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Merry Christmas from Hefangkou Great Wall!

Posted on 24/12/2012 by Ricky

The holiday season is once again around the corner. It is a wonderful time for us to remember the friends and customers who make our jobs a pleasure all year long and keep our business successful. Our business would not be possible without your continued support.

So we’d like to take this moment to extend our personal thanks to you and our best wishes to you and your families from Hefangkou Great Wall. May your new year be filled with all the success and happiness you deserve. Merry Christmas from Hefangkou Great Wall!

Half-day Closing for Forbidden City

Posted on 11/12/2012 by Ricky

It is on several online newspapers that from January 1 to March 31 next year, the Forbidden City will be closed every Monday afternoon, expect for 11th Feb,(the Chinese new year) to protect the architecture and cultural relics.

The Forbidden City will be closed for half day on the following days:
January: 7, 14, 21, 28. Feburary: 4, 18, 25. (it will open the whole day on 11th, Feb). March: 4, 11, 18, 25.
The Forbidden City announced the museum will be open to the public from 8 am to 12 am and the ticket office will be closed at 11 am.

Forbidden City Travel Tips:

Forbidden City will transport you straight to the past. You don’t realize the magnitude of the Forbidden City until you are there. It takes about 2-3 hours to visit all the known places at detail. Here I got a few tips for visitors:

There is a quick bag check in the Meridian gate. You are allowed to take in water and other beverages. Audio guide is available in the Meridian gate, which has a map with lights on it to tell you once where you are in the Forbidden City. This is really helpful since it’s easy to get lost, especially when walking around the six east or west palaces. Picture taking is allowed in all parts except for the original-state halls. Generally the central axis is crowded withtour groups. Don’t neglect the side chambers and other areas, which have exhibitions on various aspects of the Qing court such as jade, jewellery, ceramics, calligraphy and painting etc, they are largely ignored by the tour groups.

Related Tours: Jiankou Hiking plus Mutianyu Toboggan Ride

Gubeikou to Jinshanling Hike

Group / Bus Tour vs. Private Tour: Which is Better?

Posted on 12/11/2012 by Ricky

I like hiking in a small groups rather than large ones, although I’m also out a lot only with my wife. The problem with large groups is the pace they move at. For example, Mutianyu Great Wall opens at 8:30am. Tour groups arrive at around 10:30am when the attraction is at the busiest time. Independant tourists may get to Mutianyu on opening when it is quiet.

Although major attractions in Beijing have group tours window where they could buy group tickets a bit faster (group tours have a different line to get into attractions as well), you will have to stick with group timings. Group tourists are still at Mutianyu when it’s heaving while Independant tourists leave Mutianyu before lunch and have the rest of the day in Beijng. Although large groups can be good fun, in my opinion 10 is the ideal maximum for large groups.

With a smallish group, there’s more group bonding and people support each other, more personal attention and interaction with each other. Tour leaders can manage difficult sections more easily. Small groups has less visual intrusion into the environment, more interaction with local community and other tourists.

With a private guide, chances are your guide will be very knowledgable and you can time your visits to your interests, have all your questions asked and hopefully answered. You can spot a special sight or stop somewhere just for amoment of tranquility away from the crowds. Your guide can give you a lot of help with eating, getting around and shopping. Beijing traffic can be horrendous at rush hours, so plan your transit times effectively.

Bus tour might save a bit of money but they do so at the expense of rushing you from place to place, regardless of your individual interests. It can take quite awhile for them to do all the pick-ups (and drop-offs at the end) as the bus will stop at different hotels/hostels before leaving the city. Small group tour take you where you want to go, when you can go which won’t cost you too much (rather than share a tour guide with 20 others on the bus).

Semi-Independent travellers always have a handy guide book and have a bit of a sense of adventure. All in all, on the balance, I prefer small group tours or private tour to bus tour if I am not concerned about the difference in price when hiking Jiankou, Jinshanling,Simatai etc

Related Tours: Gubeikou to Jinshanling Hike

Jinshanling Simatai West Hike

Your turn

Do you have a question? What do you think about it? If you’ve enjoyed this article, I’d ask that you share it with a friend or consider leaving a comment below. As always, your thoughts and opinions matter, so feel free to leave them below. We’d love to hear from you!

How to get to Hefangkou Great Wall

Posted on 21/06/2012 by Ricky

Hefangkou Great Wall is located at Hefangkou village, Huairou county, about 75km (46miles) away northeastern of Beijing. Hefangkou is quiet, easily accessible, yet it attracts far less visitors than Badaling Great Wall. It’s a ideal site for hiking and short excursions. Originally built during the North Qi Dynasty (550-577), most of the Walls were rebuilt during the Jiaqing reign of the Ming dynasty. It’s about 20km (13miles) in length with 23 watchtowers. Hefangkou is famous for its jagged cliffs and steep drop-offs. This kind of ‘wild’ bit of the Wall is best done via a tour, or hiring a vehicle. If you are adventurous, you do it by public transport. In my opinion, how you actually do it probably depends on your budget.

By Car

Hiring a private car getting to Hefangkou is a good choice if your budget is not tight and want to avoid the crowds and traffic. If you are travelling with 3 or 4 people, this way is really good value for your money.

By Bus

Alternatively, Bus 936 is a good option to visit Hefangkou Great Wall. Bus 936 from Dongzhimen Outer that runs daily between 7:00am-19:00pm is the fastest, most direct way to reach Hefangkou by bus so far. It takes around 2 hrs or 2.5 hrs from Dongzhimen Outer to Hefangkou and it costs around 4.8RMB by using Beijing IC Card/commuter pass and the full price is around 14RMB. Be sure to get off at Qinglongxiadaokou bus station where you can walk to Hefangkou.

Where is the 936 bus station in Beijing?

How to get by bus to 936 Hefangkou , Great Wall hiking, camping 936 bus station is on the outside bus transfer depot at Dongzhimen Outer, which is also next to Mutianyu 867 bus station. The bus transfer depot is just outside of exit B of Dongzhimen Line 2 subway staion. There are signs, in English, throughout the subway station pointing you toward the bus transfer depot and exit B. Most of the buses are inside bus transfer depot in a massive building.

While 936 bus station is on the outside bus transfer depot and a little bit difficult to find. The easiest way to find it is to go to the main entrance of Dongzhimen Outer bus transfer depot then walk anticlock wise around the block until you get to the another bus station. Luckily, you can get there from Dongzhimen subway station within 20 minutes on foot.