Keno's Travelogue: Great Wall of China hiking from Jian Kou to Mu Tian Yu

Visiting the typical tourist attraction of Great Wall China has always been a fascinating view and seeing how magnificent that ancient Chinese has built these long infrastructure of defense; but why not visit the wild side of Great Wall of China where portion has been fallen off and eroded due to thousands of years of weathering.

Collapsed and overgrown wild Great Wall behind me

Definitely walking through the whole of Great Wall of China will takes years to complete as many part is not maintained, refurbished or badly damaged. It was measured in parts which eventually add up to 21,196 km (Wikipedia). Great Wall of China is not a 1 straight wall across China but was built as different segments during different Dynasties rule to protect against the invasion from the Mongols / Manchurian. It was initiated during the Qin Dynasty in 220-206 BC and eventually until Ming Dynasty around AD 1460. It started in Hushan which is at the borders of North Korea (Liaoning province) ends in Gansu Province (Jiayuguan). The much older part of Great Wall actually stretches into Pyongyang (Capital of North Korea).

Typically, the more popular tourist attractions around Great Wall of China are Badaling, Huanhuacheng, Mutianyu, Gubeikou, Simatai, Jinshanling, Shanhaiguan, Dandong, Hushan, etc.

The Magnificent Great Wall of China seen from the foot of the mountain.

For the more adventurous, let’s try the medium difficulty hiking route from Jiankou to Mutianyu, which is a route that can be completed within a day before the sun sets; witnessing and experiencing the slightly wilder side to the refurbished side.

Here I will focus more on the journey and my encounters for the hiking route from Jiankou (wild Great Wall) to Mutianyu (tourist attraction). This hiking route is definitely not suitable for children as terrain can be quite tricky and unsafe at certain locations; general requirements will be personnel with general physical fitness should do fine and enjoyable. Properly attired with spare drinks; do not do it alone and inexperienced hikers / clumsy natured people are not recommended.

picture of part of the hiking routes

The whole journey from the village to Mutianyu Toboggan slide is about 8km and takes about 6-8hours to complete including stopping for rest and photo taking.

Arrival at Beijing International Airport, we took the airport express at 25rmb per pax direct to Dongzhimen station (45mins) where we exit and proceed to the bus terminal to take bus 916 快 (express) (12rmb without bus card & 4rmb with bus card) straight to Huairou Bus Terminal (90mins). Huairou is nearer to the more popular Mutianyu and Badaling. The first bus is around 0540hrs and last bus around 1950hrs.

Beijing Subway map - Purple Airport Express line straight to Dark Blue Line 2 DongZhiMen

1 day of travelling, we rested for the night. Rising early the next morning, there is an option to take different local bus service H23, 24, 35, 36 to Mutianyu but to save time, I suggest should just arrange a private car (from hotel) or taxi to the location as it will save a lot of time as time is required to spend for the hiking is subjective, depending highly on individual fitness level. Journey to Mutianyu and Badaling cost about 80rmb single trip whereas to Jiankou (tell the driver Xizhazi village) is 150rmb as it is way much further and out of the way.

Starting point will be from Xizhazi village (base camp) which is situated at about 73km north from Beijing downtown. Entrance to Xizhazi village is 20rmb per pax as it supposed to be a plantation place of visit, however is also the entrance to the wild Jiankou Great Wall of China. After passing through the entrance of the village proceed straight and turn in at the 3rd left turn; expect to see a big blue sign saying ‘This section of the Great Wall is not open to the public’, saw this sign and turn left and go straight in to a dead end.

Warning sign to say that this part of Great Wall is not open to public; also the point to turn in to the start of my hiking route.

At the dead end, is also the place where we alighted, prominently there will a grey bricked house on the left side of the car we entered. It can be quite shocking when along the way, the driver kept asking us that are we going to the right place, are we sure that we gonna visit Great Wall this way? Upon arrival at our starting point, the driver is very kind, he said worriedly: “are you guys really sure to start your journey from here? Definitely I will hope that you all can reach Mutianyu safely but if halfway through you lost your way or finds that the terrain is too tough to proceed, do remember to give me a call and I will come back to this location to bring you guys back to your hotel”, and he gave me a missed call so that I have his number in case of emergency if we couldn’t make it to our destination.

Facing the grey bricked house, take the left concrete pathway up which leads us to plantation on our 2 o’clock. At this cross road, turning right along the plantation will lead to a dead end; going straight uphill into the bushes ahead will be the correct path. Not to worry, everyday there is hikers visiting this place, so we doesn’t need to really bash through the forest as a trail path has been walked out over the years. Follow the forest trail uphill, around 1.5 hours of comfortable walking pace; we arrived at the ‘entrance’ to the JianKou part of Great Wall. The whole Jiankou is about 22km, and we entered towards the end of Jiankou; from Zhengbei Tower onwards, duration calculated just nice for a day hike.

Trekking up the forest trail

Simplified route of movement

Reminder; No drinks or food is sold at the Grey Brick house vicinity, so prepared hydration and eat something before setting off. It is advisable to wear proper footwear for safer footings.

Fortunately, at the ‘entrance’ to Jiankou, there is an auntie selling some drinks for hikers like us. She will carry a backpack filled with canned drinks and beer and hike her way up through the forest to Jiankou every day to sell drinks to hikers from all round the world.

Makeshift ladder to enter Great Wall

Backpack belongs to the auntie that sells us drinks.

At this is our starting point at Jiankou, we started at Zhengbei Tower which is about 975m above sea level. After rehydrating ourselves and getting additional drinks for the journey, we set off to Mutianyu.

Zhengbei Tower

Interior of Zhengbei tower

Zhengbei tower behind me

Hiking through the damaged and broken bricks path of Great Wall with fallen walls at the side, it can be quite risky and staying focus on every footing is very important. Despite the blaring sun, sweat and fatigue that will come along the way, never to forget to focus and anticipate always the possible dangers ahead. Certain part, we are left with as little as only 20% of walkway with 1 side overgrown bushes and another side fallen walls that provide little or no support if hikers were to tripped or slipped.

Fallen off path

Badly overgrown bushes

Saw other hikers too.. Hi..!!

Despite these terrain that we are hiking through, the undulating journey is all about endless uphill and downslope as the Great Wall is been built terrain masking through mountains after mountains; looking like a flying dragon over the mountainous landscape.

Nice scenery around

Photos are great but the beauty of the scenery is nothing compared to witnessing with our own eyes. After 0.5hours of hiking, we arrive at East first Tower and another 1 hours plus we reached the bottom of Ox Horn edge which is a high reverse U-shaped wall that leads to Mutianyu.

Ox Horn Edge behind me

Entrance to Ox Horn Edge

Weathered wall near East First Tower

Descending the 45 degrees steep slope of Ox Horn Edge

Looking far away when we are at the top of Ox Horn Edge watch tower, we saw a red flag on watch tower 23 at far south, and that is the end of Mutianyu Great Wall which is also will be our entrance to Mutianyu.

Red Flag far away is the entrance to Mutianyu Great Wall

Saw this big bees (about 6cm long & 2cm thick) hive right in front of us on the way to Mu Tian Yu

Upon entering Mutianyu from Jiankou; is watch tower 23 (the red flag is at the top of the tower), is also the start of well-maintained pathway and steps with high wall at the side. Mobile drinks and souvenirs shop can also be seen along the way. Though well maintained, walking up and down mountains are still inevitable so yes, it still demands physical fitness.

The Red flag we saw from far; on Watch tower 23

Stores selling souvenirs, drinks and snacks are available once we entered Mutianyu

Warning signs to Mutianyu visitors. After this sign is to Jiankou which is the hiking route we came from.

Start of beautifully maintained walkway and clean walls.

Finally we arrive at watch tower 6 which is also the Toboggan slide and Cable Car station; not to be mistaken, there is another cable car station at watch tower 14 which is the newer and more commercialized one. We ended our 1 day hike with a fun toboggan slide all the way down to base.

If you are feeling adventurous and will like to try something different, away from the normal tour itinerary, try this hike; from the wilderness of Jiankou Great Wall of China to the beautifully maintained Mutianyu Great Wall!