Posted by Mikelisaanna
One of the must-do sights in China is the Great Wall, which stretches for thousands of miles across the mountain ridges of northern China. The wall was built during the Jin dynasty around 200 BC and then expanded during the Ming Dynasty. Much of the wall has fallen into disrepair over the centuries, but large sections around Beijing have been restored and are open to tourists.
For tourists visiting Beijing, there are at least four sections of the wall that you can reach by car or bus in less than 2 hours. Badaling is the closest and most crowded. The three other popular sections are Mutianyu, Simitai, and Juyong Guan. We visited the wall at Juyong Guan, a rugged section, where the wall descends from one ridge line across a valley and up the other side to another ridge line. This section was interesting because you could see the wall and its guard towers on both ridge lines, which made for some good pictures. However, one thing to keep in mind about this section is that it is very hilly and to walk along the wall you have to climb a lot of steps as the wall ascends the mountainsides as it comes up out of the valley. However, the climb is worth it as you get some great views from the ridge tops.
Unfortunately, it was chilly and raining on the day that we were there, so we didn't get a chance to go as far along the wall as we would have liked. But, we were still glad that we made the effort to get there. It was definitely worth it.
Posted by albaaust
We went with Alvin to the Juyong Guan section of the wall and were very pleased that we did. We chose to go there as we did not want to be crowded out by other tourists and we wanted to go to the Summer Palace the same day. A one and a half to two hour drive from central Beijing got us to the wall. There were other tourists (mainly Chinese) but it was not crowded and we did not see a single tout!! Climbing along the wall itself was strenuous – a steep ascent on irregularly spaced steps. Just as well we are relatively fit! For those of you who are not, this section of the wall may present a challenge. As for us, the views from the peaks made the climb rewarding. Lonely Planet claims that this part of the wall has been so thoroughly renovated that you don’t feel like you are walking on part of history. Sorry…I challenge you have a look at the photos and see if you can tell the difference between this section of the wall and others.