Agreed. It's interesting to hear short-timers talk about the various merits of Great Wall locations, when they've first hand seen exactly...one. Not to mention that different visitors are in different situations, and there isn't a one Great Wall-size-fits-all recommendation that works for everybody. I routinely see people, based on their own glorious experience, recommending to a family with preschoolers, a 5 hour hike from Jinshanling to Simitai. I mean, seriously folks.....

What people don't realize is that even for a place like Badaling (or for that matter, ANY open-air, heavily-touristed location in China), if you just do a little advance research and then are willing to invest up to half an hour of time in walking, you can have a pretty much crowd-free and hassle-free experience and get away from the tourist trappiness near the parking lot and staging base. Ignore the touts and don't stop or engage them. They will go after easier targets, so don't make yourself the Weakest Link.

If there's one thing about mass Chinese tourism, they tend to "clump" in predictable and fairly strictly circumscribed places at any given famous site. Doesn't mean one has to clump along with them.