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Three-Day Hiking and
Sleeping on the Great Wall

 

 


 
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3D Hiking

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PRICE TABLE

(Per Person)

 

# of Head
USD
1
939
2
589
3
559
4-5 489
6-9
439


WHAT'S INCLUDED IN PRICE

 

* Personal transfers from and to hotel in Beijing
* Entry fees to the Great Wall
* Three lunches, two dinners and two breakfasts (delivered to your watchtower at no charge)
* The privilege of camping on the Great Wall and exclusive access to the camping watch tower
* All necessary camping gears such as tents & bags
* One night accommodation in a local hostel
* Quality vehicle, professional driver and English-speaking tour guide
* Free membership card
* A credit of RMB100 when you reserve the next tour with us

 

Guaranteed no detours to shops,
markets, factories, etc.

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For assistance, you can also send email to greatwall@greatwalladventure.com

TRAVEL INSURANCE

If you currently don’t have travel insurance then you will be required to purchase our PICC (People's Insurance Company of China) travel and accidental insurance.
The fee will be $7.99 per person, and will cover the duration of your hiking/camping/trekking in order to ensure that you are comprehensively protected if injured.

For more information about our travel insurance policy please see our insurance page.


QUALITY VEHICLES







Great Wall Hiking and Camping on the Great Wall for Three Days


Route 3AC: Gubeikou-Jinshanling-Jinshanling-West Simatai-Lakeside Huanghuacheng-Xishuiyu

 

 


The outdoorsman: Stay overnight on the Great Wall of China

 

"When people come to the Great Wall of China, they want to explore the history and see why it was built. A day trip to the tourist sites won’t achieve that, but a sleepover on one of the world’s most storied ruins certainly will. The Great Wall Adventure Club organizes trips to sleep in a watchtower where soldiers were formerly garrisoned. When night falls, the only thing above is the stars, while the incredible land of the surrounding hills is absolutely silent ... " (June 11, 2012)



Highlights:

If you are looking for breathtaking views with a relatively peaceful walk, then the Jinshanling-West Simatai Great Wall hike is perfect for you. You’ll also get breathtaking views of the sunset from the vantage point of the Great Wall. This will without a doubt be one of the highlights of your entire China trip!


Huanghuacheng was built in Ming Dynasty with very sophisticated technology and thus the Wall was very solid and strong. In 1930's, Japanese invaders tried to break the Wall and they had to raze the Wall in order to enter Beijing. They finally made it and made partial of Huanghuacheng Great Wall felt down to water.

 

The Xishuiyu Great Wall is partially under the water. Therefore, both Huanghuacheng and Xishuiyu are unique in that the Great Wall is under a lake or reservoir. No other section of the Wall has this feature.


Sleep overnight on the G
reat Wall! This is the once-in-your-life experience that you never want to miss!  This is sure to be an unforgettable experience! Watch the sunrise and sunset from the best seat in the house!

All necessary camping gears such as tents, pads & bags are provided. For those of you curious about Great Wall camping conditions, please be advised that camping on the Great Wall is very rugged and adventurous, and you should expect a relatively low comfort level from what you're normally used to. Following dinner, we'll walk about 20-30 minutes to the camping site in the Great Wall watchtower. It is there we will set up the tent, sleeping bags, etc.

 

Please be aware that this experience is significantly different from staying in a hostel/farmotel/hotel. The camping settlement is very basic, although we are constantly striving to improve this experience.

 

Due to the high and heavy volume of camping equipment (tents, pads, sleeping bags, etc.) in use during your Great Wall hiking tour, we kindly ask that you give your guide a helping hand in getting your equipment up to the watchtower where you'll spend the night. We thank you for your cooperation and understanding!


All meals are included!

 

     
Trekking


Camping

Guaranteed Camping in An Ancient Watch Tower!

A few online  agents claim they can do so but that's not true. What they usually mean is that they may take you to the foot of the Great Wall to camp on the ground or to sleep at a guesthouse. Not us. For each participant (even children), we must pay a hefty relic preserving fee to the Great Wall administration office. This fee allows for you to camp on the Great Wall, hence why the price for this program is higher than most. Great Wall Adventure Club (GWAC) is the only company approved by the Great Wall Administration Office to offer camping for international guests. This is what sets us apart from other operators.

 

 

Day-by-day Hiking & Camping Itinerary

(The following day-by-day schedule may swap with the concern of weather or availability of accommodation in the Great Wall villages on certain dates)

 

Day 1: Beijing-Gubeikou-Jinshanling (L+D, appx. 10km/6miles, 4-5 hours)

  Our car or minivan will pick you up anywhere within the 3rd ring road, at about 9:30 am. From your pick up we will drive directly to the Gubeikou Great Wall. The drive should take a little over 2.5 hours. The Gubeikou Great Wall occupies a strategically important location, which is difficult to access. Situated between Shanhaiguan Pass and Juyongguan Pass, and about 62 miles to Beijing, it is the bastion protecting the northern gateway to the capital. There are 14 beacon towers, 143 watchtowers, 16 strategic pass, three citadels and many other military constructions.

 

Gubeikou is completely unrestored, covered with over 140 watchtowers, all differing in size and design. From the wall here you will be able to witness how the wall twists and winds along the steep mountain ranges. This is as dramatic a view on the Great Wall as you’ll find. If the weather is clear, you will be able to see the shimmering blue lake of the Miyun Reservoir. There is a section on the wall that is part of a military base, so you will be able to walk and explore a quaint nearby local village to take a detour and re-enter the wall somewhere close to Jinshanling.

 

In the afternoon we will eventually cross over into the Jinshanling Great Wall. The Great Wall at Jinshanling is one of the best preserved parts of the Great Wall with many original features. It got its name because it was built on the Greater and Lesser Jinshan (‘Gold Mountain’) Ranges. A tablet with the Chinese inscription for Jinshanling Great Wall was set into this section. The Jinshanling Great Wall has not been repaired since 1570. It is a remote and relatively isolated section of the Great Wall. As there are relatively few tourists at Jinshanling Great Wall, it is a good place to explore on foot. The Jinshanling Great Wall was initially built from 1368 to 1389 in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and in 1567 and 1570 rebuilding of the Wall was mainly directed by General Qi Jiguang (1528-1588). Poems and tablet writings can be found on the Jinshanling Great Wall left from the time when Qi Jiguang directed the rebuilding of this section of the Great Wall. There are more than 100 watch towers along the Jinshanling Great Wall. ‘Watching Beijing Tower’ is on the highest point, from which you can see Beijing. The Jinshanling Great Wall is second only to the Badaling Great Wall in its completeness.

 

Tonight you’re in for a real treat, as we’ll be camping overnight on the Jinshanling Great Wall itself! Our campsite will be located in one of Jinshanling’s watchtowers, and you’ll have the perfect view from which to watch the sunset over the Great Wall!

 


Day 2: Jinshanling-West Simatai (B+L+D, appx. 8km/5miles 3 hours)


After waking up early to catch the sunrise over the Great Wall, we’ll pack up our things and get ready for our hike today. Today we’ll be continuing our hike on the Jinshanling Great Wall. After about 1.5-2 hours of hiking we will cross over into the West Simatai Great Wall (the eastern end has been closed due to maintenance). Constructed under the supervision of Qi Jiguang, a famous general in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it is the only part that still has the original appearance of the Ming Dynasty. The wall is celebrated for its steepness, queerness and intactness.

 

The main tourist attractions include the Stairway to Heaven, the Fairy Tower, the Heaven Bridge and the Wangjing Tower. The Simatai section of the Great Wall is one of the few sections to retain the original appearance of the Great Wall. Incorporating a variety of characteristics of other sections of the Great Wall, Simatai also displays some unique features of its own.

Once we watch the sunset over the Great Wall, we’ll climb down and drive to have dinner at the Good Fortune Restaurant and Inn near the Huanghuacheng Great Wall.



 

Day 3: Huanghuacheng-Xishuiyu Lakeside Great Wall-Beijing
(B+L, appx. 6km/4miles, 2.5-3 hours)


 

If you elect to spend the night camping in the Jinshanling Great Wall, we’ll be sure to wake up early in order to catch the sunrise over the Great Wall, so be sure to have your cameras ready! Afterwards will disembark from the Great Wall and drive directly to the Hunaghuacheng (or Huanghua Great Wall). After a short walk around the dam on the Huanghuacheng Reservoir, we will start our hike westward to Xishuiyu. The Huanghuacheng (Yellow Flower City) Great Wall is a beautiful tourist spot combining mountains, lakes and ancient Great Wall. It is the latest section to become popular with hikers. It provides a challenge for hikers because the paths are steep and out of repair. Hunaghuacheng is divided by lakes and some parts are even immersed in the water, which is a very unique characteristic, distinguishing it from other sections of the Great Wall.

A general named Cai Kai, who led the construction of Hunaghuacheng Great Wall, was beheaded after completion of his task, because the emperor mistakenly believed other ministers’ lies that his job was sloppy. But when a survey report, stating that the walls were solid, steep and exemplified the finest workmanship, reached the emperor, the emperor realized that he had misjudged General Cai Kai. The emperor ordered a tomb and memorial stele to be erected in honor of the loyal general. He also had the characters
金汤 (Jin Tang), meaning firm and solid (literally metal soup), inscribed on the face of a huge rock below the wall. So the Hunaghuacheng section of the Great Wall is also called the Jintang Great Wall. There is a lake and a reservoir nearby. The crescent shaped reservoir is called Hunaghuacheng Reservoir, while the name of the lake is Jintang Lake.  

 

The Great Wall at Hunaghuacheng is surrounded by mountains with verdant vegetation, lots of blossom and other seasonal beauty. During summer, the countryside around the Hunaghuacheng Great Wall is swathed in yellow, as masses of wild flowers come into bloom. The highest point of the wall is a broken watchtower, and from there you will have a wide panoramic view of the whole valley. From this summit the Wall dives steeply downwards into the valley. The Gate is located at the bottom, an opening in the wall, which connects the Zhuangdaokou village on the inside, with the still-well-preserved Yaoziyu Castle, built in the Ming Dynasty, on the outside. Over the top of the passageway is another watchtower where we will rest a short while before continuing on. From here we will continue to trek westward, climbing towards the broken wall to our destination, a peak overlooking Xiaoxihu Lake. It is here that we will stop for a filling and refreshing lunch that will replenish your energy.

 

Most of the Great Wall around Xishuiyu is in reasonably good, deteriorated, but not collapsed condition. None of the Great Wall here has been restored so it retains its authentic condition. As we follow the Wall to the west here, you will get views of the Xiaoxihu reservoir to your right. You will find several opportunities to get off the wall and walk down the reservoir, crossing through a large Ming dynasty chestnut field at the bottom. There is a path all the way around the reservoir so you can follow it in either direction. From our vantage on the Wall, we will see a real treat, the broken Great Wall running underwater! From this point, the wall is in too bad a condition to walk, so we will follow a delightful mountain trail to Xishuiyu village, where we will drive back to Beijing, completing your tour.

 

 

Stuff you should bring with you:

* Tough hiking boots, sunscreen and sunglasses
* Backpack, and snacks or energy/protein supplements you want to have before lunch
* Extra cash for driver/guide tips
* Don’t forget your camera!

 

Read complete itinerary of Route 3A:  Gubeikou-Jianshling-Simatai-Jiankou-Mutianyu hike.
Read complete itinerary of Route 3B:  Chenge-Panjiakou Reservoir-Xifengkou hike.
Read complete itinerary of Route 3C:  East Qing Tomb-Huangyaguan-Chengde hike.
Read complete itinerary of Route 3D:  Laolongtou-shanhaiguan-Sandaoguan-Jiaoshan-Jiumenkou hike.
Check testimonials from former hikers and view their photos.

 

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