If you are heading to China, you HAVE TO see the Great Wall of China! We hiked the Great Wall on our recent trip to China and it was easily the highlight of our entire trip.

The Great Wall is very long; however, the most popular section of the Great Wall is near Beijing. The most well-known section is called “Ba Da Ling” (八達嶺). It is the closest section to the city and it’s always packed with tourists. The Badaling section has been completely renovated and rebuilt. Apparently most of the Chinese tourists prefer this section because it’s easier to walk on. We begged to differ. why would you want to go somewhere full of tourists when you can experience this “wonder of the world” in its true (unrestored) state without the “cheese factor”. Go to the Simatai (司馬臺) section instead! It’s unrestored (since the Ming dynasty) and on the day we went, there were less than 40 people visible along the wall.

If you have the time and are in good physical shape, you can even try hiking all the way to Simatai from JingShanLing (金山嶺). It’s about 10km from JingShangLing to Simatai. Don’t be fooled by the short distance: It’s a very challenging hike due to the significant change in elevation. You’ll go up and down and up and down. (Did you know, the Great Wall follows the mountain ridge?) The Great Wall between these sections is in pretty bad shape too. At points you might have to get off the wall and walk around it. And since you’ll be up in the mountains, you can’t just decide to leave mid-way. There are a few points along the wall where you can find paths to go back into town but they are not close together. Know your limits.

We didn’t do the hike from JinShanLing but we did visit Simatai. We walked about 3 km from one end of the section to another. There were very few tourists and very few peddlers trying to sell us stuff. That’s one of the other things about hiking the Great Wall. The farmers from the local towns follow you along the path. They don’t really force you to buy anything but they will try their best. Really, they just follow you. We decided to just give the lady who was following us some money for one of her souvenir fans. It turned out to be a great purchase as it was blazing hot that day and there was no shade to be found. Many of these farmers’ ancestors used to be the guardians of the wall. The land is really in no shape for farming anymore, so help them out a little and don’t be rude.

How to Get to Simatai

If you do your homework and serach online you’ll probably find direct buses to take you to the town closest to Simatai. However, make sure that they’re running. They often only run during special holidays. You should ask about tours from your hotel. The most popular tour is the JingShanLing to Simatai tour that’s provided by the youth hostels in town. Leave @ 6:30 in the morning to go to JingShangLing and then come back @ 3:00 from Simatai. It’s not expensive and this tour is highly popular among foreigners. (It says it’s a tour but really it’s just transportation there and back. The driver will chat you up.)

For going to Simatai: For any bus you take you can only get to the closest train station or bus terminal at the local town, you’ll then have to either take a taxi or bus to get to the bottom of Simatai.  This process is very difficult. Even as a person who speaks Mandarin, it is still highly difficult.

You can arrange a driver for the whole day, this will cost you much much more. But at least you’ll have the assurance that you will have transportation there and back. Just talk to any taxi driver and they’ll recommend a friend of a friend of a friend to you.

We had a friend’s personal driver take us from Beijing to Simatai. It usually takes around 2 - 3 hours depends on traffic and your driver. Our driver took an hour and half, we were scared for our lives.

At the end of the day we hitched a ride with the hostel bus. We paid a small amount to the driver so we could be squeeze into the empty seats. (lucky us!) It was a fantastic deal. If you ever get stuck at Simatai and want a way to get back in town, look around the parking lot around 3:00 for the hostel bus and perhaps you’ll get yourself a good deal.

About Simatai

The Great Wall really runs along the ridge of the mountain. When you get to the parking lot in Simatai you can either walk up the mountain or take a gondola/cable car. The walk is about 5 km. We took the gondola. It was more like a little tin box than a gondola, but it worked. After the gondola you have the option to take a steep funicular up the hill. It’s nerve-racking, but it saves a lot of walking. We went on a 30 degree celcius hot day so it was a lifesaver. They’re pretty cheap too. Here is the video of the funicular ride.

After hiking the last bit up to the wall, we were both in complete awe. We walked up to the wall and took a break, found shade in the towers and took pictures. It was so amazing to just sit there and see the wall. Take your time. It’s really not about walking the wall but to enjoy the experience.

There’s an old Chinese saying: 不到長城非好漢. It means that you are not a real man until you’ve made it all the way to the Great Wall. The Simatai section is not restored so you can really feel how grand it was back in the days. It was a touching moment for us. While we were up on the wall we had the best cucumbers of our lives. A local farmer had carried up a whole box of juicy, cold cucumbers. It was delicious on a hot summer day.

Here’s another video of us on the Great Wall:

Later on, we took a zipline down the mountain and over a lake. Without lifejackets, helmets and without any insurance. It cost only a fraction of what you would normally pay for a zipline anywhere else. It felt pretty dangerous. We were screaming the whole way but the breeze was sooo good. Included in the zipline ticket was a little boat ride over the lake and back to the parking lot at the bottom of Simatai where we had started.

It was an amazing experience to see one of the world wonders. We felt so small on that wall. We were both so glad to be able to visit the Great Wall, and between the car ride, the gondola, the funicular, the zip line and the boat ride, we got to take 5 modes of transportation in one day!

Check out all our videos from that day on the Good Fishies Youtube channel.