Having just arrived in Beijing the night before via a 24 hour train ride, obviously the most logical thing to do the next morning was to get on another train. Of course it was, but this time the train was to the Great Wall of China. Mike and I decided that since we were train experts, we would be able to make our way to the Great Wall sans pricey packaged tour (and we actually succeeded for the most part).

This train was hilarious. A total 180 experience from our quiet and civilized sleeper car from Hong Kong, the train to Badaling didn’t have assigned seating, so to our surprise as soon they opened the doors to the platform everyone started running to get the best seats. This was nothing like I’ve ever seen before. It was full out sprinting to the train as if it was already in motion and leaving the station.

Since we left from the first station (and would be picking up more passengers at subsequent stations), there were plenty of seats for everyone, but this didn’t stop us from running as fast as we could to grab our preferred seats as well (although I’m not sure we knew what exactly we were looking for in train seats).

The Great Wall of China

Once we were all settled and the train started off, it chugged along for the first half hour through the suburbs and then started out into the mountains. As the mountains got larger, we started to catch glimpses of the wall and towers. Our first challenge that morning had been finding the right ticket window and get on the right train. We really hadn’t thought too far ahead of that, and realized that we had no idea which stop to get off at. We quickly formulated a plan to just get off where the most people were getting off, and hope for the best.

Our strategy worked out for us, and we got off at the same stop as almost everyone else on the train. It turns out that we were visiting the Great Wall on a national holiday with a ton of other locals, so we just followed the stream of people out of the station and up the road to the ticket counter.

A heads up to anyone who goes to visit the Great Wall. It’s a hike, some parts are reaaaaaaally steep. Dress accordingly. Not thinking, I wore inappropriate shoes for walking, and whined and complained all the way up. Mike was amazing at encouraging me to go farther, and kept telling me that if I stopped I would be disappointed in myself. I really appreciate that he kept pushing me, since the further we went, the more amazing the views got. The view from our end point was spectacular.

These people took pictures with Mike. I’m not sure they were fans of me.

The wall was packed with local tourists (many of whom were also not wearing appropriate hiking footwear – some ladies were in heels!!). They kept stopping us and asking me to pose for pictures. I really hope that it’s because they were confusing me with some famous celebrity. Mike was starting to get annoyed, because no one wanted his photo. But when we got to the end, he was finally asked to pose in someone’s picture (and they didn’t want anything to do with me).

We got engraved medals to celebrate our climb and then proceeded to take the world’s sketchiest gondola down to sprint for a train that wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

Tagged: Asia, Beijing, China, Great Wall of China, train, travel