Camping: Gubeikou Great Wall and Jinshanling Great Wall
Camp overnight in a tower at the Gubeikou Great Wall, and hike on to Jinshanling the next day. You’ll hike easier with just the essentials in your day pack; we’ll arrange delivery of the camping equipment to the campsite.
Booking info
May 4–5 (Sat–Sun)
¥1,700 / ¥1,530 for members
Payment in advance required for this hike. More about payments
We finish the trip in Hebei Province, and will go through a border control checkpoint on the way home. You’ll need to bring your passport/ID card in case we’re asked to show ID at the border.
On this visit we’ll be doing the Saturday night meal at a farmhouse instead of the campsite. (Fire prevention rules.)
On this two day Great Wall adventure you’ll hike picturesque stretches of the wild Great Wall and camp in a Great Wall tower at Gubeikou.
We'll supply a tent, sleeping bag, and ground pad for you, as well as a farmhouse dinner and a basic campsite breakfast. All you’ll need is a day pack to carry your essentials while hiking, leaving you free to enjoy the scenery, sunset, stars, and sunrise as we hike along the Gubeikou and Jinshanling sections of the Great Wall.
Maximum group size of 12 hikers; book early to make sure you get a spot!
Bad weather plan
We'll have a fairly good idea of the weather by about three days before the hike. If it's forecast to be dangerous, we'd need to call off the hike. If it changes suddenly while we're out there, we can shelter at our local friend's courtyard.
The campsite
Our campsite is a partially restored tower at the Gubeikou Great Wall. With the wall at our backs, we’ll have broad views to the south, east, and west.
There are no bathroom facilities near the campsite.
We’ll organise delivery of our camping gear to the campsite for you. If you have extra things to take to and from the campsite, you should carry them by yourself or pay extra to the porters. (We can help you get a quote for portage.)
At night
The sun will set around 7:12pm, and from the campsite we’ll be able to watch as the sun slowly sinks below below a tall ridge of mountains.
Moon phase: Third Quarter.
The sun will rise over the the hills and wall beyond our campsite at around about 5:09am.
Hiking trail
On the first day of the trip we’ll explore the Great Wall at Gubeikou, a relatively easy hike that has magnificent views of the Great Wall running through the hills. We’ll hike the lower section of the Gubeikou Great Wall first, hiking for about 3 hours. We’ll come down off the wall to fill up with an early dinner at a local farmhouse, and then hike back up to Gubeikou’s top towers, arriving in time to enjoy the golden hour and sunset.
On the second day of the trip we’ll hike on to the Jinshanling Great Wall. We'll hike up to the high point of the Gubeikou Great Wall, and then head down into the farmland that surrounds Hemp Village. After a 45-60 minute hike through the fields, we'll climb a hill trail to get on to the western end of the Jinshanling Great Wall. We’ll walk all of the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall to finish at the eastern end with a walk down a park trail to the carpark where our bus will meet us.
Maximum group size of 10–12 hikers; book early to make sure you get a spot!
Kid’s prices
This camping trip is not suitable for kids younger than 7—too long, too steep.
For more details about meals, water, packing lists, and more, please see the sections below.
COVID-19 and participation precautions
The current precautions are minimal. Please read in full here: Operating hikes under COVID-19 precautions
