Which Great Wall?
 

I'll be in Beijing next week and I need to know which great wall I should go to?

Mutianyu?

Badaling?

Jinshanling?

I went to the Great Wall at Mutianyu in 1993. Stopped at the Ming Tombs on the way. Had to wade your way through a sea of vendors selling all types of things. Wall was quite steep in both directions (I made it to the second tower on the left side on crutches). It was also very windy and extremely cold (April). Not sure what it's like today, but very much enjoyed my visit.

Are the vendors aggressive? or you can just walk by them without being followed or stalked...

Mutianyu is the best choice of the three for December. Jinshanling is too far for the short days. Badaling not as impressive and will have more visitors. You may safely skip the Ming Tombs, secure in the knowledge that you haven't missed much.

The "gauntlet" at Mutianyu isn't bad or particularly aggressive. It's just the path that leads up to the walking path, cable car, and chairlift accesses. There are little souvenir shops and some eateries lining the path, some with touts that may call out to you. But they aren't grabby or anything, you just walk past, no big deal. The biggest stalkers tend to be the ladies selling souvenir booklets and post cards, but just shake your head and ignore them.

Since it is very cold and windy in December (bundle up including head and hands), both tourist crowds and stalkers are in shorter supply than in tourist season.

In 2009 we visited the Simatai section of walls. Much less crowded, very picturesque, sinuous sections n various states of repair (some quite well done, looking like they had just been abandoned by their defenders), lovely scenery, opportunities to walk and picnic, a few vendors who were more friendly than obstreperous, and even the sounds of ringneck pheasants in the background. It's a bit remote, but we had a spectacular day indeed. (This was in May, so perhaps the weather was a bit more inviting - it was sunny, cool with a little breeze and the air was immaculate.)

Simatai is closed and slated to reopen late next year. If things have changed hope someone can update.

Couldn't agree more.... Just hope for a clear day.

We did the hike from Jinshanling to Simatai in 2006. The hike was great, but the ladies that follow you all along the trail trying to sell the photobook or postcards are quite persistent and annoying. And don't be fooled (as we were) into thinking that once you buy something, you'll be left alone.

After finally giving in and purchasing the stupid book (just to get rid of the woman and have some peaceful time to ourselves), there was another woman waiting for us at the next tower, and she continued walking with us to the following tower, where we were handed off to the next tout. That was the one black mark on what was otherwise a wonderful experience.

U can ride the toboggan down at mutianyu!

...or zip line down at Simatai. :)

While I had my doubts about the safety of the chairlift and alpine slide at Mutianyu, I figured any accident (particularly on the slide) was survivable. Not sure that's true of the zipline.

More to the point, we enjoyed Mutianyu this summer. Weather wasn't ideal - cloudy and humid, but fortunately not very hot. But not terribly crowded (for China) and the vendors stayed in check.

Another vote for Mutianyu

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