{"id":14449,"date":"2018-07-18T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14449"},"modified":"2018-07-10T19:40:48","modified_gmt":"2018-07-10T23:40:48","slug":"visiting-the-mutianyu-great-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/visiting-the-mutianyu-great-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting the Mutianyu Great Wall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pretty much everyone who comes to China hopes to see the Great Wall on their trip. Chairman Mao himself once famously said \u201cYou aren\u2019t a real man until you\u2019ve climbed the Great Wall<\/strong>\u201d (\u4e0d\u5230\u957f\u57ce\u975e\u597d\u6c49 \u2013 b\u00f9 d\u00e0o ch\u00e1ng ch\u00e9ng f\u0113i h\u01ceo h\u00e0n). From Beijing, there are many different options for walking along one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Today we’ll take a closer look at one of those options and see what it’s like visiting the Mutianyu Great Wall.<\/p>\n

An Intro to Mutianyu<\/h2>\n
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Mutianyu Great Wall, just outside of Beijing.<\/p><\/div>\n

About 65 km outside of Beijing lies the Mutianyu<\/strong> (\u6155\u7530\u5cea – m\u00f9 ti\u00e1n y\u00f9) section of the Great Wall<\/strong> (\u957f\u57ce – ch\u00e1ng ch\u00e9ng). Representing just one of the many sections of the 6,000+ km long wall, this area is easily accessible from China\u2019s capital city, is not quite as full of tourists as other sites and is restored enough to make the climb up convenient enough while at the same time retaining some of its ancient history. It\u2019s a perfect day-trip out of the city, and a great Chinese history lesson at the same time.<\/p>\n

Next to the Badaling Great Wall, Mutianyu is probably #2 in terms of its development for tourism. There\u2019s both a cable car and a toboggan to take visitors up and down, which are great if you\u2019re feeling lazy or just want to have some fun sledding down the Great Wall.<\/p>\n

\"Visiting<\/a>

It sure is beautiful in the winter.<\/p><\/div>\n

You\u2019ll find plenty of touts both outside of and on the Wall, trying to sell you all sorts of stuff. There\u2019s even a Subway right near the entrance. So yeah, it\u2019s pretty developed (and not necessarily in a good way, if you ask me). That being said, it is still a great hike along the Wall with stunning views of the surrounding hills (on a clear day, of course).<\/p>\n

The path has been restored here, so it\u2019s not too adventurous \u2013 just a lot of up and down stairs. Slick Willy Clinton even visited the Mutianyu Great Wall, which he apparently said was \u201cvery beautiful, very grand, more beautiful and grander than what I imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Brickyard Retreat<\/h2>\n
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My first time on the Great Wall!<\/p><\/div>\n

I’m a big fan of the Mutianyu Great Wall for many reasons. For starters, it’s the first section of the Wall I ever went to. In just my 2nd week in Beijing, I went to Mutianyu with the other teachers in my group and we had a great time hiking, taking silly photos, and of course riding the toboggan down.<\/p>\n

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A great place to stay near a Great Wall.<\/p><\/div>\n

When I came back to China a few years later, I surprised my girlfriend with an anniversary trip out to Mutianyu to stay in the amazing Brickyard<\/strong> (\u74e6\u5382 \u2013 w\u01ce ch\u01ceng). That trip to the Mutianyu Great Wall was one of the first videos I ever put on the YouTube channel. Travel back in time with me and check it out:<\/p>\n