The Wild Great Wall: Gubeikou to Simatai
Three days on the wall nobody rebuilt — Gubeikou, Jinshanling and Simatai, between village nights
- 3 days · 2 nights
- 2–8 guests
- From Beijing
Three days, everything arranged
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A$985 per person
Twin share, from your Beijing hotel and back. A single room is A$110 more.
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A small group, 2–8 guests
Runs any day you choose, with a minimum of two guests and no more than eight.
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Three days on the wall
Gubeikou, Jinshanling and Simatai in sequence — about four hours of walking on day one, six to seven on day two, three to four on day three, all on unrestored wall.
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Two nights under the wall
A family-run farm-stay in Hualougou village, below Jinshanling's gate: twin rooms, dinner and breakfast.
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Dinners, breakfasts and packed lunches
Both farm-stay dinners and breakfasts, and a simple packed lunch on each of the three walking days.
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A wall guide, a driver and every entry
An English-speaking Great Wall guide for all three days, a private vehicle out and back, and every wall entry and timed reservation booked.
Three days on the wild wall
Most visitors see the Great Wall for two hours at Badaling or Mutianyu, on brick relaid in the 1980s. North-east of Beijing, beyond the day-trip range, a thirty-kilometre run of original Ming wall climbs from Gubeikou over the Panlongshan ridge, along the whole Jinshanling chain and up onto Simatai — towers open to the sky, steps worn to rubble, the line of the wall running on ahead over the ridges, and almost nobody up there.
This departure walks it in order, over three days, with a specialist wall guide. Each morning you go back up at the exact pass you came off the evening before, so no wall is skipped. Nights are in a family-run farm-stay in the village directly below Jinshanling's gate: simple twin rooms, home cooking, the wall on the skyline above the courtyard. Picked up from your Beijing hotel on day one and dropped back on day three. Two to eight guests, any day you choose.
Day by day
Onto the wall at Panlongshan
Beijing → Gubeikou → Hualougou village
Your guide and driver collect you from your Beijing hotel after breakfast, and the briefing happens on the drive — about two hours north-east to Gubeikou, an old garrison town where the wall has guarded the pass for centuries. Then straight onto the wild wall: up onto the Panlongshan ridge above the town and east along original Ming brick, through collapsed towers open to the sky, with the line of the wall running on ahead and almost nobody else up there. You come off at the old pass where the Gubeikou section hands over to Jinshanling, and it is a short drive to your base for two nights: a family-run farm-stay in Hualougou village, right below Jinshanling's ticket gate, with the wall on the skyline above the courtyard. Dinner at the farm-stay.
- Pick-up from your Beijing hotel; about two hours to Gubeikou
- About four hours on the Panlongshan ridge, east along the unrestored Gubeikou wall
- Dinner and the night at the farm-stay below Jinshanling
MealsPacked lunch & dinner
The full Jinshanling chain
Hualougou → Jinshanling west to east → Hualougou
Back up onto the wall at exactly the pass you came off yesterday, for the longest day of the walk: six to seven hours along the whole Jinshanling chain from west to east, watchtower to watchtower. It is one of the finest surviving stretches of Ming engineering anywhere on the line — restored near the western end, then wilder and emptier the further east you go, the great chain of towers marching over the ridges ahead of you. Down at Jinshanling's east gate by late afternoon, a short transfer back to the farm-stay, dinner in, and an early night well earned.
- The whole Jinshanling chain, west to east: six to seven hours, tower by tower
- Restored wall at the start, then the wild eastern end
- Transfer back to the farm-stay for dinner and the second night
MealsBreakfast, packed lunch & dinner
Simatai, the untouched wall
Hualougou → Gubei Water Town → Simatai → Beijing
In through Gubei Water Town, Simatai's only door, on the timed reservation your guide has booked ahead, and up onto the section that was never rebuilt. Simatai is the wall at its most original: steep, narrow and spectacular, the ridge climbing tower by tower towards the crags with the whole Gubeikou valley opening out below. Three to four hours up and back, then time in the Water Town itself — canals, stone lanes and the wall along the ridge above — before the drive back into Beijing, about two hours, with a drop-off at your hotel in the early evening.
- Simatai in and out through Gubei Water Town, on a timed reservation
- Three to four hours on the steepest, most original wall of the three days
- The Water Town, then about two hours back to your Beijing hotel
MealsBreakfast & packed lunch
Before you walk
This is a hike on a ruin, not a stroll on a monument, so here's the honest version.
The ground
Unrestored Ming wall: broken steps, loose brick, long steep climbs and descents, and towers you scramble through rather than walk around. You need to be a confident walker with a head for heights. Walking boots with ankle support and a pole make a real difference.
The days
About four hours on day one, six to seven on day two and three to four on day three, with plenty of stops. Day two is the test; the guide sets the pace and knows the escape points.
Weather
The wall is exposed to sun, wind and, in summer, heat. Spring and autumn are the best seasons; in summer we start early, and in winter ice can close sections — tell us your dates and we will say honestly whether they suit.
The farm-stay
Clean, warm and simple: twin rooms with their own bathroom, home-cooked dinners and breakfasts, and the wall above the courtyard. It is a village house, not a hotel.
What's included
Included
- An English-speaking Great Wall guide for all three days
- A private vehicle and driver from your Beijing hotel on day one and back on day three
- The transfer between Jinshanling and Gubei town
- Two nights at the farm-stay in Hualougou, twin share, with dinner and breakfast
- A simple packed lunch on each walking day
- Every wall entry and timed reservation, and Gubei Water Town entry
Not included
- Hotels in Beijing before and after
- Dinner on day three
- Travel insurance
- A single room (A$110 supplement)
Before you book
01 How hard is it?
Harder than a restored section and more rewarding. All three days are on unrestored Ming wall — broken steps, loose brick, steep climbs and descents, towers you scramble through — so you need to be a confident, fit walker with a head for heights. Day one is about four hours, day two six to seven, day three three to four, with stops. Walking boots with ankle support and a pole are the right kit, and the guide sets the pace.
02 Why these sections and not Mutianyu or Badaling?
Mutianyu and Badaling are restored wall, rebuilt in the 1980s, with cable cars and coach parks, and two hours is enough for either. Gubeikou, Jinshanling and Simatai are the original Ming wall, one continuous run north-east of Beijing beyond day-trip range, and three days lets you walk it in order — up each morning at the pass you came off the night before, so nothing is skipped.
03 Where do we stay?
Two nights at a family-run farm-stay in Hualougou village, directly below Jinshanling's ticket gate: simple twin rooms with their own bathrooms, home-cooked dinners and breakfasts, and the wall on the skyline above the courtyard. It is a village house rather than a hotel, which is the point — you are under the wall, not an hour from it.
04 When does it run, and how many of us?
Any day you choose. Each departure needs a minimum of two guests and takes no more than eight, at A$985 per person, twin share, with a single room supplement of A$110. Spring and autumn are the best seasons on the wall; tell us your dates and we will confirm the guide, the farm-stay and the Simatai reservation.
05 What is included, and what do I need to arrange?
Everything from your Beijing hotel door and back: the Great Wall guide for three days, the vehicle out and back, the Jinshanling–Gubei transfer, two farm-stay nights with dinner and breakfast, packed lunches on the walking days, and every wall entry, timed reservation and Water Town entry. You arrange your Beijing hotel before and after, dinner on day three and travel insurance, which you need.
Choose your date
Tell us the date you'd like and who's coming. We'll confirm the guide, the farm-stay and the Simatai reservation within one business day.