Originally Posted by
moondog
And, I continue to recommend Beijing Hikers for parties of 1-2 people (doesn't pencil for larger groups, but you can copy their hikes).
Saturday December 10th, 2011
Auspicious Village and Huanghuacheng Great Wall
For this hike we will head out to Huairou County for a countryside walk through farmland, hills, and valleys. Along the way we will pass three different villages - a good opportunity to compare the big-city lifestyle in Beijing to that of the inhabitants of small villages that are practically hidden from the outside world. After we finish walking we’ll have a late lunch at a restaurant nearby the Huanghuacheng Great Wall – hikers with extra energy can climb up for a look. Moderately difficult, with 3–4 hours of walking over 10km.
Auspicious Village and Huanghuacheng Great Wall - Basic hike information
Cost: 330 RMB; Bus leaves from Lido Starbucks at 8:30am; 1.5 hours travel each way; 3–4 hours of hiking; return approx. 5:30pm
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Considering BJ hikers used to charge y150 for the same hike, y330 is a lot of money. But, for two of you, you're looking at y700 all in, including getting to/from Lido, and lunch (I'm presuming they pay for lunch). But, the focus of the hike in question really isn't the great wall, although most people hit a few towers after lunch. Some friends went to Huanghua recently and told me that conditions were borderline dangerous in parts of the loop, so maybe that's why they're not doing the loop this time of year.
Brief tangent, when they finished, they were confronted with a locked gate AND dozens of scary dogs chained to fences on either side of the path on leashes that were just long enough to keep them from contacting my friends. Suffice it to say, they were forced to pay y20 each order to get the gate to open. You gotta love China.
Back on topic, these guys took a regular taxi up there and let the meter run the entire time and the total price was y670 (Huanghua is kind of close, I guess). I'm sure they could have negotiated it down to y500 or even less (they didn't know).