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Published: June 23rd 2017
Geo: 39.9165, 116.391
Day One: I reached the Beijing airport at 5.50am, my plan for the day was to take the 9 am School Bus to the Mutianyu wall section. The Mutianyu section which is near the Beijing airport is much better and nicer than the Badling section which is nearer the Beijing City but is very crowded. At the Beijing airport, I took the taxi from the official queue, the taxi driver was a good man; he kept the taxi- meter on and agreed to wait while I put the luggage at the hotel. I showed him the letterhead with hotel name written in Chinese as many people in Beijing do not speak English. The staff at Novotel Xinquio, were v slow and took a long time that the taxi driver got worried but eventually he took me to Kempinski Hotel at 8.40 am.
Please keep the letterhead of the hotel in Chinese with you all the time and also a guidebook with Chinese letters for the attractions in case you need to ask people for directions or to take a taxi. We did wait for a little time for the rest of the group and then we
set off, the bus was very comfortable and there were seven of us on this tour. Camilla, who was from Lithuania, was also on her own so we teamed up together, we reached the School House at 11.15 am and it is about 10 mins walk to the cable car. It cost me 120 yaun for the return trip and a small afternoon village tour is included in the price, but I wanted to spend more time on the wall. Here is link to the Schoolbus as this is ideal for Solo travellers but if there are more then two in your group then you can hire a taxi to take you to Mutianyu wall, a guide is not necessary for the trip to wall.
It was great joy to see the Mutianyu wall and the beautiful scenery, we opted to go left where there are some steep climbs, the weather was sunny and was very warm for November. Here is a useful map for the wall, toilets. http://www.greatwallforum.com/forum/mutianyu/94-mutianyu-maps.html
My asthma was a bit high after the long flight so I told Camilla to go ahead as I wanted to walk, more slowly so I took a few breaks
to enjoy the views of the valley below. I met Jason & David from Taiwan and we walked the steep towers together. Further the towers, the steeper it became, I think till it got to tower 23-25 (not sure) which was almost like a ladder but my friends stayed with me all through this. The scenery was amazing and worth the climb, then there is a ravine so we headed back.
My friends had a flight to catch straight from the wall with the taxi waiting so we took some pictures together and promised to keep in touch, I had plenty of time to reach the schoolhouse at 4.30 pm so I did not need to rush back. So I talked to the visitors and I met Arthur from Hong Kong and he had hiked the whole wall without going on a cable or chair lift. I met some nice people on the wall and I am glad I was there for longer time in order to take in the great views. I took the cable car back 3.15 pm and I was famished as I did not get a good vegetarian breakfast with Austrian Airlines; I am definitely
going to make a complaint to AA when I have time. I had a veggie delight and fresh pomegranate juice at the subway.
There was food at schoolhouse restaurant but I was not sure if it was vegetarian. There is a little fruit market and clothes stalls near the cable car station, I bought some berries from a lady in the market, they were yum; I ate them later in hotel after washing them properly.
I walked back to the schoolhouse and the villagers were very friendly, one lady showed me how she was mending the broom, all in sign language. There were other elderly locals sitting and having tea outside, I waved to them admiring their cute puppy, they even invited me to have tea with them, so sweet. I believe that you smile at the locals and they will respond to you. At the Schoolhouse we sat outside on the tables and it was really nice in there, there were few people eating at the Schoolhouse restaurant, the chef came out to talk to us and told me he would have made me a nice veggie meal, he gives cookery lessons at the schoolhouse. The bathrooms at
the Schoolhouse were clean and well maintained.
On our return journey, I slept all the way till Camilla woke me up, the traffic was jammed so we decided to take the subway to our hotels. (The subway is the underground train like tube or metro and not a restaurant). Subway in Beijing is very easy to take. 2 Yuan (20p) will take you anywhere. I bought the subway card for a 20 Yaun deposit and 20 Yuan loaded fares which was £4 total, I used the card for buses as well which was cheaper then 2 Yaun with the card. You can get refund for the deposit for the card at some subway stations only but I did not bother for only £2. 10 Yaun = £1
When I reached the hotel, the lady at desk was bit curt and not very welcoming, I would recommend that if it is your first visit to Beijing then stay in Wangfujing area or Hutung area which is more nearer the sights with good night life and plenty of restaurants/ shopping malls. I had the most wonderful day and enjoyed my first day at the Great wall in Beijing.
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non-member comment
Hi, Thank you very much for your kind comments. I hope it helps people to plan their trips. cheers Smite