Great Wall in Beijing area

[Kim]

Hi, I'm a new member here. My name is Kim and I'm a Dane currently living in Tangshan to the west of Beijing. My main interest so far is the Great Wall in the eastern Hebei province since Tangshan is very close to many parts of the wall. However I would like to explore the Great Wall in the Beijing area some more, so the question is do anyone know about a book regarding the Beijing Great Wall? I'm not that interested in the crowded places you can read about in any Great Wall book but the unrestored and less known parts.

[Bryan]

Hi Kim,

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for joining. I have looked at your web site blog and I really enjoyed your photos. It's too bad I can't read the text, because I am sure it must be interesting!

It's not easy finding a book with the kind of information you're looking for. There are lots of photo books and history books on the Great Wall, but practical logistical information is not very common.

The closest thing I can recommend would be the Bradt Great Wall of China travel guide by Thammy Evans. It has a lot of the information you're looking for, including good maps, and it's recent (May 2006).

http://www.bradt-travelguides.com/de...asp?prodid=150

My next choice would be Hiking Around Beijing by Seema Bennett, Nicky Mason, and Huilin Pinnegar (Foreign Language Press, www.flp.com.cn). It details twenty different hikes near Beijing, many of which are along the Great Wall.

http://www.beijinghikers.com/v2/reso...r-merchandise/
http://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Around-...174/ref=sr_1_1

Another choice would be Explore The Great Wall by Jacquetta Megarry, although the Bradt book is a lot more detailed.

http://www.rucsacs.com/books/egw

Good luck to you. I hope you'll keep us informed of your experiences on the Great Wall.

Bryan

[Kim]

Thanks Bryan, I already have two of those - only one missing is the second one, I shall look for that when I go to Beijing next weekend. Bradt Great Wall of China is a great book but it only have a few of the less popular places. I'm hoping to find something like "Hebei - The Great Wall Legacy" that really a great book to explore the Hebei great wall.

So far I've visited 17 different places and hopefully a new one tomorrow

I'm working on an update of my great wall web gallery, I will keep you informed when it's ready.

[Bryan]

You're right, Hebei – The Great Wall Legacy (also from Foreign Language Press, www.flp.com.cn) is an excellent book. It has good photos and maps. It's accurate and it's recent. It has a lot of details on many different Great Wall locations in Hebei, but no information on the locations in Beijing province (Yanqing, Huairou, or Miyun counties) or Tianjin province (namely the Huangyaguan area). It has good architectural and historical information, but it doesn't have much logistical information other than the maps. It's well worth reading.

[Kim]

I agree, if you rely only on the book its very difficult for normal tourists. Fortunately I have my own car, a GPS and a fairly good map (as good as it gets i China) to find the small villages the GPS don't have so I don't have any trouble visiting these places. It's my goal to visit all the places described for the Tangshan and Qinhuangdao area.