Hike on hill trails and Great Wall between Jiankou and Beigou Village, getting a look at both ‘wild’ and repaired Great Wall and finishing with a scenic walk down into Beigou Village.
Level 4
Starts with a long climb up to the wall that is steep in places. (Can I do it?)
On this trip you’ll visit the rugged Jiankou Great Wall and hike over to the top section of the restored Mutianyu Great Wall, both located in Huairou District, to the north of Beijing.
Jiankou is famed for being one of the most photographed sections of Great Wall, with its steep rugged cliffs making a stunning backdrop.
The Mutianyu Great Wall was restored between 1982 and 1986, and is one of the most popular sections of the Great Wall for tourists to visit, due to the superb views.
This version of the Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike finishes at Beigou Village instead of the main section of the Mutianyu Great Wall.
Why finish at Beigou Village instead of the Mutianyu Great Wall?
We’re offering this trail instead of the classic Jiankou to Mutianyu Great Wall hike because there’s a high chance that the Mutianyu Great Wall guards will prevent us from crossing over into the ticketed section of the Mutianyu Great Wall. In some situations you might be able to sneak in. For us, it’s not worth the potential trouble.
Prices and inclusions
Prices
* Discounts available for larger groups.
Group size
2
3
4–6
7–9
10+*
Price per person
¥1,500
¥1,100
¥800
¥700
¥600
Inclusions
English-speaking Beijing Hikers guide
• Round-trip transport in private vehicle from central Beijing
• Trail access fees
• Bottled water, snacks, lunch and drinks
• Hiking sticks
Not included: surprise shopping trips.
The Great Wall in Beijing
Beijing Municipality has more than 600km of Great Wall, found mainly in the mountains north and northeast of the city. The majority of Beijing’s Great Wall dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), but there are remnants of much older wall to be found, too.
Original construction of the wall at Jiankou started around 1000 years ago, in the Tang dynasty (618–907). Most of what we will see on the first part of this hike is the remains of the Ming Dynasty wall, built between 1568 and 1615 by General Qi Jiguang.
The Great Wall at Jiankou runs up and down impossibly steep ridgelines, and it’s known as one of the most dangerous parts of the wall to hike. Our trail avoids the danger zones—you’ll see them in the distance, and we think you will agree with us that they’re nicer to look at than to hike on.
There has been a wall at Mutianyu since the Northern Qi dynasty (550-577).
During the Ming Dynasty the older wall was rebuilt and reinforced, and would have looked much like it looks today, with the tall wall and large towers guarding an important pass.
The Mutianyu Great Wall was restored between 1982 and 1986, and is one of the most popular sections of the Great Wall for tourists to visit, due to the superb views.
On this visit we’ll hike the top section of the Mutianyu Great Wall, going as far as Tower 20, which marks the boundary of the ticketed park area.
At Tower 20 there will be cameras and security guards who would prevent us from crossing over into the ticketed part of the Mutianyu Great Wall.
We’ll exit the wall here and hike a paved trail down the hillside to Beigou Village, passing through tidy chestnut orchards on our way down to the village square.
