In 2008 I visited the great wall in the Janshaling-Samatai section. In 2010 Christina and I visited the Mutuanyu section of the wall. Even if this section is much more popular and developed for the tourism (there are more stores and there are even a couple of cablecars) the experience is the same. We hardly saw any tourist. It is exciting to hike the great wall, specially the wild areas where the vegetation makes walking difficult. I remember collapsed sections of the wall on the Janshaling-Samatai section but I don´t remember trees growing on top of the wall. We walk for many hours and my legs remembered the hike for several days. The bottom line is that even if it takes some effort, you really need to go to the wall. The decision is not what section to visit. There is something magical in the wall and you will meet it the moment you walk on top of it.
Looking ahead
The group of couchsurfers that visited the Wall with us
What Christina said:
Around Beiing there are three sections you can visit to see the wall. There is one very close which attracts the most tourists because you can get there with public transportation or via taxi. Then there are two sections that are further away from Beijing and therefore less people go to. We decided to go to Mutuyanu which is about 70 km away from Beijing.
Playing a little bit in one of the towers
We were lucky to go there on a beautifully sunny day and spent several hours walking on the wall and taking pictures of the amazing piece of architecture and the stunning landscapes surrounding it. Some parts of the wall are renovated but when you go beyond these areas you get on the unrestored “wild” wall which is a lot more fun to discover. Here you will meet trees on the wall
rather than other people and in some parts you can also camp although that was something we postponed to warmer seasons. We were so in love with the beautiful atmosphere the wall, landscapes and the afternoon sun created that we got back to our car 2 hours late, where a very angry driver was waiting for us. But we were happy.
Jumping on the Great Wall
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