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Beijing Great Wall Question


Open sea
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  • 4 weeks later...
Thank you so much for posting these videos! We are going to the Mutianyu section at the beginning of April. It looks amazing. I want to go on the tobaggan although I’m a little scared!

I thought the same thing but it was not bad at all. In retrospect, I would have gone a lot faster and enjoyed myself instead of worrying so much. Taking the chair lift up was not too fun for me as I hate heights. Go for it!

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I also enjoyed the Mutianyu section of the wall near Beijing (and the videos Iluvcruising2 posted above). Even using the chairlift to go up and down, there was still plenty of difficult climbing to reach the very top. Does anyone know anything about other accessible areas near the Tianjin port and how we might visit another are of The Great Wall?

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https://www.chinahighlights.com/greatwall/

 

This site was helpful for me a couple years back when we were trying to decide what section we wanted to see. We ended up at Huanghuacheng, which is not officially an open site (or, it wasn't when we were there in 2015). This site also says it's fully restored, but there aren't any facilities there, certainly no railings, missing steps & walls too, so.....It was lovely!! (we were there in December and it was icy and dangerous - still fun & beautiful!)

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  • 4 weeks later...
I thought the same thing but it was not bad at all. In retrospect, I would have gone a lot faster and enjoyed myself instead of worrying so much. Taking the chair lift up was not too fun for me as I hate heights. Go for it!

 

 

Toboggan is great fun! I would have gone faster if not for the mother and child in front of me. FYI, I was concerned about safety but was relieved to know Germany helped to build the toboggan and restore this section of thenWall. It seemed very safe and I had no concerns about going or letting my small son toboggan on his own. Enjoy!

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https://www.chinahighlights.com/greatwall/

 

This site was helpful for me a couple years back when we were trying to decide what section we wanted to see. We ended up at Huanghuacheng, which is not officially an open site (or, it wasn't when we were there in 2015). This site also says it's fully restored, but there aren't any facilities there, certainly no railings, missing steps & walls too, so.....It was lovely!! (we were there in December and it was icy and dangerous - still fun & beautiful!)

 

Thanks - this site is very informative.

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I have only seen one part of the wall in a trip from Beijing and another section out west in the desert. I would not worry about which part you go to, it is amazing. Several walls were built over the centuries and none prevented invasions. The last Chinese dynasty was Mongolian after all. The museum out west had a map of all the various walls. I did not know before that so many attempts at wall building had been made over time.

As to Tianjin, I don't think that there is any piece of wall nearby, but there are the remnants of a fort in the port area.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g311293-d561393-Reviews-Dagu_Fort_Dagukou-Tianjin.html

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Would like to know if anyone has been to the Great Wall at Huangyaguan Pass? How would it compare to the Great Wall at Jinshanling? Viewpoints, scenery, walking the wall, etc?

 

It is one of my favorite Great Wall spots(and I have been to most if not all the major ones in Beijing). It has a nice renovated section with nice views too. If you hike a bit it also peters out and you can see less renovated sections. Most importantly much less crowded than Badaling Mutianyu and others.

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Thank you so much for posting these videos! We are going to the Mutianyu section at the beginning of April. It looks amazing. I want to go on the tobaggan although I’m a little scared!

 

It is really quite safe. Somehow, you can't go that fast. And along the way, I noticed staff stationed at most sharp corners. I assume they are there to help, if for some reason, you get stuck.

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  • 1 month later...

I understand as well from my limited research that one can take a subway and then a bus to the Badaling portion of the Wall. Also, rent an audio guide. We will be doing the Great Wall from the Badaling site on our own when we do our Celebrity China cruise in March 2020. Our ship will be spending three days in Bejing so our plan is to cab it to the Tianjian Bullet station and then take that train into Bejing (apparently 40 minute ride) and take a back pack with us with a change of clothes and spend two nights in a downtown Bejing hotel). The first afternoon, we will visit the Forbidden City and Tiamanen Square. The second day in Bejiing from our hotel, we will then get up early the following morning and head to the hills as they say before ten thousand other tourists show up and walk as far up the wall as we can (to try to get shots without too many other people in the pictures). The next day we will take a cab to the Summer Palace and then return to the ship in the afternoon of the third day via bullet train. Works out way cheaper than taking ship tours which price at approximately $1000 USD per person for three days. Bejiing appears to be a do it yourself spot with the correct planning. Of course, we will have our multi entry visas in our passports.

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I understand as well from my limited research that one can take a subway and then a bus to the Badaling portion of the Wall. Also, rent an audio guide. We will be doing the Great Wall from the Badaling site on our own when we do our Celebrity China cruise in March 2020. Our ship will be spending three days in Bejing so our plan is to cab it to the Tianjian Bullet station and then take that train into Bejing (apparently 40 minute ride) and take a back pack with us with a change of clothes and spend two nights in a downtown Bejing hotel). The first afternoon, we will visit the Forbidden City and Tiamanen Square. The second day in Bejiing from our hotel, we will then get up early the following morning and head to the hills as they say before ten thousand other tourists show up and walk as far up the wall as we can (to try to get shots without too many other people in the pictures). The next day we will take a cab to the Summer Palace and then return to the ship in the afternoon of the third day via bullet train. Works out way cheaper than taking ship tours which price at approximately $1000 USD per person for three days. Bejiing appears to be a do it yourself spot with the correct planning. Of course, we will have our multi entry visas in our passports.

 

If your goal is to hike and avoid the crowds Badaling is the worst choice of great wall sites. Some of the other sites are more difficult to access with public transport bu with a driver it can be fairly inexpensive even if organized by your hotel.

 

Another option is Beijing Hikers. It is a company that busses out to various great wall (and other sites) that are less touristy but equally spectacular. You also get a simple but authentic lunch after the hike.

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Originally posted by Open sea "Would like to know if anyone has been to the Great Wall at Huangyaguan Pass? How would it compare to the Great Wall at Jinshanling? Viewpoints, scenery, walking the wall, etc?"

It is one of my favorite Great Wall spots(and I have been to most if not all the major ones in Beijing). It has a nice renovated section with nice views too. If you hike a bit it also peters out and you can see less renovated sections. Most importantly much less crowded than Badaling Mutianyu and others.

 

We visited Huangyaguan Great Wall on April 2. It was a private tour with China Highlights visiting Huangyaguan Great Wall, the East Qing Tombs, and Dule Temple. It lasted ten hours, so we would have been smarter to have planned only two of the destinations. This is the section of the Great Wall that Holland America crew also visited after we left. We loved the long drive through countryside and mountains, through towns and villages, and finally arriving at a section of the Great Wall without crowds.

 

Barbara

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In March 2019, there is an overnight cruise stop in Tianjin and we plan to visit the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu and other sites in Beijing. Sharing any private tour company/individual you have used would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Thank you.

Rita

 

We used Chinahighlights and were extremely happy with them. We were supposed to have a double overnight in Tianjin but only made it there a day late because we were stuck in Seoul due to fog for a day. Chinahighlights‘ reaction was exemplary! They adapted the itinerary, canceled one night of hotel as soon as they heard of our delay and refunded a day not even two days after.

 

The guide was excellent and the hotel in Beijing amazing and very luxurious.

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We used Chinahighlights and were extremely happy with them. We were supposed to have a double overnight in Tianjin but only made it there a day late because we were stuck in Seoul due to fog for a day. Chinahighlights‘ reaction was exemplary! They adapted the itinerary, canceled one night of hotel as soon as they heard of our delay and refunded a day not even two days after.

 

The guide was excellent and the hotel in Beijing amazing and very luxurious.

 

Thanks so much for this information. I'll definitely look into it.

Rita

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  • 1 year later...
On 2/25/2018 at 9:20 AM, Iluvcruising2 said:

I've only been to the Great Wall at Mutianyu.

 

[YOUTUBE]Mlel35hDB4Y[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

If you don’t mind me asking, which hotel did you stay at in Beijing? You have recommended hotels in Asia previously which we stayed at, hence me asking again 😉.

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