Before I start, I would like to say that the Great Wall has been a place I have wanted to visit for many years! Ever since I found out about its existence in elementary school, I just had to go see it for myself. The Great Wall was the foremost reason why I even booked by Beijing ticket. You read about it in a book, drool over the photos from national geographic, and you shake your head and wonder how such a collosol structure even exists. You read about how many years it took to build it, the distance it covers, and all the people who lost their lives slaving to build it, will leave you appreciating it even more!
I read the best way to travel in Beijing was by having your own private driver. It costs more, but you get to places much faster and thus are able to accomplish a lot more in a day. Someone on Revscene.net (a board I visit periodically) left me a contact of a Beijing driver named John. I emailed John and was able book a whole day to visit the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. The morning started at 8am, and the drive out was 2hours, which of course I slept the whole way there. The Great Wall has a couple entrances; two are located very close to each other, only a couple towers away from one another. The other is hours out from the main entrances and is better suited for hikers who want trek the 4 hour journey and experience more than just a beautiful view. I did not notice until I took the trip out, but in the winter Beijing gets very dry. In the summer the Great Wall is surrounded by lushious green trees and an abundance of life, but in the winter the place looks like a desert. Trees weren’t getting any water, flowers or plant life looked non-existent and the mountains resembled piles of sand. It would have been nice to at least have some snow, but nontheless the Great Wall was everything I had ever hoped and imagined plus so much more. John had dropped me at Mutianyu entrance (one of the 3 entrances) where you can apparently buy a tobogganing ride back down (YAY!). John told me to head right because from there you can get a better view of the whole wall, but 30 minutes in you come to a stone which tells you to turn around because the rest of the way is out of bounds. I disregarded the warning and just walked around it.
