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Camping on the Great Wall
Guaranteed!
- Your Unique Experience
made possible by the
Great Wall Adventure Club
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Price
Structure
| # of Heads |
USD
each person |
| 1 |
689 |
| 2 |
439 |
| 3 |
389 |
| 4-5 |
369 |
| 6-9 |
339 |
| 10+ |
309 |
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE PRICE
* Personal transfers from and to
hotel
* Entry fees to the Great Wall
* Two lunches, one dinner and one breakfast
(delivered to your watchtower)
* The privilege of camping on the Great Wall and exclusive access to
the camping watch tower
* All necessary camping gears such as tents & bags
* Quality vehicle, professional driver and English-speaking tour
guide
* Free membership card
* A credit of RMB50 when you reserve the next tour with us
Guaranteed no detours to
shops or markets, etc.
 Want
to see more of the legendary Great Wall in all its beauty and
splendor? Visit our
Instagram page for a preview of what could be
in store for you!
Day 1: Gubeikou-Jinshanling on
Google Earth.
Click to enlarge
Day 2: Huanghuacheng-Xishuiyu on
Google Earth.
Click to enlarge
TRAVEL INSURANCE
If you currently don’t have travel insurance then
you will be required to purchase our PICC (People's Insurance
Company of China) travel and accidental insurance.
The fee will be $7.99 per person, and will cover the duration of
your hiking/camping/trekking in order to ensure that you are
comprehensively protected if injured.
For more information about our travel insurance policy please
see our insurance page.
QUALITY VEHICLES
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Camping on the Great Wall,
Hiking the Great Wall along the Lakes
Route
2AD: Overnight Camping & Hiking Tour
to Great Wall
from the famous battlefield Gubeikou to Jinshanling, and along the
lakeside Great Wall at Huanghuacheng
POPULARITY RANKING*: 
*Ranked by the quantity of signups of
all 2-day hiking routes.
The difference between the impossible and
the possible lies in a man's determination. -Tommy Lasorda
WELCOME TO THIS WEBPAGE!
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to visit our website! We
know that making a choice about your China trip can be a very big
decision, and that's why we want to make sure that you have as much
information as possible at your disposal. No other tour operator
will give you this much info, and we take it as a point of pride in
making sure that our clients are the most informed before their
departure. Unlike many Chinese sites, our pages are all in English,
and if you find any issues or errors in anything you read, please do
not hesitate to contact us. Once again, thank you for visiting Great
Wall Adventure Club!
 
The outdoorsman: Stay overnight on the Great Wall of
China
"When people come to the Great Wall of China, they
want to explore the history and see why it was built. A day trip to
the tourist sites won’t achieve that, but a sleepover on one of the
world’s most storied ruins certainly will. The Great Wall Adventure
Club organizes trips to sleep in a watchtower where soldiers were
formerly garrisoned. When night falls, the only thing above is the
stars, while the incredible land of the surrounding hills is
absolutely silent ... " (June 11, 2012)
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This program features sleeping on the Great
Wall. |
 Guaranteed camping
inside
the watch tower!
A few agents claim they can do so
but that's not true. What they usually mean is that they may take
you to the foot of the Great Wall to camp on the ground or to sleep
at a guesthouse. Not us. For each participant (even children), we
must pay a hefty relic preserving fee to the Great Wall
administration office. This fee allows for you to camp on the Great
Wall, hence why the price for this program is higher than most.
Great Wall Adventure Club (GWAC) is the only company approved by the
Great Wall Administration Office to offer camping for international
guests. This is what sets us apart from other operators.
Please keep in mind that during some sensitive political events,
camping may be temporarily suspended because of increased police
security around Beijing. We will do our best to keep you up-to-date
on any changes or notices regarding this. Thank you for your
understanding!
HIGHTLIGHTS:
If you are looking for breathtaking views with a relatively peaceful
walk, then the
Gubeikou-Jinshanling
Great Wall hike is perfect for you. You’ll also get breathtaking
views of the sunset from the vantage point of the Great Wall. This
will without a doubt be one of the highlights of your entire China
trip!
Huanghuacheng was built in
Ming Dynasty with very sophisticated technology and thus the Wall
was very solid and strong. In 1930's, Japanese invaders tried to
break the Wall and they had to raze the Wall in order to enter
Beijing. They finally made it and made partial of Huanghuacheng
Great Wall felt down to water.
The Xishuiyu Great
Wall is partially under the water. Therefore, both
Huanghuacheng and
Xishuiyu are unique in that the Great Wall is under a lake or
reservoir. No other section of the Wall has this feature.
You’ll have the
option of sleeping overnight in one of the watchtowers of the Great
Wall, which is sure to be an unforgettable experience! Watch the
sunrise and sunset from the best seat in the house!
All necessary camping gears such as tents, pads & bags are provided.
For those of you curious
about Great Wall camping conditions, please be advised that camping
on the Great Wall is very rugged and adventurous, and you should
expect a relatively low comfort level from what you're normally used
to. Following dinner, we'll walk about 20-30 minutes to the camping
site in the Great Wall watchtower. It is there we will set up the
tent, sleeping bags, etc. Please be aware that this experience is
significantly different from staying in a hostel/farmotel/hotel. The
camping settlement is very basic, although we are constantly
striving to improve this experience.
Due to the high and heavy volume of camping equipment (tents, pads,
sleeping bags, etc.) in use during your Great Wall hiking tour, we
kindly ask that you give your guide a helping hand in getting your
equipment up to the watchtower where you'll spend the night. We thank you for
your cooperation and understanding!
Departure:
Our Great Wall hiking is a
private service. What this means is that you can hike on the Great
Wall at any time at your convenience. If you
would much rather be part of a group for
the experience for economic and social reasons,
we'll check to see if there are more signups for the same date as
your own. We'll keep you updated whenever there are more. If you
would like to keep your tour a private one, please let us know and
we'll assign you a guide and driver.
Day-by-day Hiking Itinerary
(B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner) |
Day 1:
Beijing-Gubeikou-Jinshanling
(L, D.
4.5 hours of hiking)
Our car or minivan will pick you up
anywhere within the 3rd ring road, at about 9:30 am. From your pick
up we will drive directly to the Gubeikou Great Wall. The drive
should take a little over 2.5 hours.
The Gubeikou Great Wall occupies a
strategically important location, which is difficult to access.
Situated between Shanhaiguan Pass and Juyongguan Pass, and about 62
miles to Beijing, it is the bastion protecting the northern gateway
to the capital. There are 14 beacon towers, 143 watchtowers, 16
strategic pass, three citadels and many other military
constructions.
Gubeikou is completely unrestored,
covered with over 140 watchtowers, all differing in size and design.
From the wall here you will be able to witness how the wall twists
and winds along the steep mountain ranges. This is as dramatic a
view on the Great Wall as you’ll find. If the weather is clear, you
will be able to see the shimmering blue lake of the Miyun Reservoir.
There is a section on the wall that is part of a military base, so
you will be able to walk and explore a quaint nearby local village
to take a detour and re-enter the wall somewhere close to
Jinshanling.
 In
the afternoon we will eventually cross over into the Jinshanling
Great Wall. The Great Wall at Jinshanling is one of the best
preserved parts of the Great Wall with many original features. It
got its name because it was built on the Greater and Lesser Jinshan
(‘Gold Mountain’) Ranges. A tablet with the Chinese inscription for
Jinshanling Great Wall was set into this section. The Jinshanling
Great Wall has not been repaired since 1570. It is a remote and
relatively isolated section of the Great Wall. As there are
relatively few tourists at Jinshanling Great Wall, it is a good
place to explore on foot. The Jinshanling Great Wall was initially
built from 1368 to 1389 in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and in 1567
and 1570 rebuilding of the Wall was mainly directed by General Qi
Jiguang (1528-1588). Poems and tablet writings can be found on the
Jinshanling Great Wall left from the time when Qi Jiguang directed
the rebuilding of this section of the Great Wall. There are more
than 100 watch towers along the Jinshanling Great Wall. ‘Watching
Beijing Tower’ is on the highest point, from which you can see
Beijing. The Jinshanling Great Wall is second only to the Badaling
Great Wall in its completeness.
Once we watch the sunset over the Great
Wall, we’ll climb down and drive to have dinner at the local
restaurant in Jinshanling. If you’re up to it, and if the weather
cooperates, you also have the opportunity to camp overnight on the Jinshanling Great Wall itself! We highly recommend it, as it is an
experience you won’t soon forget! If you prefer to overnight in
a hostel, we'll drive you to
Good Fortune Restaurant and Inn near the Huanghuacheng Great Wall.
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Day 2:
Huanghuacheng-Xishuiyu-Beijing (B, L.
4
hours of hiking)
If you elect to spend the night camping
in the Jinshanling Great Wall, we’ll be sure to wake up early in
order to catch the sunrise over the Great Wall, so be sure to have
your cameras ready! Afterwards will disembark from the Great Wall
and drive directly to the
Huanghuacheng (or Huanghua Great Wall).
After a short walk around the dam on the
Huanghuacheng Reservoir, we will start our hike westward to Xishuiyu.
The Huanghuacheng (Yellow Flower City) Great Wall is a beautiful
tourist spot combining mountains, lakes and ancient Great Wall. It
is the latest section to become popular with hikers. It provides a
challenge for hikers because the paths are steep and out of repair.
Huanghuacheng is divided by lakes and some parts are even immersed
in the water, which is a very unique characteristic, distinguishing
it from other sections of the Great Wall.
A general named Cai Kai, who led the
construction of Huanghuacheng Great Wall, was beheaded after
completion of his task, because the emperor mistakenly believed
other ministers’ lies that his job was sloppy. But when a survey
report, stating that the walls were solid, steep and exemplified the
finest workmanship, reached the emperor, the emperor realized that
he had misjudged General Cai Kai. The emperor ordered a tomb and
memorial stele to be erected in honor of the loyal general. He also
had the characters
金汤 (Jin
Tang), meaning firm and solid (literally “metal soup”), inscribed on
the face of a huge rock below the wall. So the Huanghuacheng section
of the Great Wall is also called the Jintang Great Wall. There is a
lake and a reservoir nearby. The crescent shaped reservoir is called
Huanghuacheng Reservoir, while the name of the lake is Jintang Lake.
 The
Great Wall at Huanghuacheng is surrounded by mountains with verdant
vegetation, lots of blossom and other seasonal beauty. During
summer, the countryside around the Huanghuacheng Great Wall is
swathed in yellow, as masses of wild flowers come into bloom. The
highest point of the wall is a broken watchtower, and from there you
will have a wide panoramic view of the whole valley. From this
summit the Wall dives steeply downwards into the valley. The Gate is
located at the bottom, an opening in the wall, which connects the
Zhuangdaokou village on the inside, with the still-well-preserved
Yaoziyu Castle, built in the Ming Dynasty, on the outside. Over the
top of the passageway is another watchtower where we will rest a
short while before continuing on. From here we will continue to trek westward, climbing towards
the broken wall to our destination, a peak overlooking Xiaoxihu
Lake. It is here that we will stop for a filling and refreshing
lunch that will replenish your energy.
Most of the Great Wall around
Xishuiyu is
in reasonably good, deteriorated, but not collapsed condition. None
of the Great Wall here has been restored so it retains its authentic
condition. As we follow the Wall to the west here, you will get
views of the Xiaoxihu reservoir to your right. You will find several
opportunities to get off the wall and walk down the reservoir,
crossing through a large Ming dynasty chestnut field at the bottom.
There is a path all the way around the reservoir so you can follow
it in either direction. From our vantage on the Wall, we will see a
real treat, the broken Great Wall running underwater! From this
point, the wall is in too bad a condition to walk, so we will follow
a delightful mountain trail to Xishuiyu village, where we will drive
back to Beijing, completing your tour.
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