Dandelion Hiking

This one day trek on the great wall is just perfect for a sunny winter day. The hiking distance is only 6 km but it’s a filled with beautiful places. On this part of the wild great wall there’s almost nobody to be seen and you can see the winding over the mountain ranges all the way till XishuiYu (west water valley). Our lunch we had on top of a staircase, out of the wind while enjoying the clear spring skies.  A good sandwich, some tea, fish biscuits,…just our small group having a friendly chat far away from Beijing’s honking cars and crowded squares. It ‘s on moments like this we always feel like we are coming back to life. After lunch we went down the great wall of a steep slope. For this part a bit of balance was needed.  Being all young people and with some help of the trees overgrowing the great wall it was more fun than hassle.  Once down the great wall the scenery changed completely and we arrived in stunning canyon. It’s not the depth of this canyon that’s so amazing but the hike over the frozen river.  This small river is really most beautiful in winter time. While in summer you have to hop from stone to stone and do a bit of rock climbing, the cold minter lays out a beautiful ice path all trough the canyon.  Have a look at our picture page an the photo’s will speak for themselves.  This place is probably my favorite place for a great wall hike in the winter ” relax, good views, a nice variety of great wall canyon and exceptional ice formations.  It’s a nice place in all seasons but since in summer this place is starting to attract big crowds of locals I will have to say “LonquanYu Great Wall, See you next year ”

 This winter we set of for  a hiking adventure in Badanjilin (badain jaran) desert. We never went there  during winter time but our adventurous German friends really insisted and once a local camel farmer invited us to join them for Chinese New year we didn’t doubt very long. And what an adventure it was. Badan Jilin desert is the 4th largest desert in the world and can easily claim to have the highest sand dunes in the world.  This time however  they almost looked like the Alps. The dunes that rise 400 to 600 meter above the 1000 met high plateau were now half covered in snow. It was almost impossible to fathom, riding those strong elegant camels trough snowy sand mountains. Our trip started at 8.30 am on cold monday morning 2 jeeps drove us for about 1,5 hours deep into the desert. At the foot of the high dunes we got out and started our amazing 80km trek trough china’s  most deserted place. Usually when we hike here we take our tents and camp but with a temperature of -20C this was impossible this time. This time we stayed with local camel farmers or shepherds. Very basic but very interesting.

  Especially because it was Chinese New Year and our host dressed  up in their traditional clothes to worship the fire god and bless the camels.   Even their house is located in the middle of the desert far from anything else,they  also take part in the  tradition of setting of fire works and drink quality bagio just like any other Chinese. Or maybe not just like any other chinese.  The way they offer and shared drinks with us was so elegant, friendly and respectful. The way they honored their gods  si so sincere, beautiful,yet very open and laid back.  One new years dinner and lunch later we were ready to start our next 60 km trekking adventure trough the Badanjilin desert. Our first goal was the worlds highest sand dune 1600 meters. A 20 km hike trough the best desert scenery ever. The camels were carrying our load so we could hike comfortable taking pictures from every dune we crossed. The small house at the foot of Bilutu was our next

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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