Aelfgifu Travels

Hi Aelf Crew,

I could promise this is the last post you’ll see from me on China, but for a country so vast and diverse, that would seem a silly promise from myself. So instead, here’s another instalment on my time in China with more tips I learnt along the way.

Today: my trip to the Great Wall of China.

I learnt that there were different entrance points to the Wall, with Badaling being the most popular point given it is easily accessible by train, but is of course extremely busy which I was advised to avoid.

I booked a trip via Viator to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. This entrance was around an 1h30m drive from central Beijing. We got there for 7:30am (as soon as it opened) to beat the crowds and this time, I was successful in doing so!

At Mutianyu, there are three ways to get from the foot of the Wall to the top: chair lift, cable car or a steep 40-minute hike. The hike was said to be pretty arduous and not recommended if you want to have the energy to explore once you’re up there. 

I chose a return ticket for the chair lift up and toboggan down at 140CNY (~£14.50).

I took the chair lift to Watchtower 6, hiked along the Wall for an hour to Watchtower 10, then returned to 6 and took the toboggan down.

We enjoyed 2 hours hiking on the wall and by 10am it was getting busier and busier, so am really glad we got there early to enjoy the Wall to ourselves.

The toboggan slide down was terrifying. There didn’t seem to be a system in place in terms of setting people off at different intervals to help with spacing, so it did seem to be like bumper cars. Whilst going round corners, there were marshals telling us to slow down or break using specific hand signals, but it was somewhat difficult when I had someone up my backside! Still, being able to slide down the Great Wall was an experience I never thought I’d have and I even bought the photo they took of me on it as a souvenir.

See pictures below, where the iconic Aelfgifu Travels picture originates from!

As it was early in the morning and I had been hiking for a while, an emergency sherbet lemon is always wise to perk my spirits (and energy) levels up!

Afterwards, we visited the Summer Palace in Beijing and enjoyed an incredible Chinese lunch included in the tour.

Here’s the Viator tour I booked if you want to check it out: https://www.viator.com/tours/Beijing/Small-Group-Tour-The-Mutianyu-Great-Wall-and-Summer-Palace-3-hours-on-the-Wall/d321-75594P23

Top Tips to Learn from Aelfgifu:

• Avoid Badaling – Mutianyu offers a beautiful and much quieter experience – especially early in the morning!
  • This tip is hit and miss for activities in China (as you may have discovered from previous Aelfgifu Travels posts, notably Xi’an Terracotta Warriors – link here) but is applicable for the Great Wall: go early! Fewer people means more opportunity to wander freely and climb the ladders in the watchtowers with minimal queues.
• Unless you are an avid hiker, in no scenario would I recommend doing the steep climb at Mutianyu before even reaching the Wall itself – especially given there are some really incredible options to travel up and down instead.
• A more general travel tip here, but if you are anything like me: always keep a bag of emergency sherbet lemons on you (or your favourite equivalent) to keep your spirits up!

Have you been to the Great Wall? Which entrance did you use? Let me know down below!

From the watchtower,

Aelfgifu