BTW, today ended up being downright pleasant at 51 degrees with a light breeze.... quite a bit different the 5 degrees with 20 mph Siberian winds we experienced on Thursday, which got me thinking seriously about basing myself out of Shenzhen for a few months.

Recommended Great Wall sections from the Great Wall Forum:

http://www.greatwallforum.com/forum/...locations.html

Just to clarify one item from earlier in this thread, too: It is not possible to see Badaling from Juyongguan, they are much too far apart. Juyongguan is just a large circular fortress so it does not connect with anything.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, bryanf.

Your post took some time to show up because, as a first post with a web link / URL, it was sent to a moderation queue to be approved as part of FlyerTalk's spam control protocols. (It's been approved now.)

Yur post also makes a good point - many think it's one long wall, but the yclept "Great Wall" is a hotch potch of walls built over 20 centuries (5th century BC to 1600s), some connected some not, some looking more like a spider than a long worm. ;) We did a trip to Simatai, and really enjoyed the relative solitude - though not in winter! - with a breeze, clear skies, the calls of ring-necked pheasants, stunning scenery.

Take a look at this jpg on wikipedia to see what I'm talking about (too large for FlyerTalk).

Thanks for approving my post.

Many people are quite surprised to find the Great Wall has hundreds of segments from different dynasties that are not all joined up in a single line.

People should also be aware that Simatai is now closed, and no re-opening date has yet been announced.

The Great Wall in winter can be beautiful, but with the cold temperatures and high winds of the mountain ridges, you really have to dress warm!

It just happened again, bryanf! :) (I takes perhaps 3 ~ 5 so those with a URL are not sent to a moderation queue).

But you have some sage advice - it can be windy and very cold at many wall sections, and depending on people's preferences, they can prepare best by reading and choosing what they want - from the bad (feeding small live animals to lions at Badaling) to great hiking, reconstructed vs. "as is", etc.

still trying to decide...
 

We are in a similar boat. Less than 60 days to our trip, and we're debating on whether to see the GW at Mutianyu or Badaling. Naturally, coming to the experts for advice.

We'll be in Beijing/at the GW in late March (24-26). We want to avoid crowds/tackiness, but we're not sure how much of that we would see in March? Here are the other considerations:
1. There are 4 of us, 2 adults, 2 kids (10 & 11). Kids won't care where they saw the wall, but one of the adults will (looking for more authenticity).
2. Cost - we're finding it significantly more expensive to get to Mutianyu than Badaling. Can someone suggest how much extra we'd pay to do the combo bus or train and then taxi via Huairou to make Mutianyu worth it? Any other suggestions or ways to get Mutianyu without hiring an expensive driver? (Those questions asked, I haven't yet researched jiejie's links to Leo Hostel and DT Beijing Backpackers). Would they get us to Mutianyu and back?
3. We don't know anybody in Beijing, so are there forums (like this one?) that will connect travelers who may want to share a van or car to make it more affordable?

Bottom line is if we can get to Mutianyu on the cheap, that's where we'll go. Otherwise, Badaling may be our choice, but would it be such a bad one in late March?

I have to give a shout out of thanks to both jiejie and moondog who have both been very helpful with their recommendations/advice. Thanks!

edited to add that I just reviewed bryanf's forum. Very informative. The photos at Badaling with the enormous crowds appeared to be in September/Oct. Can we expect similar crowds in March, or was this simply a national holiday? Are there any such holidays in March we should be aware of?

Whatever you do, go to the ones you can hike from one site to another. ^

If you must have a starbucks after the walk, go to Badaling.
otherwise avoid it like I avoid tourist traps.

Mutianyu is the best one for short term visitors.

Although it's such a grand place, you can't really go wrong going any of the places (except Badaling). :P

Late March: There will be more domestic and foreign tourists than in mid-winter, but it is still not a busy time for leisure travel so wherever you choose should be manageable. I would still tend to avoid weekends at Badaling, just to be sure. But Badaling at this time of year during the week, especially if you just walk on the way about 20 minutes away from the main access point, should be acceptably free of huge crowds. There are definitely ways to manage and get a good GW experience at Badaling, if that turns out to be your most cost-effective option.

It will still likely be chilly but more jacket or windbreaker weather rather than coat weather. Still, with kids 10 and 11, I would not plan on long day hiking but maybe a couple of hours along the Wall itself is enough.

Mutianyu: The direct bus from Dongzhimen bus station in Beijing to Mutianyu Great Wall unfortunately will likely not be running, as it usually starts up again around mid-April. Mutianyu by public bus will be cheaper on your wallet than a private car, you just have to be willing to spend a couple of extra hours-ish overall on the excursion, due to lower travel efficiencies. Metrics based on 2011 prices (for simplicity sake, I will treat each child as a full adult fare, you might get away with a cut rate if they are small, China does child fares by size not age):
--Public bus Dongzhimen to Huairou: RMB 17 x 4 = RMB 68.
--Minibus Huairou to Mutianyu GW: RMB 20 x 4 = RMB 80. You might be able to find an empty that will leave immediately for your family, without waiting for others to fill the minibus, for about RMB 100.
--Minibus back to Huiarou: RMB 80 total
--Public bus Huairou-Beijing: RMB 68. Total of around RMB 300 for transportation. Expect to spend about 2.5 hours each way for this transport sequence, vs 1.5 hours by private car costing RMB 600-700. So value proposition: is RMB 300-400 savings worth 2 to 3 hours of your time? Only you know your Beijing schedule and can answer that. Entry fees are extra of course, and so are cable car fees if you use. This will go for any other GW location as well.

Badaling: By far the cheapest DIY excursion, as train tickets from the conveniently-located Beijing North (Xizhimen) Station are less than RMB 20 per person for the best seats each way, about half of that for the standard seats. So you could manage total transport for the whole family to/from Badaling for in the range of RMB 90 to 140. And you can buy those tickets daily, on a walk-up basis. Though train frequency is cut back in the winter, by late March they should have the usual decent selection of times back--you can doublecheck when you get to Beijing. I recommend you seriously consider this option if you are on a tight budget.

Do take a look at those hostel tours also though. They will provide full round-trip transport to/from Beijing, and also usually the entry fees, guide, lunch, etc. Read the offering to see what's included. Normally the hostel tours don't waste time with shopping stops, as the backpacker demographic they are geared to have short patience with that sort of thing--and little discretionary money to waste.

I'm a bit perplexed as to why this is such a common conclusion among visitors (most of whom, have been to 0 or 1 other Great Wall sections). Is it the allure of the alpine slide (admittedly cool)?

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. :rolleyes: 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.

But if they have been to all three (of the main) I feel they can chime in on which is "best" in their opinion. Otherwise agree 100%.

IMO, judging from the posts and the profiles, very few posters here at FT have this sort of comparative experience on the Great Wall segments. And especially not at various times of the year for all of them. There is no "best" in absolute terms. There are fact-based category winners subject to little dispute or discussion, such as Easiest to Access from Beijing, Most Unreconstructed, Least Dangerous, Fewest Visitors. But even winner of the Most Scenic can be subjective.

Fair enough. As someone who has only visited two, my only recommendation is to find a way to hike between two sections. Better than doing the simple tourist deal. ^

From a cost perspective, there are tours operated by various companies. Most of them are reliable. We found one such tour to Mutiyanu for $30 per person, and this includes pick up and drop off at the hotel, ming tombs, lunch and the customary stops at a jade and silk factory. The cable ride was excluded. The overall experience was very nice. The guide spoke decent English as well.