The Great Wall at Jinshanling and Simatai (chin. 金山岭 司马台) lies in Hebei. about 90 km west of Chengde and 150 km northeast of Beijing.
background
The wall section is one of the most famous wall sections for hiking on the Great Wall. The wall was built in 1530 in the Ming Dynasty and is part of the UNESCO world cultural heritage.
getting there
The journey can be made from Beijing or Chengde. You can either book a tour at a local travel agency or have a taxi driver or rental car bring you there. Depending on your negotiating skills and distance, you should expect 300 yuan per person for the journey. It is very important that the driver drives to the end of the hike and waits there.
activities
You should choose Jinshanling as a starting point, as you have the option of taking the cable car (30 yuan) up the wall. This saves you a long climb. The first part of the wall in Jinshanling has to be paid 50 yuan admission. Here you start the hike on the wall past 30 towers to Simatai. In Jinshanling you will be accompanied by various vendors until you leave the reconstructed piece. From then on you are on your own. You only meet foreign tourists every now and then. A Chinese person does not understand why one walks on the wall, for him a simple visit to the wall is enough. Along a beautiful landscape one struggles through more or less dilapidated wall remnants. Sometimes on the wall and sometimes next to it when it is not accessible. It is particularly critical to climb downhill on the rubble. Depending on how fit you are, you can reach Simatai after about 4.5 hours. Shortly before you reach your destination, you have to pay again for the Simatai wall section (70 yuan) and for a suspension bridge (5 yuan). Those who still have strength can climb another 5 towers, but this is certainly only something for trained hikers. In Simatai you can decide whether you want to walk down a path or slide down on a wire rope over a lake for a fee. (The wire rope is a lot of fun ... you should definitely do it.) Hopefully the driver will be waiting for the return trip in the parking lot in Siamtai.
climate
In summer it can easily exceed 40 ° C on the wall. The heated stones also do theirs. In winter there is snow and ice on the wall. The hike should not be carried out during thunderstorms and rain (smooth stones). The still intact towers definitely offer an ideal place to take a break and as protection from the weather.
accommodation
There is also a youth hostel in Simatai.
language
Mandarin, if you are lucky enough to have some English.
