Hike! Jiankou to Mutianyu

[boilface]

First of all, this is a great forum full of information. I'm glad I found it.

I'm in Beijing September and would like to walk from Jiankou to Mutianyu. From what I can gather from this site, my day looks like this:

1. Get a driver from Beijing to Zhao's Roadhouse.
2. Find someone to take me to the base of Jiankou wall as explained in the thread "How to reach the Zhengbeilou tower at the Jiankou Great Wall"
3. Climb up to the wall.
4. Keep walking East to Mutianyu and meet my driver at the cable car station.

Have I got that right?

How long will the whole thing take? If it's 2 hours from Beijing to Zhao's Roadhouse, then 1 hour walk to the base of the climb, then 2 hours to the top, that doesn't leave much time for the walk to Mutianyu.

Can I miss the cable car at Mutianyu? I mean is it a detour off the wall to get to it?

[Bryan]

I would allow for a little bit more time to get to Xizhazi, depending on where and when you leave Beijing. If you aren't spending the night there, then just before you reach Xizhazi 5, get your driver to drop you off on the side road to Zhengbeilou. This will save you some time.

From the end of the road to Zhengbeilou should take less than two hours.

It would be hard to miss the cable car. It's not very far from where you reach the restored Mutianyu section. I guess about 20 minutes of walking.

You might want to consider finding public transportation from Mutianyu so you won't have to worry about what time you arrive there.

Good luck!

[boilface]

Thanks for the quick reply Bryan.

From the end of the road to Zhengbeilou should take less than two hours.

Is that two hours just to the base or including the climb up to the wall?

Once on the wall, how long is the walk to Mutianyu?

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by boilface

Is that two hours just to the base or including the climb up to the wall?

That's to the tower itself. Two hours would be plenty of time.

Originally Posted by boilface

Once on the wall, how long is the walk to Mutianyu?

Approximately three to four hours.

[chirogentleman]

Hello, I am living in china and will be going to hike and photograph the wall the same time you do. I will be traveling sept 5-6 also from beijing to jiankou and mutinuyu. I am wanting to get to one of these places, hike til sun goes down, get some awesome sunset shots, then stay the night somewhere. I will be traveling with another american and will probably have an interpreter. maybe we can travel together on some of this journey if you wish. even if it's the trip from beijing to the wall. Just let me know if you want to chat more, Dr Jeff
chiro_gentleman@yahoo.com

[boilface]

Jeff, I won't be in China until after your trip, probably around 20th September.

If you do go to Jiankou, please let me know the route you took to get there.

Good luck!