Great Wall Recomendation
 

My buddy and I have 3 days coming up in Beijing the 2nd week in January. We obviously know we want to go check out the great wall of china but are curious if people recommend doing it on their own, private tour, or larger group tour? We're staying at the Park Hyatt Beijing if that matters. Any suggestions, ideas and past experience would be great.

You do not need a guide not a tour to visit the Wall. You just need transportation to get there. Unless you want to take the public bus to the Badaling section, you just hire a driver. Check for drivers here: http://www.thebeijinger.com/classifieds/cars-drivers
Do not get a driver from the hotel as they will add their own markup.

Check out Beijing Hikers for ideas. You could also go in one of their hikes, but with 3 or more people, getting your own car pencils favorably.

I went on a hike with Beijing hikers and loved it. I would definitely recommend them.

Dr. PITUK

The Great Wall is pretty big so you need to decide which part you want to visit. I went to Badaling which has the highest point and there is a cable car you can take if you don't want to walk all the way up. With that said, it is very crowded and since you're going in winter then expect a lot of smog. It also gets very cold so dress warmly and be careful since parts of the wall are quite steep. I had friends who went to the more remote area and they liked it because there were a lot less people, but the conditions were not as good.

To elaborate, they go to some awesome wall sections (that have never been discussed here), have guides who are capable of physically carrying you down if you get injured, and attract cool customers.

That having been said, the maps/instructions on their website are easy to replicate on your own. Just be prepared to pay off the gatekeepers, and haul your injured companion off of the mountain if need be. In addition to saving money, going on your own will spare you of the need to head out at 7a. Please join our Wechat group if you go alone; 100 people are there to help you.

Thanks for the responses. We're thinking of going with a tour group. I guess the next question would be what part of the wall do you recommend? Since we're going to be there in January we know it will be cold but hopefully less crowded.

Did you look at the Beijing Hikers list that conforms with your visit? Their January spots are pretty interesting.

Nice timing on this thread for me.

My wife and I are spending 1 day in Beijing before heading to my grandparents in Liaoning.

So land 1/28 late-ish, arrange a day trip guided tour GW + Tiananmen/Forbidden Palace for 1/29, and take a train at 2pm on 1/30. Sounds like a similar itinerary to as Dad to Go and the suggestions in "1 Day In Beijing".

What experiences do people have with hiring a driver? How do you choose/organize the sites? Are the prices usually per person or total?

A mid sized car costs around 600 depending on the chosen location; treating drivers to lunch is also pretty common. Additionally, many sites have a per person entry fee (50-150).

My suggestion,

1/29 - GW + Summer palace or Temple of heaven
1/30 - Tianamen + Forbidden palace (it should take approximately 3-4 hours)

Tiananmen is the entrance to the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square is across the street from it. Personally, I think 1.5-2 hours is enough for the Forbidden City, so I try to tack on Beihai, and more, but I do know some people who can't get enough of the palace museum.

If you're feeling a little adventurous I recommend using Joe's great wall hiking tour. We literally saw no one else and were hiking on parts of the great wall that were crumbling. It was a great adventure.

Here is his trip advisor link:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...r-Beijing.html

What sections did you go to?

I don't know the name, I just know it was super rural. I've attached a few photos if that helps.

That looks like Huanghuacheng, where I visited. Was there a lake/reservoir over to your right?

Thank you for the recommendations.

I was looking at some of the tours. They talked about shopping stops. I'm intrinsically against the idea.

There's also a significant discount between tours available on ctrip. Anyone have experiences with that?

I was also thinking Huanghua when I saw his pictures.

Nope there wasn't a lake there. It was primarily surrounded by a few farms. I know we drove quite awhile to get there, passing some vineyards along the way.

Could it possibly be Gubeikou? Gubeikou is without doubt my favorite section of the Great Wall near Beijing. Unspoiled and never many people (Unless Beijing hiking group is there).
Often times no charge at all, although on the weekends there's some persons who collect RMB25 once you start hiking along the Wall.

So, I looked through my emails and I believe the section we hiked was Qiangzilu. There wasn't anyone on the wall, however we did pass a few farmers in the crops nearby.

advice
 

So I used this site to try and book a private taxi from PEK to downtown Beijing. The price quoted (200 RMB) was not bad - but - driver was a no show. Instead, I took a regular cab and it cost me 120 RMB incl. toll charges.

My advice? If you are on a budget, book your own tour and use Beijing Metro wherever possible. Costs less, no road tolls, and more reliable!

This thread is about the Great Wall, and apart from badaling, the metro doesn't go there.

Nobody here has advocated using the classifieds to book drivers from PEK to downtown, but it can be nice to have your own car on day trips outside of town.

A driver cost 500 to 700RMB. I would obviously not rely on someone who quotes me 200RMB. I have been to the Wall several times (whenever friends and family visit) and never had issue with a driver.
The metro does not go to the Wall but some buses do. Badaling by bus is 12RMB. This is the cheapest way to see the Wall.

He was referring to PEK to downtown (not a Great Wall trip) for 200.

I see. i thought that this thread was about the Great Wall.

Yes, well, that's why we try to read carefully :D

On topic, we paid $200USD for a tour to Huanghua (picked up at Beijing hotel, driven out there, hiking) then back through town (and grocery shopping & dumpling lunch) and to the airport. Possibly a little more expensive than we could have had but we did 2 days with Xiaowei and he was amazing.

read the thread before adding your comment, please
 

Hoyaheel, are you hallucinating or what?

The entry I cited included a WEB site. The WEB site includes # offers for rides from PEK to Beijing, for 200 RMB. Did you even read it?

You do not need a guide not a tour to visit the Wall. You just need transportation to get there. Unless you want to take the public bus to the Badaling section, you just hire a driver. Check for drivers here: http://www.thebeijinger.com/classifieds/cars-drivers
Do not get a driver from the hotel as they will add their own markup.

I used this information, and was burned by information. So I simply warned FTs about this.

In your post, you said this thread is about Wall Transport. As you can see, other FTs posted a link for transport to the CBD, and I added a qualifier for others.

I suggest you read it before commenting?

The Beijinger is the oldest English language magazine about Beijing that is currently in print. (It started out as "That's Beijing", but another party stole that title.) IMO it is an invaluable resource that has always attracted great writers (e.g. Kaiser Kuo).

Your warning against relying on their classifieds for airport transfers is simply not relevant to this thread. Are you under the impression that they vet all the drivers who advertise there? Does your local newspaper do this?

@hoyaheel: $200 is a lot for huanghua unless your driver had a very nice car.

Some friendly guy this Antonio8069!
Everybody uses theBeijinger and have for years. And talking about reading, I was answering a question about going to the Wall. Nothing wrong with taking taxis if you are just going to the city.

As I noted, it was more than just the Wall ^ But yes, we acknowledged we could have had a cheaper trip. We felt that the day and a half of driving & touring & airport drop-off was definitely worth the money we spent.

We ended up going with beijing highlights tour to do Forbidden City, Tiananmen, and Great Wall Mutianyu in 1 day. It was $129 per person which included all tickets, lunch, and gondola up + toboggan down. There were only 6 of us on the tour. It was really good value in my opinion. The pacing was very good.

We did the ruined portion of Badaling when we visited in summer 2012. Very few people there and quite peaceful. Our tour guide gave up after some time, and we continued to hike for a while. Really enjoyed it, especially given how sparsely visited this section was.

Any suggestions for which driver is any good?

I can highly recommend Simon (http://simon-service.com). I used him after seeing all the recommendations here on FT and could not have been more pleased. He is excellent and I would use him again in a heartbeat.
More reviews: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attractio...e-Beijing.html

Thank you- I will contact him

I used Simon as well, fair price, good service.