Private Hike from Beijing: Go Beyond The Jiankou and Mutianyu Great Wall

We booked a driver through Viator to do Jiankou to Mutianyu section of the Great Wall on Christmas Day. Once booked, James contacted almost immediately us to confirm our pick up time and location via email. He messaged us the day before our trip to confirm again and to warn us that the weather might make conditions dangerous due to snow/ice. Zuo our driver picked us up and we drove toward jiankou. Despite us being worried about the language barrier in terms of arranging a pick up point etc, Zuo communicated expertly through phone translation and proved to be very humorous and entertained us greatly on our journey. When we hit icy/snowy roads, he safely navigated tricky parts, before making the decision to alter our drop off point for safety reasons. Although it cut off a little bit of our walk, we were more than happy with the new point and understood how to communicate with him when we reached the other end. We had an amazing walk on the snowy, wild section of the wall, seeing only a handful of people for the first few hours. Incredible views, steep bits to climb up and slip down, a brilliant adventure despite our trainers not being the best footwear for quite deep snow (possibly crampons would have been useful!). When we got Mutianyu however, it was very clear that this was the tourist section which was a very different experience from the wild section. After a couple of texts to Zuo, we climbed down from the wall and got a shuttle bus to where he was waiting for us. The walk took us about 5 hours, but included lots of stops for views, photos, snacks and working out how to scramble up steep bits. He provided us with water when we reached the end and made sure we were comfortable for our 2 hour drive home. Thanks to James for organising and to Zuo for helping make our Christmas Day trip one to remember - we’d love to return. Highly recommended, an amazing experience!!

Mr. Gao was a great guide. He took very good care of me on this “wild” section of the Great Wall. In my opinion, this is the best way to experience the Great Wall… to see a portion that is left as it has been for centuries, coupled with a portion that has been restored but is incredibly scenic. This is a much better option than the Badaling. Section which has been overly commercialized.

Der Kontakt war super. Alle Fragen wurden schnell beantwortet, zu jederzeit! Wir wurden direkt und pünktlich an unserer Unterkunft abgeholt. Der Anfangspunkt der Wanderung kommt einem erstmals verlassen vor. Zu Beginn des Aufstiegs zur Mauer hatten wir Schwierigkeiten, da wir nicht genau wussten wo wir entlang müssen. Nach etwas hin und her und harten aufstiegen, sind wir der blauen Aufstiegsroute gefolgt. Die Tour ist anstrengend, aber der Blick ist einmalig! Auch die Richtung der Tour ist perfekt, erst anstrengend und dann kommt man zur ausgebauten Mauer. Ich kann diese Tour nur weiter empfehlen, wenn man mehr möchte als nur auf der ausgebauten Mauer zu laufen. Unser Fahrer war super nett, wir fühlten uns sehr wohl! Vielen Dank für das tolle Erlebnis!