Great Fail At The Great Wall

“Until you reach the Great Wall, you’re no hero.” – Chairman Mau

On our last day in Beijing, Vicky and I set out to scale the Great Wall. There are 5 well known sections to the Great Wall ranging in difficulty and distance. We were heading to Mutianyu, the second closest part to Beijing. We had it all planned out to the T. We would wake up at 530AM to catch the earliest bus we could. From the bus station we’d do one of the following:

Take the 867 bus direct

Or

Take the 916 express bus and then a short cab ride or minibus.

We knew the times, the buses, and costs. We had gone over it a dozen times. That night, we slept soundly, secure in our route the following the day…

As planned, we got up at 530AM, and made our way to the bus station. We weren’t sure where the buses were leaving from, and although we had budgeted ample time, like getting everywhere in China, things took longer than expected. We were in a bit of a frenzy with 15 minutes to go.

And then, out of nowhere, a woman appeared.

“Where are you trying to go?” she inquired.

“To the bus station” I answered bluntly.

“OK, follow me”

Alright random stranger of questionable motives, takes us where we need to go. She had a blue jacket on, and seemed reputable. She might be a bus driver, I thought.

Or maybe she was just a woman… in a blue jacket.

When I informed her we were heading to the Great Wall, she started spitting out English phrases at a level slightly above what would lead me to believe she knew what she was talking about, but slightly below what it would take for me to understand her.

So there we were, following a lady who I felt knew what she was doing, but couldn’t confirm it.

With the clock ticking, she shuffled us along, and before I knew it we were on a bus – 980. Vicky and I sat down, gathered our thoughts, and as the bus rolled forward, realized we had made a foolish error.

Somewhere, out there, were our plans. They were not with us, as we had carelessly cast them aside like a losing lottery ticket. In their place was a random bus and lady – a not so winning combination.

Oh well, we would try to make the best of it. After all, she did seem to know what she was talking about – didn’t she?

About an hour later the bus driver prompted us that this was our stop. I got up to head for the door and fell immediately to the floor.

This is odd – let’s try that again.

I got up one more time, and again feel immediately to the floor.

My entire left leg was numb. For the last hour I had been sleeping scrunched up in a ball – a less than ideal position, at least, from the perspective of unobstructed blood flow. The entire bus stared at me in amazement. In China, I assume that the people have seen it all, so I took this as a bit of a win as I hobbled off, weight centered on my right leg.

Immediately a taxi driver approached us.

“How much to Mutianyu?”

“200 Yuan” (about $33)

Damn.

The direct bus was only 30 Yuan and we had already spent 30 on the previous bus, so I knew this was a huge rip off. Vicky and I looked at him menacingly. He prompted us to make him an offer.

Flustered, Vicky scribbled down 60 on the paper, a price she had read in a guide book which was both for an entirely different (closer) place and also should have been per person.

“Each” he said.

“Total?” we said.

We had spent 6 days in China and hadn’t haggled once. Clearly we were a bit rusty, as well as misinformed. He must have thought we were crazy, or at least unaware of the exchange rate. He indicated that he was going to make us a new offer. I was hoping for a big discount. What will it be, 120? 100?

“180”

Damn.

At this point Vicky and I switched to Russian to discuss our options. We had no idea where we had been dropped off and essentially were reliant on this cab driver. So we did the only thing we knew, which was to talk wildly in a foreign language, make him feel uneasy, and take the best price he offered.

“160”

Damn.

So be it. We headed to the Great Wall, both of us fuming from the deceit. Not a word was spoken the entire trip, accept from the cab driver, who offered us vitamin C pills. Not interested.

Climbing The Great Wall

We arrived at the Great Wall around 930AM. Standard procedure is to take the cable car up, and walk along the towers, typically tower 6 to 14, and then take the cable car (or a pretty sweet slide) down.

Vicky and I had other plans.

We skipped the cable cars in favor of an ascent up the side of the mountain. It’s really quite brisk, about 20 minutes, and gets you in at tower 10. From there we headed west along the towers, eventually making it to the last tower recommended for tourists, tower 23.

And then we went a few more.

Once we had conquered the western side, we went back east, back to tower 8, and then to tower 1. Finally, after we had scaled the wall completely, we went back to 8 to descend. In total, we scaled the entirely wall, nearly twice and had hiked both up and down.

Best of all though, might be that on the way back in to town we stuck to our guns and took the direct bus for 30 Yuan. It was a little long and I ended up sitting on the floor for an hour of it, but it was well worth it.

Logistics:

From Beijing Bus Station bus 867 takes you directly to Mutianyu and takes 2.5-3 hours. There is a bus that leaves Beijing at 7am and leaves the Great Wall at 2pm and 4pm.

A quicker option is bus 916 from Beijing bus station and takes you to Huairu 1.5 hours away. From there there may be a minibus to the mountain or take a cab.

Do not take bus 980. It takes you to Miyun only taking 1 hour but is further away from the Great Wall resulting in a more expensive cab.

Over the course of 4 hours we walked up to the Wall, walked from tower 10 to 25, then to tower 1 and back to tower 8 to go back down to the bus station.

From the bus station at Mutianyu to go up to the Wall options are two different cable cars or walk. The walk up takes 20 minutes and takes you to tower 8 or 10.