Great Wall of China Group Tour: To book or not to book?

It was no ordinary Monday, for that day we fulfilled one of our travel dreams - to tread on the Great Wall of China. Now let me tell you how that day turned out to be a disappointment.

Approaching the most photographed of all walls, Badaling.
Shervin and I almost always steer away from group tours. Why? Simply because they cost more than DIY exploring. More so, we don't have to deal with tourmates we dislike (we hate putting up with tourists who complain so much).

Prior our China trip, we researched on how to get to the Great Wall without booking a tour. It's indeed possible, though a bit tricky. We laid out a meticulously-planned itinerary, for we are checking it out on our last day in Beijing. In the evening, we'll be taking the train to Xi'an, Shaanxi to see the Terracotta Warriors.

We were staying at Beijing City Central Youth Hostel. It has its own travel agent. Out of curiosity, we asked the lady manning the booth regarding prices for Badaling and Mutianyu (two of the more popular walls). She gave us the prices, ¥180 and ¥280. When asked about the packages, she mentioned similar inclusions. Transportation, admission fee and English-speaking guide. The difference? She admitted that the guide for the ¥180-tour is not given a salary and will take the tourists to jade factories or Chinese medicine shops so he/she will be given a commission when tourists buy items. The guide of the ¥280-tour on the other hand is provided a salary, and he/she need not whisk the unknowing tourists to such stores.

We appreciated her honesty, and told her we'll think about it (though in reality, we've made up our minds about getting there ourselves). And oh, I kind of lost my trust in her when I asked her about the cost of a cable car ride in Mutianyu and she answered it doesn't exist. It got me thinking, has she ever been there?


Anyway, if you're not booking a tour, here are your transport options (for Badaling Wall):
1. Beijing Sightseeing Bus. Terminals should be located northeast and northwest of Qianmen (south of Tiananmen Square). On weekdays though, buses seem to park some place else (we found them along Chongwenmen Xidajie). Ask locals for 'Badaling bus', don't mention Great Wall, most of them won't understand what you're talking about. ¥160, an hour and fifteen minutes max.
2. Bus 919. Leaves from the Deshengmen old gate. Take the subway to Jishuitan Station (along Line 2). From there, it's a 500m walk to the terminal. Fare about ¥12, ride will take an hour and a half. Ask where exactly you will be dropped off. I did not notice any 919 buses dropping off passengers near the premises of the Badaling Wall.
3. Hire a taxi for the day, around ¥400 for a group of four. Sounds reasonable, but take note that admission fee's (¥45) still not included.

For Mutianyu Wall:
1. Beijing Sightseeing Bus (see item no. 1 above). Though they don't seem to be available on weekdays. ¥110, about two hours.
2. From Dongzhimen long-distance bus station, take bus 916 to Huairou. ¥8 for an hour and forty-five minutes. From Huairou take a minibus to Mutianyu , ¥25.
Cable car ride: ¥35 single, ¥50 return.

From our hostel, we took the subway train (¥2 flat fare) to Tiananmen Square. We asked the guards roving around the square about the Beijing Sightseeing Bus Station and even showed it on our map, but they didn't know where it is. They spoke to us in Mandarin and pointed their fingers to random directions. One local must have sensed what we were looking for and asked us, "Badaling?". We nodded our heads and he led us to a bus queue. He turned us over to the tour guide, who spoke very limited English (the guy by the way didn't leave us until we handed him a ¥10 'tip'). Each sightseeing bus has a coordinator or guide, who oversees the activities. It's like any other tour, except they don't offer hotel pick up and drop off.

Our guide wrote ¥160 on a piece of paper, and also '-->9:30 <--5:00'. She was telling us that the bus leaves for Badaling at 9:30AM and will come back at 5:00PM. It didn't sound right. It's such a long period of time, even if they take us to the Ming Tombs as well. We had a feeling that a sidetrip to factories will be squeezed in between sightseeing.

We asked also if admission fee's included, and she sort of said yes. We assumed so anyways since ¥160 is too much for transportation alone. Our bus only had four non-Chinese tourists: Shervin, me and a European couple seated behind us. The bus left almost 10:00AM and arrived at Badaling around quarter past eleven.


I froze instantly as we got off the bus. I've been using 'froze' for all of my China posts I know, but that's what happened to me every single winter day. The Badaling Wall is situated in a mountainous area, and there's nowhere to hide from the harsh cold breeze sweeping through the slopes. That being said, it's better to visit in autumn (summer can get too hot) when the weather's much pleasant. Hues are also more picturesque during this season.

The guide instructed us to return to the bus at 12:30PM, then her rip-off attempt. She asked us for ¥45 each for the admission fee. Shervin argued that earlier she said it's already included. She started shouting in Mandarin. Shervin didn't back down, but kept his cool. He kept repeating it's already paid for. I watched them bicker in their respective native tongues, which was a pretty entertaining sight. I should have joined the chaos (and ranted in Tagalog!), that might have given me some heat.

She finally gave up and stomped away from us, but we still headed to the entrance's turnstile. The guards didn't ask for tickets. They must have seen us walking with the tour group.

The Great Wall's width is narrower than I expected. No wonder it cannot be seen from space with the naked eye. Its steps are already eroding like Angkor Wat's. We weren't able to walk to the farther watchtowers because I was just so cold. My runny nose was already giving me a headache, and climbing up the stairs was a laborious task for my numb feet.

Sporting a fake smile. After this photo was taken I was on the verge of tears, it was darn freezing out there!
I pleaded Shervin that we start walking back to the bus. He agreed. While looking for our bus, we bumped into the European couple and chitchatted with them for a bit. They mentioned that they weren't interested in visiting the Ming Tombs (it's included in our tour), and so were we. We told our guide to drop us off a station where Bus 919 passes so we can go home on our own.

The guide appeared to be more than happy to get rid of us.

Moral of the story: It's advisable to book a group tour. It may cost more (check package inclusions) but it saves you from getting ripped off. In a country where English is the nth language, you'll need a good and honest translator. And if you're not the bookworm type, you can rely on the brief descriptions provided by your guide. In China, facts are overwhelming (hence I didn't discuss the Great Wall's history on this post), so you can just ask what you're interested to know.

Plus if you've waited all your life to see the wall like me, then it's best to get there in a worry-free way so you can fully appreciate it.

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