

14-Oct-2007 23:09
Posts: 19,529

At Badaling the wall is restored. There are pylons for lights, and other things that may 'take away' from the experience for some people, such as hawkers, a cinema etc.

Elsewhere it is just wall - and for some people that is all they want, so they can feel the history and let their imaginations have free rein. Personally I liked being on a stretch of wall that looked its age.

Kashgar lies where the maps in people's minds dissolve.

sewage

15-Oct-2007 00:51
Posts: 394

You could take a bus to the suburban town of Huairou, then from there negotiate with a taxi driver to get you to Huanghua. I tried that last December but the driver said that part of the wall was closed for some reason. I ended up going to the Jiankou section of the wall instead which was well preserved and I had the wall all to myself.

I saw on Flickr someone who had gone to Huanghua around the same time as I did and she said the drivers told her Jiankou was closed so she settled for Huanghua. So who knows.

rploehn

15-Oct-2007 05:57
Posts: 262

Stick to your guns! The Great Wall is different at different spots. I enjoyed the Jinshanling access point for its rustic-ness. When I got near Simatai, I could feel the group-bus-tour tourist vibes. Nice restored brick by brick, every convenience that the Chinese never saw for 700 years, zip-lines and boat rides. Yes, this is what the Great Wall was meant to be...NOT.

Some people like to go to Disneyland and others want to see the real thing as it existed through centuries.

Always looking for new adventures, new cultures, interesting geography.

mountainstuss

17-Oct-2007 18:20
Posts: 10

Huanghua is closed for renovation. We hiked it anyway, west to east toward Mutainyu. This involved a little bit of miving quietly on paths through people's orchards and then some stealthing along the wall where it has been restored, but all that is left behing pretty quickly. Then you are alone out in the middle of nowhere. The wall stays on the highest ridge and has a ton of up and down. Many crumbled guard towers, lots of firewood. There is no water source up on the ridge. You will be forced all the way to the valley floor at one point -- fill bottles here for the next climb to the top. This is a great section of wall if you enjoy bushwhacking, because that is what you will be doing ALL day!

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