Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting To Jiankou
As with getting to Mutianyu, take bus 916 from the
Dongzhimen Transport
Hub
(Dongzhimen Shuniuzhan;
Click here
)
to Huairou
(¥12, one hour, 6.30am
to 7.30pm)
. Get off at Mingzhu Guangchang bus stop, then start negotiating
for a taxi to Xizhazi Village
( Xizhazi Cun; one-way ¥100-130, one hour)
.
Taxis and Car Hire
Miles Meng
( 137 1786 1403;
www.beijingtourvan.blog.sohu.com
)
is a friendly,
reliable, English-speaking driver with a variety of decent-quality vehicles at his dis-
posal. Prices for day-long trips to the Great Wall start at ¥600 to ¥700 per vehicle
(for the Mutianyu Great Wall area), and he is happy to drop you at one part of the
wall and pick you up at another to allow you to hike from A to B.
Hertz
( Hezi; 800 988 1336, 5739 2000;
www.hertzchina.com
; 8am-8am
Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sat Sun)
has an office at Terminal 3 of Beijing airport. Self-drive
hire cars ( zijia) start from ¥230 per day (up to 150km per day), with a ¥20,000 de-
posit. A car-with-driver service (
daijia
) is also available from ¥660 per day.
Huanghua Cheng
Strikingly free of crowds,
Huanghua Cheng
, 77km north of Beijing, allows
visitors to admire this classic and well-preserved example of Ming defence,
with high and wide ramparts, intact parapets and sturdy beacon towers, in rel-
ative isolation.
From the road, you can go east up the stupidly steep section which rises up
from the reservoir and which eventually leads to Jiankou and Mutianyu (if
you've got three days on your hands). Not only is it very steep, the stonework
here has been worn smooth, making it very slippery. You need shoes with very
good grip. There are also no guardrails here.
Getting To Huanghua Cheng
