12 Days Great Wall Hiking

You will be met at Beijing International Airport by our CAT guide and transferred to a hotel in central Beijing. Today you will have an opportunity to rest and recover from the long flight. In the late afternoon, there will be a briefing about the Great Wall Trekking in the following 9 days. Welcome dinner will be followed by that.

Beijing/Shanhaiguan 400km/4-4.5hrs driving;   Shanhaiguan/Laolongtou 6km/20mins driving After an early breakfast we will make a 4-4.5-hour drive to the Shanhai Pass (Shanhai Guan), which is in a town situated in the northeast of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province. After lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, we’ll have a tour to the Great Wall Museum to learn about the history of the Great Wall. Then, we will walk to Shanhaiguan Pass Fortress nearby, which is hailed as "the first pass of the Great Wall" due to its strategic location in the ancient time. In the late afternoon, a short drive will take us to the sea and we will start our hike at Old Dragon’s Head, also known as Laolongtou (老龙头). Laolongtou is the most eastern section of the Great Wall was built in 1381, Ming Dynasty(1368-1644). It was an important line of defense against enemies coming from both the land and the sea until the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). For the night we will stay at a courtyard hotel (a simple but clean hotel with private washroom and hot water shower), and have a tasty dinner of Northern Chinese cuisine to get you started for tomorrow’s hike. 

12km/6.5-7.5hrs hiking;    Shanhaiguan/Jiao Shan 6km/20mins driving; Sandaoguan/Dongjiakou 40km/1.5hrs driving Today, beginning at the Jiaoshan Great Wall we will head towards Sandao Guan.  Note: Be sure to wear a long sleeve shirt, as we will be walking through lots of bushes. We will hike from the bottom of Jiao Shan upwards directly to the Jiao Shan ancient wall, which provides you a sense of historical vicissitude and a overall view of the magnificent Shanhaiguan City in the sun.  Walking on the dilapidated wall is a great challenge. The wall appears more and more crumbled and deformed as you forge ahead. In some sections, the wall is only built on one side, with the other side being the deep cliffs. One-hour's climb, you will arrive at Dapingding Peak (大平顶), the main peak of Jiao Mountain, where we will be able to enjoy a beautiful bird’s-eye view of Shanhaiguan city in the early morning sunlight on clear day, far below. We will then strike off for the next 3-4 hours, travelling in a north-easterly direction, hiking partly on the wall and partly on a wild mountain trail, until we come to our destination - a beautiful valley overlooked by Mt. Longevity. This peaceful valley is characterized by huge stones, a quiet forest, and crystal-clear creeks. In the shadow of Mt. Longevity sits the little village of Sandaoguan (“Three-layer-wall Pass”) with about 35 families living in it. We will walk down to the village, where we will enjoy a short rest and meet our vehicle. After a short break, we will drive about one and a half hours to the village of Dongjiakou, where we will stay in the local farmer's home. It’s very simple but clean (two-bed, with no private washroom and hot water shower).