great wall for the spring festival. Looking for an authentic experience

[martinofrera]

Hello people!
This is Martino, a 35 years old half Spanish and half Italian guy!

as every winter I will be traveling for a couple of months...in Indonesia, but on the way back to Italy I will spend 5 nights in Beijing from the 1st to the 6th of February....so I will be in China for their new year's eve!

My goal is to visit the great wall. I have been in 6 of the seven modern wonders so it will be my last one

I am starting to look for info but before I want you to have an idea about me: I am a backpacker, I have money disponibility but I do enjoy more traveling with super local transports ( I have done a lot of hitchhiking in my life ), I can sleep basically anywhere, ...

so I would like to visit the great wall not in the easiest point but in the most worth

and after looking for info it sounds that the best place is....Jiankou!

Actually I am thinking that a good idea could be to walk from Mutianyu to Jiankou? I like the idea as I will walk always in the same way, I don't like the idea to do the same way twice.

Do you know how long it may take?

Starting in Mutianyu it could be a good idea, as it is easier to reach. Then at the en of the day I could sleep in a random village like Xizhazi, which looks really authentic. And come back to Beijing the next day, with no rush, from there.

also, with this plan, if there is snow and it gets too complicate I can easily always go back to the starting point

how does it sound?

also....I want to keep open the idea of sleeping in a tower or in the wall (I know it will be super cold)....do you think in that part of the wall is doable to sleep?

thanks to everybody!

[Bryan]

As long as you are prepared for the cold weather this plan sounds good. By adjusting where you start at Mutianyu, and where you finish at Jiankou, you can control how long and far you will walk. I would probably start toward the east end of Mutianyu, because even though it is largely restored it's still very interesting. You could take the smaller cable car or you could walk the trail from Mutianyu village to Zhengguantai. Then once you reach Jiankou you can proceed as far as you wish depending on available time. From the western end of Mutianyu to Zhengbeilou is less than two hours. I don't see any problem with sleeping in a tower and Zhengbeilou would be a good candidate. Remember that it's pretty dangerous once past Zhengbeilou and you may want to bypass that section depending on your climbing ability and how much you're carrying and whether the wall is dry.