Hiking the Great Wall at Jinshanling

Today we woke up with the goal of exploring possibly the most famous attraction in the whole country: The Great Wall. Even casual travelers surely know about this massive wall, and while it’s a myth that it can be viewed from space with the naked eye (it cannot) it is still very impressive with its total length being over 13,000 miles long!

Most of that is no longer standing, but there are still plenty of sites to access the Wall, with most located within a few hours of Beijing. The part that we decided to hike is called Jinshanling, and we chose this section for a few reasons. Most important to us, at nearly three hours away from Beijing this is far from the most popular sections (which would be either Mutianyu or Badaling), and it’s also supposed to be one of the most beautiful. We also wanted to make sure that it actually felt like a hike versus a stroll, but we didn’t necessarily want a completely wild experience (like Jiankou).

Once we got started on the hike, it did not take long to be blown away by the vistas, as we hiked from tower to tower. No matter where you stood you could see the wall extending in both directions like a giant snake, with occasional towers jutting up, serving as beacons and goalposts as we moved from one to the other. Most of these towers were empty - a space to cool off and escape the sun for a few minutes - but at least two were set up as impromptu shops for local women to sell their wares. The first woman had some snacks, cold drinks and Great Wall kitsch, while the other had brought a whole deep freezer up there, selling ice cream to sweaty (and appreciative!) hikers. No matter where you are in China, it seems like you are never far from someone selling goodies.

The hike itself was amazing, but also quite challenging. This section of the wall is only partially restored, meaning that at times you'll be hiking over uneven bricks, very steep stairs, and sometimes veering off the wall itself for a brief path through the trees. We spent about 5 hours trekking that day, and in all of that time we saw maybe 50 other hikers - an incredible feat in a place as populated as China!