We spent two days hiking along the Great Wall of China, sleeping in tents directly alongside the wall. We barely saw another soul for the entire 48 hours.
We did this trip through China Hiking – it’s illegal to camp near the wall without permits, so you basically have to do it through a tour company. A few offer similar services, but China Hiking had good prices, good itineraries and an excellent guide.
We hiked along the Gubeikou, Wild Jinshanling and Jiankou to Mutianyu sections of the wall, which are largely unrestored. This meant we were walking directly on top of the original bricks, laid down a few thousand years ago. The mortar, made of pounded rice and lime, is still holding everything together. In a number of places, nature has almost completely taken the wall back over, with wild mulberry trees sometimes reducing us to single-file.
In terms of difficulty, the hike was probably a 6/10. The one we chose was 20km, spread over the two days. Strategically, the wall was built along the mountain ridges, which meant there was a lot of up and down, but also some incredible views. At one point, we were able to see the entire ‘dragon’s back’ section twisting into the distance. In June, the temperature was getting hot, but we were so exposed that there was usually a nice breeze to cool us down, and our guide set a pace that the group (of seven) could keep up with. The company also supplied lots of (bottled) water.
We had all our meals at local farmhouses along the way – and they were all consistently delicious. June is spring time which meant there were lots of leafy greens, zucchini and tomatoes to eat. After dinner, we picked up our tents and carried them back up the hill to the base of the wall, where we set up camp and watched an incredible red sunset. We also woke up at 4.30am for sunrise, but unfortunately that Beijing haze had set in, and it wasn’t the golden glow we had hoped for.
The hike ended at the popular, restored section of Mutianyu. It was shockingly different to the wall we had just spent two days exploring. It has been completely rebuilt, and widened to accommodate the crowds. There are vendors selling the usual tourist trinkets, selfie points and a cable car for those who don’t want to walk. The place was full of day-trippers from Beijing. For us, it was very clear that we’d made the right decision to visit the more wild sections of the wall – it was an amazing experience.
Tour details:
Company: China Hiking (http://www.chinahiking.cn)
Cost: 420NZD pp for everything, including guide, equipment and food.
There were seven people in our group, which was a good size.
