This is the most classic hiking route on the Great Wall, taking about 5 hours to complete a distance of 10 km (6 miles) from Jiankou section to Mutianyu section. Challenge the most precipitous Jiankou section of the Great Wall, wild, weathered and primitive. Photographers and hikers love this section, which is also the iconic image of the Great Wall as you can see in many photo albums. Mutianyu section of the Great Wall boasts the most beautiful scenery of all the sections. It is restored and tourist-friendly. Hiking the whole route is like traveling through time from primitive to modern, presenting three phases of the Great Wall with striking contrast from wild, half-repaired to totally repaired.
Tour Highlights
- Challenge the most precipitous and wildest Great Wall at Jiankou.
- Visit the most beautiful section of Mutianyu at full repair.
- A travel of time to experience two sections of the Great Wall with striking contrast.
- A unique Great Wall hiking experience escorted by professional guide.
- Quality climbing and hiking equipment provided to ensure safety with all the adventure.
The Design of the Day Trip
- Guide: better than a normal licensed tour guide; friendly and helpful with fluent English
- Driver: reliable licensed local driver with at least 5 years' driving experience
- Vehicle: Air-conditioned business car (max: 7 seats) with GPS facilities, big windows, and ample space
- Trippest Beijing Office: 24/7 customer service, providing backup support
Detailed Itinerary
Meet your guide around 7:00 AM - 7:30 AM at your hotel lobby, and ride about 2½ hours to the Great Wall at Jiankou in our tour vehicle. Jiankou is near Badaohe Village, northwest Huairou County, a suburb of Beijing. It is one of the most challenging sections of the Great Wall, as it is completely wild Great Wall. There you can see splendid mountains and untouched ancient history.
Great Wall Hiking Route Map from Jiankou to Mutianyu (click to enlarge)
Our professional guide
Our comfortable vehicle
Good to Know:
- Although it is a dangerous part of the Great Wall, we have made all the preparations to ensure your safety.
- It is necessary to wear comfortable hiking shoes for the hiking.
- Drive to the foot of the mountains.
- Walk through a village and hike up to the Great Wall on a mountain path.
- Arrive at Zhengbei Watch Tower (Geographic coordinates: 40°27'16.44"N 116°32'9.78"E).
- Take a ladder up Zhengbei Watch Tower (Your guide will pay 5 yuan to the local farmers who maintain it).
- Ascend to the highest watch tower at Jiankou, then walk down to the untouched part of the Great Wall at Mutianyu along the rolling ridgeline and hoary walls.
- From the Mutianyu visitors' gate hike the reconstructed Great Wall from the 23rd to 10th watch tower.
Walk through a village and hike up to the Great Wall on a mountain path.
Take a ladder up Zhengbei Watch Tower
Breath-taking view of the Great Wall at Jiankou from the top of the mountain
Hiking up the Great Wall
A steep section of the Great Wall
Map of Mutianyu Great Wall (click to enlarge)
Arrived at Mutianyu section of Great Wall
Flowers were booming at the Mutianyu section of Great Wall
Get down from the Great Wall and we will head to our well selected local restaurant - Xinshuangquan to have a rest and enjoy your delicious Beijing local style lunch here. Lunch fee is not included in the pricing.
Enjoy a delicious Beijing local style lunch
Take ferry bus to the foot of the Great Wall range, and a 5-minute walk to a parking lot, where you will board your vehicle and head back to Beijing.
You may follow us on our Facebook page to see the latest updates, photos and posts from your tour guide at: https://www.facebook.com/trippest/
Know Before You Book
Price Includes:
- Entrance fees to the Great Wall at Jiankou and Mutianyu.
- Transport between Beijing hotel and the Great Wall.
- English-speaking professional tour guide service.
- Bottle Water.
Price Excludes:
- Cable car at the Great Wall.
- Lunch.
- Gratuities to the tour guide & driver (usually CNY 50 - 100 per person per day for each of them, please tip them separately.). It is not compulsory but would be a great encouragement for them.
- Airport transfer.
Important Notes:
- Minimum number of participants required for the tour to run is 2. Tour may be canceled in case of minimum number of participants not met. You will get a full refund.
- This tour will be not available on Winter (Dec. 01 - Feb. 28).
- We don't recommend taking babies and children under 12 to do this Great Wall hike, as it requires sure-footedness and stamina, and is potentially dangerous.
- The Jiankou section of the Great Wall is reopen to tourists now. But if this section of Great Wall is closed due to the government control and force majeure events, we will change Jinshanling section of the Great Wall instead of Jiankou which is also amazing at the same price. You can simply visit this link to see the details: One-Day Simatai West to Jinshanling Great Wall Hiking Tour.
FAQs About This Tour
Hotel pickup and drop-off services are available within the 4th Ring Zone of Beijing, if it is outside of this area, we provide the following ways for you to meet the tour guide:
- Go to one of meeting hotels below. Transportation is at your own expense. Meeting time will be confirmed and emailed you one day earlier.
The Regent Beijing, address: No.99, Jinbao Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing. Closed to Exit C of Dengshikou Subway Station (Line No.5). Taxi from aiport: 27km far, cost approx. US$20 one way.
Gehua New Century Hotel Beijing, address: No.19, Gulou Outer Street, North 3th Ring Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing. Closed to Exit E of Anyuanqiao Subway Station (Line No.8). Taxi from aiport: 27km far, cost approx. US$20 one way. - Book additional transfer service with us. Cost will be advised by your travel advisor according to your hotel location.
- In order to save your valuable time, according to current traffic condition, the tour guide might arrange a private DiDi Taxi (Uber) for you to return your hotel after tour. Your Didi car can be monitored on DiDi APP, and the tour guide will also call your hotel to check if you arrive safe.
- If you are not sure whether your hotel is within our pickup area, please kindly check with your hotel. Or add WeChat ID: trippest666 for more assistance.
Hotel Pick-up and Drop-off Area Map of Beijing City
- If we are not able to implement the contract due to war, flood, typhoon, fire, strikes, storm, earthquake, or any other condition we are not able to foresee and avoid, we will inform customers at the first possible opportunity and offer the best possible solutions, and the final bill shall be settled based on the service we actually provide.
- Up to 7 days before departure: 100% refund of all money paid, excluding penalties charged by hotels, railways, airlines, and PayPal, if applicable. All penalties will be itemized.
- From 3 to 7 days before departure: 90% refund, excluding penalties charged by hotels, railways, airlines, and PayPal, if applicable. All penalties will be itemized.
- Within 3 days before departure: no refund.
- After the trip has commenced, we are unable to refund any amount for cancelled services due to non-participation, early departure, late arrival, or missed days on tours.
- For groups of more than 10 people: The terms for cancellation may vary from case to case. Please ask your travel advisor regarding the cancellation policy for your group.
Citizens of certain countries who meet the criteria are allowed 72-hour visa-free transit via and travel in nine China cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Guilin, Shenyang, and Dalian. Please make sure you have read the detailed Visa-free policies before you decide to take the Visa-free policy. And please keep in mind that China Highlights does not take any resposibility for the risk or loss of customer who use the Visa-free policy. more details
This hiking route is comparatively more difficult to hike because of its craggy and unrepaired condition. It requires average fitness to complete, very suitable for hikers of previous mountain climbing experience. As for children, parents should decide whether or not to take them based on children's physical situation.
The part from Xizhazi Village at mountain foot to Zhengbeilou Watch Tower takes almost one hour of tough climbing. The mountain is craggy with no fixed paths. The only way is to walk through the jungle and keep staring at your destination (Zhengbeilou Watch Tower) on top of the mountain in order not to get lost.
The real hiking starts after climbing up to Zhengbeilou. The majority parts of Jiankou Great Wall are heavily weathered with no steps. Its slippery and steep slopes (almost 90 degrees) are also full of ripraps. As you leave behind Jiankou and enter Mutianyu Great Wall, which is fully repaired, you'll feel suddenly entering into an open space where the roads are smoother and your views panoramic.
What Makes Us Different
- We have been touring the Great Wall hiking trails for 8 years, and all the relevant services we provide are reliable and optimized.
- You don't need to prepare trekking poles, water, hip bag, GPS, first aid kit, or walkie-talkie, because we will provide them FREE OF CHARGE (please let us known if you need them).
We are experienced and professional
- Our guides are professionally trained in mountain trekking.
- Your tour guide will be with you to take care of your needs during the trip, and we have our own service site at the Great Wall at Jiankou offers free ice-cool water and dealing with emergencies for China Highlights customers.
Professional mountain guide and customers
Unlike some other online travel agents who sell tour products made by local travel agents, we built our own branch company in Beijing in 2010, and since then we started to make our own unique products. We aim to deliver a high-value tour to every one of our customers. We have more than 50 local staff in Beijing to solve your problems on the spot.
- Beijing address: Room 204, Building 8, Beijingxiangsu, Wuliqiao Erjie, Chaoyang District
Trippest Beijing Office
Mobile: +86 18807734970
WeChat: trippest666
Email: niko@trippest.com