Great Wall Hiking
7 days Great Wall hiking: from Old Dragon Head in the east to Gubeikou near Beijing

Tour Code: GW07-01 Duration: 7days Hiking Distance: about 60 km Hiking Time: 4-6 hrs a day Good time to visit: from Mar to May, from Sep to Nov Departure date: Apr 20, Sep 01, Sep 29, Oct 01, Oct 10, 2009

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Join us for a real Great Wall adventure – this abbreviated excursion from the ocean all the way to Beijing will allow you to experience the best of the eastern portion of the Great Wall.

• See amazing vistas that can only be seen by hiking! Great photos!
• Explore a section of the Wall which typifies the entire Wall in architecture, scenery, ruggedness, and military importance
• No camping! Accommodation en route will be a combination of small hotels and local families’ guest houses,  with clean rooms and showers
• No cooking required (meals provided)
• Separate transportation of all equipment and luggage by support vehicle
• A more detailed information will be available after you confirmed the tour.

TRIP OVERVIEW:
This is an abbreviated version of our more-comprehensive 12-day hike. It is carefully designed for the Great Wall enthusiast who would like to experience the best parts of the eastern Wall, but who has only limited time. We start on the ocean, at Dragon’s Head, and hike eastward to Dongjiakou, where descendants of the original builders still proudly maintain “their” section of the wall. From here, we hike to the massive fortress at Huangyaguan, which includes part of the Wall which is constructed over a body of water. One of our last stops is Simatai, the best example of the Ming Dynasty wall, which is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. A really unique experience!

      

DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY
(B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner)
Day 1. Beijing - Old Dragon’s Head – Shanhaiguan Great Wall (BLD)
After an early breakfast we will have a four-hour drive on good roads from Beijing to Old Dragon’s Head, over  400km away. After lunch, we will visit the Old Dragon's Head fortifications, where the Wall meets the sea, and which is considered the easternmost point of the Great Wall. After our visit, we will hike from Old Dragon's Head directly to Shanhaiguan Pass (also known as the First Pass Under Heaven). This pleasant hike of 1- 1½  hours will take us through  some small villages until we see the Gate Towers of the Shanhaiguan Pass Fortress, far away. A short drive will take us to the Fortress itself. After a one-hour's visit of the Fortress and the Great Wall Museum inside, we will be transferred to the First Pass Hotel (a simple but clean courtyard hotel with private washroom and hot showers) for our first overnight stay near the Wall. 
 
Day 2 Shanhaiguan- #1 Great Wall village (BLD; 12 km, 6-7 hrs)
Refreshed after a good sleep, a short drive will take us to Our Great Wall adventure starting point. We will hike from the bottom of a Mountain and hike to #1 Great Wall Village.  Then drive to a small village, where we will have the unique experience of staying in a local family’s guest-house, very simple but clean (furnished with “kang” beds, common in northern China). Although washrooms are outside, they still have hot water for showers.

Day 3 #2 Great Wall village - 3# Great Wall village (BLD; 10 km, hiking 5-6 hrs)
This is a special day! In the early morning, we will take a short hike up the mountain from the #2  village to see the Cihou Tower, a special structure that is only seen at this portion of the Great Wall. Although this  section is relatively short, with a length of only 8.9 km, it has remained one of the best-preserved sections of the original Ming Dynasty Wall, built more than 600 years ago. Then we will return to the  village to visit the ruins of the fortress and to chat with the villagers, who are the descendants of the builders and guards of the Great Wall. Then hike to #3 Great Wall village.  At the end of our hike, we will start our long 4-hour drive to the site of the East Qing Tombs, where we will stay in a nice hotel nearby (two beds per room, with private washroom).

Day 4 East QingTomb-Huangyaguan Section Great Wall (BLD; 1 ½ hrs) 
This morning, we will visit the East Qing tombs, which far-surpass their more famous predecessors, the Ming Tombs, both in splendor and in majesty. These tombs form a countryside version of the Forbidden City and are nearly as elaborate. Tastefully restored for the most part, this Imperial City is vast, grand, and less crowded. After lunch, a half-an-hour-drive will bring us to a small village near Huangyaguan Pass. From here, we will hike for about one hour-and-a-half, westward, to Huangyaguan. Overnight at the courtyard hotel in Huangyaguan (two beds per room, with private washroom).

Day 5 Huangyaguan Great Wall– a small mountain village (BLD, 8 km, 4-5 hours hiking)
Huangyaguan is situated in a beautiful valley in the heart of the Yanshan Mountains. As we start our walk heading up the steep renovated steps, we will come to what appears to be a sheer cliff face. This is where we encounter "Heaven’s Ladder", a steep climb of over 200 steps leading up the precipice to the top! As we continue our hike during the afternoon, we will find ourselves following the Wall as it gradually descends to the valley below, where our vehicle will be waiting. We will then drive to Simatai, where we will overnight in the hostel at the bottom of Simatai itself (two persons per room, with private washroom).

Day 6 Simatai Great Wall-Jinshanling Section Great Wall (BLD; about 10 km, 4-5 hrs)
Rather than spending time at the reconstructed portion of the Wall, we will trek westward for about 10km on the Wild Wall until we arrive at Jinshanling Section. Along the way, we will choose a nice place to enjoy our picnic lunch. At the end of our trek, at the Jinshanling part of the Wall, we will either camp on the Wall itself, or stay at a comfortable hotel at the bottom of the Wall.  As we watch the breath-taking sunset, and see the stars come out on this, our final overnight stay, we can reflect on all we’ve seen!  You will agree that hiking along the Great Wall is substantially different than simply making the usual short visit. You will have not only accepted a physical challenge, but will have also obtained a deeper understanding of Chinese history and culture, as well as a better-appreciation of man's creative power.

Day 7 Jinshanling-Gubeikou Section Great Wall (BLD; 10 km, 5 hrs)
On our last day, we will make our last trek westward from Jinshanling to the General Tower in Gubeikou, although we will have to trek a short distance away from the Wall, along a country road, to bypass a restricted military area. But today's trekking will be fairly easy, because the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall is still kept well. With our drive back to Beijing, we will come to the end of our 7-day hike along the Great Wall, an experience to remember for a lifetime!

Tour Cost:    Currency Converter

	2-3 person	4-5 person	6-9 person	Over 10 person	Single Supplement
Tour Cost	CNY8900/P $1328/P	CNY7800/P $1164/P	CNY7000/P $1045/P	CNY6600/P $985/P	CNY1100/P $164/P
($1=6.7CNY) (The cost for the child of 2-12 year old is based on 15% discount of the adult's tour cost.Any baby less than 2 year old is free of any charges. If it turns out there is cost involved, we reserved to collect the cost.)

Quick inquiry

Tailor-made

Book the tour

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• Please reserve at least ONE WEEK before the departure time.
• We are ready to extend your tour in Beijing if you want. Please click Tours in Beijing for reference or contact our expert!
• As the exchange rate of CNY to USD is floating, we reserve  the right to adjust the quote in USD according to the exchange rate on the date you pay the tour.

The tour cost includes:

• Local transportation: A private vehicle (land cruiser in the desert, bus or mini-van elsewhere) will accompany us for the entire tour. While we are trekking, our vehicle will transfer our food and luggage to the appointed site or hostel and wait.
• Equipment, as required: tents and mats for sleeping bags when camping, rope (very necessary in some parts of the Wall), water (4 liters per person per day), 2-way radios, compass , first aid kit, GPS
• Leader: Experienced English-speaking tour leader and one or more service persons along the Wall as needed.
• Entrance fees: All first-entrance tickets to the tourist spots mentioned in the itinerary.
• Accommodation: 4-star hotels in the big cities, twin and tri-share clean hostel in the small counties or villages, occasionally private home if indicated, and tents in the desert and at certain unique camping spots mentioned in the itinerary.
• Meals: All meals as indicated in the itinerary, with some simple picnic lunches while trekking on the Wall.
• Common carrier tickets: All domestic airfares and train tickets (soft sleeper) as listed in the itinerary, if applicable
• Travel agency liability insurance.

The tour cost does not include:

• Personal gear required: if camping, a sleeping bag sufficiently warm to protect against minus 20°C (-4°F) in Jan-March, against -10°C or -5°C (14°F- 23°F) in April and May, against 0-5°C (32°-41°F) in June. Also: hiking boots; raincoat; cap; camera; sun-cream; sun-glasses; pocket knife; day-pack, etc.
• Expenses of a personal nature: favorite snacks, soft drinks, laundry , local or long-distance calls, etc.
• Tips to tour guide and driver.
• Tourist accident insurance. NB - you are strongly suggested to buy travel and health insurance before you start out from your home country.
• Any service persons to carry personal belonging while trekking (although this can be arranged, it should be unnecessary - participants should find that trekking with a single day-pack for personal items should suffice.)
• Single supplement costs (for those who want accommodation on a single basis)
• Visa to China
• Domestic and international flights and related airport taxes not listed in the itinerary
• Supplementary trips, entrance fees and services not mentioned, and extra costs due to unforeseen circumstances

What makes our hikes different from the others ?

• Our tours are private – no delays picking up other tourists from various hotels around the city. We pick up, then go!
• Your English-speaking guide stays with you the entire trip (including the hiking).
• Our guides carry 2-way radios (and a cell phone) in case of emergencies.
• We use safe, reliable, government-licensed vehicles (e.g. mini-vans), not a dubiously-maintained family car or taxi.
• We use professional drivers, not a “friend” making some extra money.
•  We save time by taking the direct routes, even if there are charges (rather than navigating back roads trying to avoid tolls).
•  With us, there are NO “forced shopping” stops !
• There are NO hidden costs ! (e.g. fuel surcharge)
•   We are proud of our Wall. We want YOU to become an ambassador of Great Wall hiking too!
•  We not only want our customers to return – we want them to tell their friends!