China: Walking the Great Wall from Jiankou to Jinshanling

Arrive in Beijing

Beijing Capital (PEK) or Daxing (PKX) airport to central Beijing

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Beijing
• Environ 1 h de route

Soir

In the early evening the group meets for a briefing that matters more on a walking trip than most: your guide runs through the four walking days, the easy and hard lines on each, what goes in your daypack, and which bag stays at the hotel from day 4 to day 7 while we sleep in the villages. Boots and poles get a quick look too. Then we walk to a local restaurant for a welcome dinner of northern Chinese dishes, dumplings, noodles and stir-fries shared at one round table. If your flight lands too late, we meet you at breakfast.

Compris

• Pick-up at Beijing Capital (PEK) or Daxing (PKX) airport
• Evening briefing on the walking days and kit
• Welcome dinner at a local restaurant

The Forbidden City and the hutongs

Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, then the hutongs around Shichahai

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Beijing

Après-midi

Lunch is in a family courtyard home in the hutongs around the Shichahai lakes, home-cooked dishes with time to ask questions about life in the lanes. Afterwards we walk to the Drum and Bell Towers.

Soir

The late afternoon and evening are free: rest your legs before the wall, or find dinner by the lakes with your guide's suggestions.

Compris

• Tiananmen Square with your guide
• The Forbidden City (Palace Museum) at opening
• Jingshan Park viewpoint
• Lunch in a family courtyard home in the hutongs
• Hutong walk to the Drum and Bell Towers

Huanghuacheng, the wall by the water

Beijing to Huanghuacheng in Huairou and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Beijing
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is in a farmhouse restaurant in the valley, often with the trout raised in the local streams.

Soir

We are back in Beijing by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day and the evening free.

Compris

• Huanghuacheng Great Wall entry and a guided walk of about 3 hours
• Farmhouse lunch in the Huanghuacheng valley

Mutianyu, then a night below Jiankou

Beijing to Mutianyu, then Xizhazi village below Jiankou

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Jiankou (Xizhazi village)
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

We leave at 8:00 for the drive of about an hour and a half to Mutianyu, one of the best-preserved stretches of the Ming wall, and are on the wall before the late-morning coaches fill the cable car queue. Walk up on the stepped path or take the cable car, then walk west along the wall from tower to tower for three to four hours, the climbs getting steeper toward the far end of the open section.

Après-midi

Come down on the toboggan, by cable car or on foot, and have lunch in the village below. A short drive brings us to Xizhazi, a village under the Jiankou ridge, and a family guesthouse: a private room with its own bathroom, simple and clean. In the late afternoon, look up at the broken towers you will walk tomorrow.

Soir

Dinner is home cooking at the guesthouse table.

Compris

• Mutianyu Great Wall entry at opening, with your guide
• Cable car or toboggan down (or up)
• Walk along the Mutianyu towers, about 3 to 4 hours
• Village lunch at Mutianyu
• Guesthouse dinner at Jiankou

Jiankou's wild wall, then Gubeikou

Xizhazi to the Jiankou ridge and back, then Jiankou to Gubeikou

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Gubeikou
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

We start straight after breakfast, with a local village guide who knows the paths, and climb through forest for about an hour to the ridge near Zhengbei Tower. Here the wall has never been restored: towers stand roofless, steps crumble, and the wall follows knife-edge ridges in a way no rebuilt section does. We walk along the ridge for two to three hours, at the pace of the slowest walker; the steepest, most broken pitches are optional, with a path around or a tower to wait in.

Après-midi

Off the ridge before the afternoon heat, we return to the guesthouse for a late lunch. In the afternoon we drive about two hours east through Miyun to Gubeikou, an old garrison town at a pass where the wall crosses the Chao River valley, and settle into the guesthouse that is home for two nights.

Soir

Dinner is at the guesthouse.

Compris

• Guided walk on the Jiankou wall with your guide and a local village guide, about 4 to 5 hours
• Village access fees
• Lunch at the Jiankou guesthouse
• Transfer to Gubeikou
• Guesthouse dinner in Gubeikou

Gubeikou to Jinshanling

Gubeikou's Panlongshan section to Jinshanling, then back to Gubeikou

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Gubeikou
• Environ 45 min de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a packed meal in a tower or in a village along the way, depending on the season. The last two hours are on the restored wall at Jinshanling, wide and well built, with towers close together and long views north. Our vehicle meets us at the Jinshanling gate for the half hour back to Gubeikou.

Soir

In the evening your hosts show you how to fold dumplings, and we eat them for dinner.

Compris

• Guided walk from Gubeikou to Jinshanling, about 5 to 6 hours
• Gubeikou and Jinshanling Great Wall entries
• Packed or village lunch on the walk
• Dumpling-making with your hosts and dinner

Sunrise at Jinshanling, back to Beijing

Gubeikou to Jinshanling and back, then Gubeikou to Beijing

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Beijing
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

For anyone who wants it, an early start: we drive the half hour to Jinshanling in the dark and walk up to the wall to watch the sun rise over the towers and the ranges to the east, then walk a short stretch in the first light while it is empty. Everyone else sleeps in, and the group meets for breakfast at the guesthouse.

Après-midi

Mid-morning we drive back to Beijing, about two and a half hours through Miyun, and arrive in time for a late lunch on your own near the hotel, where your main luggage is waiting. The afternoon is free: a foot massage after four walking days, a quiet hour at the Lama Temple, or simply a long shower.

Soir

In the evening the group meets for the farewell dinner, Peking duck carved at the table, and a last toast to the wall.

Compris

• Optional sunrise walk at Jinshanling with your guide
• Transfer to Beijing
• Peking duck farewell dinner

Depart from Beijing

An optional early walk at the Temple of Heaven, then Beijing Capital (PEK) or Daxing (PKX) airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

For anyone with an afternoon flight, your guide offers an early walk in the Temple of Heaven park, where emperors once prayed for good harvests and where Beijing's retired residents now gather in the mornings for tai chi, dancing, cards and singing. We enter by the east gate, where the long corridor is busiest with card players and singers, walk to the round Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, then south along the raised walkway to the Circular Mound Altar, about two hours, and are back at the hotel by mid-morning. Otherwise the morning is yours: a last coffee in the hutongs or a slow breakfast. We drive you to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) or Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX), about an hour from the centre, at a time that suits your flight. If you are using the 240-hour visa-free transit, your onward flight must go to a third country, not back to where you started. For international flights, allow three hours at the airport.

Compris

• Early walk at the Temple of Heaven with your guide, entry included (for afternoon flights)
• Drop-off at Beijing Capital (PEK) or Daxing (PKX) airport