Recommended locations

[Bryan]

What locations would you recommend for visitors to the Great Wall?

For first-time visitors, I usually recommend Jinshanling, and if they want to do some hiking, the Jinshanling to Simatai hike.

For more detailed recommendations, see this thread.

[ecoomber]

I am travelling to China in April this year and am planning to visit the Great Wall. I will start in Beijing and travel south. A friend of mine went to China last year and has recommended doing a zip-line off the wall and I was wondering where this is possible, apart from Simatai. (I will most likely visit MuTianYu section off the wall. Does anyone know whether or not they have a zip line here?)
Also, if SiMaTai is the only place I can do this, is the train the best way to get to this section of the wall and how much does this cost/ how long does it take?

Many thanks

[Bryan]

Simatai is the only place I know of that has a zip line. Mutianyu has a cable car and you can also ride down on a toboggan.

You can take a train to Gubeikou and get a local taxi from there. See this link for details: Taking the train from Beijing to the Great Wall.

Of course you can also take a taxi directly from Beijing; it should cost about 300 RMB.

Good luck and have fun!