Another hiking season has finished and we were lucky enough to always have people who liked our hiking trips.. This resulted in 30 5 star reviews. Thank you all very much for writing and bringing us to number 8 of 102 tour groups in Beijing
great wall camping review
September has gone in Beijing. For us that means clear sky’s and fabulous views on our great wall hiking trips. But there is more. The big variety of fall colors is back in the country side and soon we will be able to walk trough the dry leaves towards a welcoming hot spring,make long cycling trips next various great wall section and visit the thousand year old Lingshui village.
The best adventure of this month will be outside Beijing. October 11 we head to Inner Mongolia to hike, ride camels and enjoy a jeep-safari in China’s largest desert “Badanjlin desert”.
If you feel that the rumble of the big city is getting to much… Check out our October agenda sign up for a mix a adventure, health, tranquility, history and excitement. I’m sure this month will be able to quench your thirst for of the beaten track travel
August has been a great month for hiking and camping on the great wall. The heat and humidity made us lose a lot of build up winter fat and we became fitter than ever. We explored new places on Zhenbianchen great wall and discovered new valleys with smiling farmers on Gubeiko great wall. Heidi took cooked exellent chinese lunches and I did what I m best in “bbq roasted beijing duck with and serve great wall wine” on top of the wild great wall.
We are always happy to show people our favourte spots on Beijing’s great wall. On most of our trips we didn,t see any body at all. Except maybe a farmer collecting herbs on top of the mountain or some local hikers who dont want to see tourist parts of the great wall.
I sometimes ask myself the question why everybody goes to Badalin, simatai or muntianyu. But before I can even think of the answer, a smile comes on my face and realize that is such a good thing that all tourists go there leaving the real gems all for us.
Befor Juli we were doing more 1 day hiking trips to the great wall. Which is good but definitely not as good camping. To reach the great wall (no matter what section) it takes at least 1,5 hours by local or private transportation. So a return trip takes for sure 4 hours which means on a one day trip you spend more time on transportation than actually hiking on the great wall. That’s why we thought lets just go always camping. This way we have relaxed time on the wall, out of the bustling metropolitan. Now we are just taking small groups camping, letting everybody absorb the beautiful surroundings and watch the sun rise and set with a glass of wine and new friends.
Now august has passed and perfect september weather has arrived in Beijing. While the collours will be slowly changing from green to yellow september will all about multiple days hiking and camping on the great wall. Cooler weather does not only mean more comfortable great wall hiking but also that the season for a good desert hike is cloosing in. In october we will go for a 6 day adventure in the Badajilin desert. Including a 3 day hike trough the sand dunes, camel rides and jeep rides to some of the desert most beautiful oasis and temples. A true china higlight!
This weekend we went camping at long Valley village. Once you get on top of Beijing’s highest great wall you understand why this is called long valley. Through this area most of the traffic approaching (Peking) Beijing from the North is channelled . This was also the natural pass through the mountains fought over during times of war.
After a bus ride and slow local taxi we arrived at one of Beijing’s cultural villages. We started with a good meal at a local restaurant and the with some ganbei’s of cold beer we started to know our new hiking friends a bit better. It didn’t take long to know that this was going to be a very nice weekend in good company.
Although this is a great wall hike, the first 4 hours no great wall is to be seen but that didn’t make the hike less beautiful. The four hours hiking up the mountain gave us stunning views on the surrounding area’s. The flowers and butterflies enjoying the nice summer sun made this hike up just perfect.
The first climax of the day came when we reached the top of this mountain and a long stretches of wall could be seen. It made everybody 5 minutes quiet. We pitched our tents in the high grass on top of this 1400m high mountain and climbed the beacon tower that majestically ruled over the whole area. We gathered some wood for the BBQ, got the beer whiskey and wine out of our backpacks and prepared us for the second climax, sunset. It was a magic sunset. Slowly the fog slid in between the mountains under us and the sun covered them with a red carpet. If you think I m exaggerating have a look at these pictures With a nice BBQ, a few drink and jokes we ended the evening.
As we all enjoyed this magic sunset so much nobody missed the sunrise at 4.30 in the morning. And again it was so worth getting up for. After sunset we went back to sleep for a few hours but by 8.30 we were all enjoying a good breakfast with the most stunning view. A smooth hike down on the wall, trough fields and orchards brought us at chengiabao village at the other side of the mountain. Mission accomplished, a perfect hike trough beautiful nature on a lovely summer day. Thanks guys for sharing this beautiful hike with us!
Fred & Heidi
Nothing can beat a relaxing stay in a hot spring after a beautiful day hiking on the great wall. For this enjoyable adventure The hengling was our destination. The weather gods gave us splendid warm weather, an open sky and a good fresh breeze. Hengling has got a special place in my heart as this was the first hike I did in China. Starting from the second defense wall of Hengling village it takes just a few minutes of easy climbing to have a splendid view over this valley. Most battles in for Beijing have been fought here and the shattered remains of the wall are prove of that. Now the only person we saw was an old farmer peacefully collection herbs. After a good hour of hiking on top of the wall we reached an ancient village. There is only a small dirt road to this village and even this road is hardly used. Most villagers left some time ago due to the lack of water. The big village basin has been dried out for years and now the village well is the only source of water. On the empty street corner we had a small lunch and headed for the mountains. July is a great time to hike trough the high grass of this historical place. Once on top of the mountain we could see different sections of the wall in every direction we looked. This high and well preserved wall stretches as far as the eye can reach. It is definitely worth the name world wonder. We hiked trough the thick bushes towards this majestic wall entered trough a covered flight of stairs, sat down and dreamed away….”could you really see it from space?” Rubbish of course. We continued our hike on the wall for another hour, hiked downhill and greeted our driver. A good hour driving trough the country side and past Beijng’s largest lake brought us at the hot spring. We had a good dinner en a super relax time in the hotspring. No need to ask if we slept good that night!
In the midst of rainy, humid and cloudy beijing there appeared a beauuuutiful day. The sky was clear and together with some young american professionals we went hiking on the wall. Our favorite farmers even surprised us with a delicious meal. Plate after plate filled with pancakes fish, chicken, noodles, vegetables….arrived at our table.
A short hike trough the high corn brought us to wall. We hike for couple kilometers on the wall, took some welcoming shadow brakes in the watchtowers and admired the beautiful scenery. As heidi and I stayed a bit in a watchtower our american friends gave it their best and hiked a couple more kms on the to get the best out of their day. An easy hike down trough fields and farm villages brought us back to main road where our driver showed up the second we arrived. yeah I love it when things go smooth. Thank you for this beautiful day guys. I really enjoyed today’s talks. Good luck with the rest of your trip.
Fred & Heidi
When we saw the great wall dropping down in a lake we know we reached our destination. It was already noon so had a simple lunch with some friendly locals. With a picture of Mao looking over our shoulders we ate the fresh vegetable, tofu and pancakes.
With a full stomac we started looking for an old cave used in the times of the Warring States and later rebuild as a bomb shelter in time of the war with Japan. With some small tourches and even smaller harts we walked trough the tunnels. Passing heavy door left and right we realized how scary if must have been during war times.
A bit confused we came out the other side and found our trail trough the orchards of Yaoziyu village. It didn’t take long before we reached the big steps of great wall. We climbed for 2 hours strait up in hot and humid friday afternoon. The spirit of our Dutch guest was perfect and that made it all a lot easier. Although everybody was happy I guess when reached the highest point. We ate the rest of our fruit, drank the last of our water, took some memorable pictures and hiked downhill with nothing else than a cold beer in our mind.
back at the village we didn’t have much time for more than one beer this time. The last bus was leaving soon and our taxi even had to overtake this bus and drop us at the next stop to make us catch it!
As usual all went smooth and eazy with a drop of luck. Thanks for the good day guys!
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As usual Panglonshan never fails to amaze our guests. The name Panglonshan is Chinese for laying dragon. This part of the Gubeikou Great wall has one of the most beautiful never ending winding stretches of great wall around Beijing. So it needs only a little fantasy to see it as a huge dragon laying curled up on the mountain ridges.
After a a few hours relaxed hiking on this dragon’s back we headed back to farmer house. Just in time. The humidity that was hanging in the air transformed in big shower rain the moment we stepped into the farm.
A nice local meal, a few beers and a game of poker with our spanish friends made this a very nice day.
Hope to see you again guys!
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July 7 was a great day for great Great Wall camping. The Gubeiko section of the great wall is always good for hiking but Wohushan is “the place” for great wall camping on a clear day. We started with a good lunch and a cold beer at a farmer house located at the foot of Wohu mountain.
Our hiking friends of today where Mala, Geoffrey, Maartin, Mark, Johny, Jack and Juliete. It was a strenuous hike to the top of the moutain range trough low bush under a burning sun and . But just like the Mongols 700 years ago that couldn’t stop us and within an hour or 2 we reached the great wall. We took a rest gulped some ice and absorbed the beauty of the surroundings. From here we had a great view on different sections of the great wall that are usually covered mist or clouds.
Another half hour walking and we reached our first watchtower with welcoming shade, a good place to drink eat some fruit and get our strength back. And we needed that because the next part of the hike is a bit more steep and we sometimes needed hands and feet to climb our way to the next towers.
The whole hike was worth it though. We put our back packs down on well preserved watch tower, put op our tents and enjoyed a good bbq with beer, wine, chicken, duck, turkey, some fruit, vegetables,…. and most important of all, a really nice group of new friends. We finished the evening with a some snaps on top of the tower. It’s was and excellent experience.
Nature save best for last and gave us a stunning sunrise. After breakfast it was only a 1 hour hike down before we could say hello again to the friendly farmer and his cold beer. Thank you all for making this a beautiful camping trip guys!
Fred & Heidi
The Panglonshan Great Wall is stil one of the most beautiful places for a 1 day great wall hike. Together with the Jewel family we visited this wild great wall. As usual we started with a good lunch with our favourite farmer family. Friendly as ever they spoiled us with a variety of vegetables dishes, chicken, pork,tofu, corn pancakes, tea and beer. Nothing tastes better than a home grown and cooked meal! Altough we felt more like taking a nap than going hiking after this meal we started hiking up the wall when the sun was at it’s highest.
The sky was clear so we were spoiled with a view of the winding great wall as far as the eye could reach. During summer the mountains surrounding this wall turn in to a lush green carpet making the scenery even more beautiful. Standing on one of the watchtowers I was wondering why people keep going to those tourist places and leave the most beautiful part for their imagination… My second thought was, please keep going there so we can keep walking here for a whole day without seeing a single soul! We didn’t rush on this hike but took our time to sit down and take in all the historical and natural beauty this places offers us.
After about 6 km hiking on the wall the explorer in us woke up again and we start hiking down the mountain trying to find a new route to turn this hike into a nice loop. All went as smooth as one can hope. some advise from the local farmers set us straight to the main road where we only had to wait a few minutes before our driver showed up.
It was another great hiking day with great people. Thanks for the great day guys! Hope to see you again one day in China, Belgium or California!
Fred & Heidi