WOW! I still can't believe that I have walked at that height and above all have "trampled" the history and the gigantic structure that it is.
Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and included in 2007 among the seven wonders of the modern world, it is ABSOLUTELY A SHOW, both architectural and landscape!
We took a trek to the old part of the wall, and walked all the way to the renovated one.
You get to see how it was in the old days by walking on the walls, and visiting the towers.
Very nice tour. Definitely worth it.
Jiankou is a couple hour ride north of Beijing but it is well worth the trip.
Make no mistake about it, this is the real deal. You must book with a licensed guide to visit this section. They will obtain the necessary permits for you at the village near the base of the mountain. Foreigners are not allowed to visit on their own.
There are no gift shops, tour groups, bus loads of tourists, or crowds. It is just you, a mountain trail and the wall high up on the ridgeline in the diatance. The hike up from the parking are takes about 35 minutes to reach the base of the wall. You should bring a daypack with plenty of water.
Our guide, James, took us to a place where we could climb about 40 feet to the top. From there we were facing an incredibly steep section and that is where the adventure began. This trip is not for the faint of heart. It involves bouldering, scrambling on exposed rock, and climbing in areas where the drop to the left or right is several hundred feet down.
We used James Zhang from Hiking The Wall (look him up online). He is an experienced guide, climber, hiker, and photographer.
The vistas on this trip are amazing. Our entire hike we met one other person. If you are scared of heights or clumsy, this is not the trip for you.
I never get tired of going here. My friend Joe and I were the first westerners allowed to climb here years ago. Before then, none had even been to the village-much less that section of the wall.
Seen tons of pictures, watched the movie several times - but being there still took my breath away!
It was unbelievable - I was really at THE Great Wall! We went to the Juyongguan portion - our guide informed us this was where former Pres. Obama visited last year.
I liked that the start trek was easy, but when the stairs came it was really a struggle as I have bad knees. So I finally stopped after about a couple of hundred steps - all assault (if this was a mountain climb).
Still, the view from up there was awe-inspiring. We could have lingered and climbed at our own pace, but it was winter and sooo cold! And the drawback of being on a packaged tour is that you have very limited time to savor the wonder and beauty of it all!
There was a complex of souvenir shops near where the buses were parked - we had no time to visit though. But we still got a souvenir - a bamboo scroll with our names and with Chinese characters about the great Wall and the brave people who built it and those who climbed it, etc. It was kinda expensive but well worth the expense. Afterall, we're not sure we'll ever be back.
It’s amazing at how large the Wall is, but wasn’t my cup of tea. Fun and interesting history. About 20 minutes of walking, all starts to look the same. Also went when it was really cold (January) so maybe that’s why it wasn’t as enjoyable for my wife and I. The slide down was really cool though!
