Most Popular Great Wall Hiking Experience 2023
Hiking is the coolest way to explore the Great Wall of China, one of the world’s most iconic sights, and a hiking from the wild unrestored Jiankou Great Wall section to Mutianyu, partly restored but having magnificent panoramic sceneries, is an ultimate travelling experience in Beijing. This 4 Days Beijing Highlights Tour will take you to enjoy a 4~5 hours’ hike along the safe but adventurous trails between Jiankou and Mutianyu. You will be accompanied by an experienced local hiking guide from the very beginning to the end of the trip. Beside the Great Wall hiking, you also won’t miss other highlights of Beijing during your stay, such as Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Hutong, etc.
Highlights of this tour
Ni Hao, welcome to Beijing, the iconic city as well as the capital of China!
You will be met by your local tour guide at the arrival hall of Beijing Capital Airport, or railway station, then be escorted to check in your hotel in downtown by a private comfortable vehicle. The rest of today is on your own to relax. If you want to explore nearby, feel free to get some practical suggestions from your tour guide.
Arrival Ideas: At present, there are many international and domestic flights to Beijing. Besides, you can take a high speed train to this capital city from Shanghai (5-6 hrs), Xian (5.5 hrs), Guangzhou (8-9.5 hrs), etc.
After breakfast, start to explore the historical face of Beijing with a brief visit to Tiananmen Square, now the largest city plaza in the world. Tiananmen Gate on the northern side of the square was the site where Chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Stepping into the Tiananmen, you will see one of the world's five most important palaces - Forbidden City, a huge palace complex of more than 9,000 rooms where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties lived. Pass through various doorways in this magnificent structure to admire the beautiful and well-preserved buildings decorated with yellow-glazed tile roofs, white marble bases and splendid colorful paintings. After Forbidden City exploration, take a short visit to Jingshan Park where you can get a nice shot of one watchtower of Forbidden City and take a panoramic view of Forbidden City.
After lunch, drive to the outskirts of Beijing to spend an enjoyable time in the Summer Palace, the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China. Stroll around ancient pavilions, mansions, temples, bridges and corridors while feasting your eyes on the vast lotus in Kunming Lake and the colorful paintings in the Long Corridor.
Optional activities: 1) You can watch a wonderful Kungfu Show in the Red Theater (Hong Ju Chang) which usually starts at 19:30; 2) Enjoy the classic Chinese art performance of Beijing Opera at Liyuan Theater during 19:30-21:00.
This morning, you will be picked up by your tour guide at hotel, then drive about 2.5 hours to Jiankou Great Wall. (The hotel pick up time is usually 7:00 am in summer and autumn, 8:00 am in spring and winter. If you would like to watch the sunset on the great wall, the departure time will be delayed accordingly).
Jiankou Great Wall is one of the most recommended walls for Great Wall hiking and photography. Its walls and towers are very authentic because there is no any restoration has been done yet. You will start the hike from Xizhazi Village. It then takes about 1 hour to hike along a bushy mountain path from the village up to Zhengbei Tower, the highest watch tower on the Great Wall Jiankou where you can enjoy a panoramic view of how the Great Walls crumbling on the ridges of the steep and narrow mountains. After short rest at Zhengbei Tower, you will keep hiking about 2 hours eastward ups and downs on the rugged wall, passing through 8 wild and crumbling towers at Jiankou, to get to Mutianyu Great Wall which is not crowded yet well-preserved and pretty. Hiking on this section of Great Wall is much smoother and easier compared with Jiankou Great Wall hiking. You will hike about 1 hour on the well-paved steps of Mutiany and pass 9 towers. Lastly, descend the Mutianyu Great Wall. You have 3 choices to come down: 1.Cable car 2.Walk way 3.Tabbogan.
Lastly, drive back Beijing downtown. Have a good rest.
Important tips: 1) You'd better wear hiking boots and clothings, and bring trekking sticks, backpack, sun-glasses, sunscreen, snacks, gloves for this hiking tour; 2) Traveler who is not fit or having arthritis, heart disease, hypertension, asthma are not recommended to take this hiking; 3) Kids less than 3 years old and travellers over 80 years old are not recommended to take this hiking; 4) You'd better not wear short pants because some paths are bushy; 5) Please go to toilet at the entrance of the wall before the hiking because there is no toilet on the Wall. Toilet paper should be brought by yourself; 6) This hiking is not available during rainy days, snowy days and strong-wind days, etc.
After breakfast, drive to the imperial site of the Temple of Heaven. Originally a site used to pay homage to Heaven and pray for good harvests, it is now a bustling place where locals take part in traditional activities such as Tai Chi, dancing, kite flying, water calligraphy, and others.
Then get back to the central city to hop on a rickshaw to experience the Beijing Hutongs – small alleys made by neighboring quadrangle dwellings. Shuttle among different Hutongs to get a feel of the old Beijing life style, visit various antique shops and small boutiques, and truly feel the historical changes of Beijing, also pay a visit to a local family's home in the traditional Hutongs.
Your Beijing tour is now about to end. Your tour guide will escort you to catch your flight/train to next destination.
Xian, as the capital of 13 ancient China dynasties, is filled with amazing historic and cultural wonders.
With only 2 days, you can travel the best highlights of ancient capital Xian at an enjoyable pace. The Day 1 is a full day visit to the famous Terracotta Warriors, Ancient City Wall, Local Snack Street - Muslim Quarter. In the Day 2, you have a half day for visiting to the symbol of Xian - Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and having an educational learning in Shanxi History Museum. The rest time is free for departure.
Shanghai, regarded as the Oriental Paris, is the best place to experience East-meet-West Culture, find hidden tradition within modernity.
Generally speaking, you can spend Day 1 exploring the popular landmarks of Shanghai, such as the Shanghai Museum, Yu Garden, Nanjing Road, the Bund, and Shanghai World Financial Center Tower. The Day 2 is for you to explore deep into the city of Shanghai (such as Old French Concession, Tianzifang or Jade Buddha Temple) and departure.
Beijing / Mutianyu / Jinshanling
Beijing / Jinshanling / Simatai
“Very good experience”
“WONDERFUL 25 DAYS IN CHINA - PRIVATE TOUR”
“Awesome China tour from northeast to southwest”
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