Simatai Great Wall
Simatai Great Wall
4.6
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Simatai, a section of the Great Wall of China located in the north of Miyun County, 120 km northeast of Beijing, holds the access to Gubeikou, a strategic pass in the eastern part of the Great Wall. It's one of the most untouched section of the Great Wall which will surely become the highlight of your trip to China!
Duration: More than 3 hours
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Nataliya
5 contributions
May 2024 • Couples
We chose this site as less touristy (it is a little further from the city when compared with other options) and a little wilder. In our opinion, they got it right 100%, we really liked it. There were few people on the wall, it was convenient to walk and take pictures. In some areas we were generally alone. But it was Friday, and it was raining in the morning. We were lucky that it stopped by the time we reached the wall, otherwise we would have had to walk carefully as the wet stone steps become quite slippery.
How to get there: from Dongzhimen metro station, through exit B, 7-10 minutes walk to the bus. Finding the bus is easy - see the diagram in the attachment. The main thing is not to taxi to the bus station, which you will see when exiting the metro. The bus will be marked as "Gubei water town / Simatai". It starts at 9:00. By the way, when the driver sees foreigners, he will try to invite you onto the bus with gestures, pointing to the sign with the route. The journey took us about 1 hour 40 minutes, the cost of the bus was 48 yuan.
The bus arrives in the village of Gubei - a kind of attraction for tourists: old houses, streets, bridges, canals. Everything is very beautiful. Entrance to the village is paid, but optional.
You can take a single ticket - 170 yuan, and walk around the village, and then climb the wall. It seemed to us that this was the most convenient. If you take it separately, you will probably have to somehow bypass the village.
There is also an option with a cable car that starts from the village, but we wanted to walk, so we didn’t consider it.
In terms of time we got something like this:
10-40 - bus arrival, bought tickets and got our bearings.
From 11-00 we walked around the village for about an hour, took photographs and looked at everything.
At 12:00 we left the village and started up the wall.
At 12-30 we were at tower 2. The exit from the path is straight to it, but the first tower is very close there.
At 13-00 we were at tower 4. Section 1-4 is the simplest and flattest.
At 14-00 we were at tower 10. Between towers 6 and 9 are the steepest sections. The cable car docks at sections 5-6 and 8-9, so there are more tourists there who did not dare to walk on their feet. But even with them there were relatively few people.
We descended slowly, and at about 15-00 we were at tower 2, and at 15-40 we left the path to the village. At the entrance to the village, your tickets will be checked again, so don’t lose them.
The remaining time was enough for lunch at one of the village restaurants and on the way back to the bus stop to Beijing. The return bus to Dongzhimen leaves at 17-00 from approximately the same place where it originally arrives.
How to get there: from Dongzhimen metro station, through exit B, 7-10 minutes walk to the bus. Finding the bus is easy - see the diagram in the attachment. The main thing is not to taxi to the bus station, which you will see when exiting the metro. The bus will be marked as "Gubei water town / Simatai". It starts at 9:00. By the way, when the driver sees foreigners, he will try to invite you onto the bus with gestures, pointing to the sign with the route. The journey took us about 1 hour 40 minutes, the cost of the bus was 48 yuan.
The bus arrives in the village of Gubei - a kind of attraction for tourists: old houses, streets, bridges, canals. Everything is very beautiful. Entrance to the village is paid, but optional.
You can take a single ticket - 170 yuan, and walk around the village, and then climb the wall. It seemed to us that this was the most convenient. If you take it separately, you will probably have to somehow bypass the village.
There is also an option with a cable car that starts from the village, but we wanted to walk, so we didn’t consider it.
In terms of time we got something like this:
10-40 - bus arrival, bought tickets and got our bearings.
From 11-00 we walked around the village for about an hour, took photographs and looked at everything.
At 12:00 we left the village and started up the wall.
At 12-30 we were at tower 2. The exit from the path is straight to it, but the first tower is very close there.
At 13-00 we were at tower 4. Section 1-4 is the simplest and flattest.
At 14-00 we were at tower 10. Between towers 6 and 9 are the steepest sections. The cable car docks at sections 5-6 and 8-9, so there are more tourists there who did not dare to walk on their feet. But even with them there were relatively few people.
We descended slowly, and at about 15-00 we were at tower 2, and at 15-40 we left the path to the village. At the entrance to the village, your tickets will be checked again, so don’t lose them.
The remaining time was enough for lunch at one of the village restaurants and on the way back to the bus stop to Beijing. The return bus to Dongzhimen leaves at 17-00 from approximately the same place where it originally arrives.
Written 29 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Leong Chee Sheng
Singapore, Singapore353 contributions
Apr 2024 • Couples
I did quite a bit of research and settled on visiting this section of the Great Wall and I'm so glad I did! It's a beautiful stretch that looks barely touched, with a raw sense of beauty with it. The walls are just ankle deep, and the hike up is really steep and uneven. It's not recommended for those with knee problems or mobility issues. It's high up with a view of mountains and small town in the backdrop. The stretch between 6th to 8th guard post are recommended for trail. Truly a beauty to behold.
Written 3 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
fiasco-ss
Perth, Australia202 contributions
Oct 2019
This short section (three towers) is only open in the evening. Access from Gubei Water Town and the Cable car opens at 5pm. In the autumn of October the sun has just set by this time and the wall has been lighted up by staff in advance.
Not much walking involved it is mostly the atmosphere of being there. Maybe you could pack some nibbles and a little drink and lay back and enjoy it.
Okay, it is a slightly novelty Great-Wall experience but it does add to teh overall experience. We stayed overnight in Gubei but you could extend it by a day and enjoy the town more.
Not much walking involved it is mostly the atmosphere of being there. Maybe you could pack some nibbles and a little drink and lay back and enjoy it.
Okay, it is a slightly novelty Great-Wall experience but it does add to teh overall experience. We stayed overnight in Gubei but you could extend it by a day and enjoy the town more.
Written 30 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
poeticchampion
Columbus, OH8 contributions
Mar 2019
I and some Oz friends camped out here in October '95 (disregard the stupid required dropdown that only goes back to March 2019). Very, very rustic back then with no tourist crap yer. We rode on the local mini-bus from Beijing with the Chinese locals, which took about 4 hours one way. There were no tourist buses going there at that time.
The locals still mined the wall for the bricks to build their homes and wall was just sand piles in places.
We built a fire in one of the guard houses and slept there. During the night we got hit with a cold front and it rained. I was froze. But a great time all in all!
The locals still mined the wall for the bricks to build their homes and wall was just sand piles in places.
We built a fire in one of the guard houses and slept there. During the night we got hit with a cold front and it rained. I was froze. But a great time all in all!
Written 6 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The Vista Seeker
New York City, NY525 contributions
Jul 2022
Highly recommended to stay in the town (GuBei) for at least one night. You can hike the great wall during the day and then tour the rebuilt town at night. The great wall section is lit at night.
Written 18 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Abusyed
Tianjin, China42 contributions
Jun 2021 • Family
One of the best place to visit, not an normal greatwall as locates in badaling, its special worth to visit , its a only place have.cable car for night view, well preserved. Nigth view something special.
Written 1 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stephen C
Singapore, Singapore1,139 contributions
Dec 2020 • Couples
Having been to Badaling and Mutianyu sections of the Great Wall, I was therefore looking forward to visit the Simatai section. The added bonus is that there is the option to visit in the evening.
To get to the cable car station for this attraction, we opted to go through Gubei Water Town (see my other review).
I was not disappointed. The night view of the water town from the Wall is spectacular. Only a small section is open for visit in the evenings but still it was worth it as the lights are very nice.
To get to the cable car station for this attraction, we opted to go through Gubei Water Town (see my other review).
I was not disappointed. The night view of the water town from the Wall is spectacular. Only a small section is open for visit in the evenings but still it was worth it as the lights are very nice.
Written 27 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KodoDrummer
Buenos Aires, Argentina70,622 contributions
Apr 2021
A super hiking experience on remnants of the Great Wall of China. This is one of the greatest wonders of the world. Truly an awesome experience.
Written 25 April 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Josh H
Los Angeles, CA50 contributions
Oct 2017 • Couples
Simatai is incredibly beautiful. After researching that Jinshaling was closed, we opted for Simatai. And boy there are no regrets. You can read the reviews and photos, but my review is a travel guide as to how to get to Simatai because nobody knows how to get there without a private tour. Well, I am a cheap traveler. I ain't paying for no private tour. So here is the guide. You have two options, two city buses or an Express Bus. I will also talk about hike timing once you are actually there.
Option 1 -- Slow, Cheap and an Experience: We followed the advice of other reviews and online resources to take bus 980 from the Dongzhimen bus terminal to Miyun, then bus 50, 51, or 37 to Watertown. This was the most unique experience of our trip to China. Being packed like sardines in a Chinese city bus was unpleasant but extremely invigorating. Especially the bus from Miyun. These are country folk. Farmers. Chinese that are from the rural corners of the country. They are rough and smell and are loud and gross, but it was an experience. They likely haven’t seen foreigners before. I would recommend taking this route if you are cheap and want to experience and see what rural China people and villages look like and how crazy drivers are in rural countryside. The Miyun bus was literally driving on dirt roads. It was awesome and it is cheaper than option 2. If you don't want this experience, continue to option 2.
Using your Beijing transit card, take the 980 Express from Dongzhimen. There may be a long line of people waiting for the express 980 but the bus interval appeared to be every 10 minutes or so. If you just take the regular 980, it will take an hour longer due to the increased number of stops. Once you get to Miyun, you need to get off the bus before the end of the line. The bus stop to get off at is located at the coordinates (40.388683, 116.856610).
Then, cross the street and take Bus 37 or Bus 51. Do not take bus 50 as it drops you off a 40 minute walk away from Beijing Watertown. Bus 37 is the shortest and most direct route (2hrs. 18mins.) Bus 51 is the same route as bus 37, but with more stops. (2hrs. 42min). Those are ETAs, and we arrived about 20 minutes earlier than what those estimates were. We waited for a bus 37 for 30 minutes, but never saw one so we opted for bus 51. The interval for bus 51 seemed to be every 15 minutes or so. We never saw a bus 37.
Make sure you get off at Beijing Watertown. If you go to the end of the line, you will be in the middle of nowhere. Keep in mind, with Chinese city buses, you just yell out to the driver to stop. There are no buttons to press to request to stop. Also no English is spoken. I used my iPhone GPS and a cached map (since I was in Airplane Mode) to determine when to get off.
Option 2 — Easy and Fast: So we discovered that the Beijing City Buses are starting roundtrip express bus service from the main bus terminal in Beijing (Dongzhimen) directly to Beijing Water Town. This appeared to be a brand new bus service as the signage looked new (and the Watertown is also all very new; opened in the last couple years). We also didn’t find any info online about this bus service so I may be the first to broadcast the bus route on an English website.
Anyway, you can take a direct bus from Dongzhimen to Watertown for 48 Yuan. It takes 2 hours and there are no stops as it is all on the freeway. This is the best bet for getting to Simatai but you will lose out on experiencing and seeing Chinese countryside and experiencing the Chinese people that Option 1 offers.
The bus stop location in Beijing is located at the NW corner of Xiangheyuan Nanjie (Xiangheyuang S St) & Dongzhimenwai Xiejie (Dongzhimen Outer Byway). It's not inside the Dongzhimen bus terminal like bus 980, but walking distance nearby. Once inside the bus parking complex here, you will find the physical bus stop along the south wall. See attached photo for the bus timetable. You must pay cash for this route.
Once you arrive to Beijing Watertown — Once you arrive at the Watertown, follow signs for the wall, You will walk about 8 minutes through the town and eventually end up at a massive plaza. Straight ahead is a large hotel lobby with a Starbucks inside! But if you turn left at the plaza, you will be able to access a place to purchase Wall tickets as well as the shuttle stop for getting to the cablecar. There is a limited number of people allowed to visit (due to the dangerously steep conditions) so we bought our tickets online beforehand (using a friend's Chinese phone number) but you may be able to buy tix the day of depending on the crowds. Once you get your tickets here, you will take a shuttle ride (10mins) to the base of the cable car.
I highly recommend the cablecar up and a hike down. If you hike up, you will be facing the steep steps of the wall instead of the beautiful views of the mountains and wall when you hike down. From the cable car (which doesn’t completely crest the top), it is about a 15 minute hike to the top of the 8th tower. You can hike from the 8th tower back down to the cable car in 2 hours at a leisurely pace. So give yourself about 4 hours from getting your tickets to returning back to the tickets area.
Simatai has extremely steep portions with no handrails. A misstep in certain areas would spell certain death or severe injury. This is China, not America. An attraction like this would never be allowed in the US due to the liability of injury. Please, be aware of the dangers before coming and PLEASE wear hiking shoes.
Also, there is security along the wall at each watchtower. I was caught flying my drone, and was immediately told to get rid of it. There is no signage prohibiting the drone, but security will yell at you in Chinese to put it away. Be aware.
When you are ready to leave, find the express bus stop at the main parking lot area near the Watertown entrance. There is a large brown sign indicating the bus stop location.
We took the slow route to Simatai and then the fast route back to Beijing. It was perfect. We were glad we experienced option 1 yet could relax with option 2 as we came back to Beijing.
Hopefully this helps with transportation to Simatai! Good luck and have fun!
Option 1 -- Slow, Cheap and an Experience: We followed the advice of other reviews and online resources to take bus 980 from the Dongzhimen bus terminal to Miyun, then bus 50, 51, or 37 to Watertown. This was the most unique experience of our trip to China. Being packed like sardines in a Chinese city bus was unpleasant but extremely invigorating. Especially the bus from Miyun. These are country folk. Farmers. Chinese that are from the rural corners of the country. They are rough and smell and are loud and gross, but it was an experience. They likely haven’t seen foreigners before. I would recommend taking this route if you are cheap and want to experience and see what rural China people and villages look like and how crazy drivers are in rural countryside. The Miyun bus was literally driving on dirt roads. It was awesome and it is cheaper than option 2. If you don't want this experience, continue to option 2.
Using your Beijing transit card, take the 980 Express from Dongzhimen. There may be a long line of people waiting for the express 980 but the bus interval appeared to be every 10 minutes or so. If you just take the regular 980, it will take an hour longer due to the increased number of stops. Once you get to Miyun, you need to get off the bus before the end of the line. The bus stop to get off at is located at the coordinates (40.388683, 116.856610).
Then, cross the street and take Bus 37 or Bus 51. Do not take bus 50 as it drops you off a 40 minute walk away from Beijing Watertown. Bus 37 is the shortest and most direct route (2hrs. 18mins.) Bus 51 is the same route as bus 37, but with more stops. (2hrs. 42min). Those are ETAs, and we arrived about 20 minutes earlier than what those estimates were. We waited for a bus 37 for 30 minutes, but never saw one so we opted for bus 51. The interval for bus 51 seemed to be every 15 minutes or so. We never saw a bus 37.
Make sure you get off at Beijing Watertown. If you go to the end of the line, you will be in the middle of nowhere. Keep in mind, with Chinese city buses, you just yell out to the driver to stop. There are no buttons to press to request to stop. Also no English is spoken. I used my iPhone GPS and a cached map (since I was in Airplane Mode) to determine when to get off.
Option 2 — Easy and Fast: So we discovered that the Beijing City Buses are starting roundtrip express bus service from the main bus terminal in Beijing (Dongzhimen) directly to Beijing Water Town. This appeared to be a brand new bus service as the signage looked new (and the Watertown is also all very new; opened in the last couple years). We also didn’t find any info online about this bus service so I may be the first to broadcast the bus route on an English website.
Anyway, you can take a direct bus from Dongzhimen to Watertown for 48 Yuan. It takes 2 hours and there are no stops as it is all on the freeway. This is the best bet for getting to Simatai but you will lose out on experiencing and seeing Chinese countryside and experiencing the Chinese people that Option 1 offers.
The bus stop location in Beijing is located at the NW corner of Xiangheyuan Nanjie (Xiangheyuang S St) & Dongzhimenwai Xiejie (Dongzhimen Outer Byway). It's not inside the Dongzhimen bus terminal like bus 980, but walking distance nearby. Once inside the bus parking complex here, you will find the physical bus stop along the south wall. See attached photo for the bus timetable. You must pay cash for this route.
Once you arrive to Beijing Watertown — Once you arrive at the Watertown, follow signs for the wall, You will walk about 8 minutes through the town and eventually end up at a massive plaza. Straight ahead is a large hotel lobby with a Starbucks inside! But if you turn left at the plaza, you will be able to access a place to purchase Wall tickets as well as the shuttle stop for getting to the cablecar. There is a limited number of people allowed to visit (due to the dangerously steep conditions) so we bought our tickets online beforehand (using a friend's Chinese phone number) but you may be able to buy tix the day of depending on the crowds. Once you get your tickets here, you will take a shuttle ride (10mins) to the base of the cable car.
I highly recommend the cablecar up and a hike down. If you hike up, you will be facing the steep steps of the wall instead of the beautiful views of the mountains and wall when you hike down. From the cable car (which doesn’t completely crest the top), it is about a 15 minute hike to the top of the 8th tower. You can hike from the 8th tower back down to the cable car in 2 hours at a leisurely pace. So give yourself about 4 hours from getting your tickets to returning back to the tickets area.
Simatai has extremely steep portions with no handrails. A misstep in certain areas would spell certain death or severe injury. This is China, not America. An attraction like this would never be allowed in the US due to the liability of injury. Please, be aware of the dangers before coming and PLEASE wear hiking shoes.
Also, there is security along the wall at each watchtower. I was caught flying my drone, and was immediately told to get rid of it. There is no signage prohibiting the drone, but security will yell at you in Chinese to put it away. Be aware.
When you are ready to leave, find the express bus stop at the main parking lot area near the Watertown entrance. There is a large brown sign indicating the bus stop location.
We took the slow route to Simatai and then the fast route back to Beijing. It was perfect. We were glad we experienced option 1 yet could relax with option 2 as we came back to Beijing.
Hopefully this helps with transportation to Simatai! Good luck and have fun!
Written 18 October 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
VacationTiger
130 contributions
Apr 2018 • Couples
the words “Great Wall” evoke so much for a traveler. i chose to head for the Simatai section this time, my pick because this part of the Wall is open at night
the ticket counter starts selling the night passes at 5:30pm. that’s also the time the gate opens and you have the choice of walking from the foot to the ridge (takes about 45 minutes) or take the cable car which gets you to just below the ridge line in about 10 minutes
at the ridge top station, you still have to walk about 600 metres to the Wall. we made it with more than 40 minutes to spare before sunset, meaning we got to see the Simatai Wall at daylight, sunset and night
the changing colours of the sky with Wall in the background was truly awesome. we managed to find ourselves a window on the watchtower 5 to catch the sunset and see the Wall in the distance get dark
the section between watchtower 1 to 10 are lit up. the lamps designed as 19th century kerosene lamps fitted with 20th century LED lights - making it trek friendly. the scenery of the Gubei area and WaterTown from the Wall was stunning, day or nite but i found being on the Wall at nite, an experience beyond visually spectacular. walking and standing where guards and slaves spent big parts of their lives, looking down where attackers looked upwards to capture, absorbing the experience of place which has seen more than a thousand seasons
Visit directions and tips : we have it easier than the guards, slaves and attackers of past seasons who must have had a hard time getting here. but it helps if you understand some Chinese
i credit Josh, Shanwei and Guylon for their clear directions on the bus route(s) from downtown Beijing to the foot of Great Wall Simatai. i went for the direct bus, my updates are on the bus times, some calculations and pics for anyone who wants to head on this road somewhat traveled
there are 2 direct bus services plying 2-way between Dongzhimen and Simatai, costs RMB48 per person per one way. as of my travel, there still wasn’t any signage at the Dongzhimen end, but the bus is parked on the kerb near a power cable box and a road sign that reads “东直门外斜街Dongzhimenwai Xiejie” (both in my attached picture). the driver says the bus will be parked there about an hour before the ETD and will have a large A2 sized card on the windscreen (picture attached it is partly in English). ask the driver or people standing nearby if this is the bus going to “Simatai” or “Gubei”, use these keywords, as for a non-English speaker “Great Wall” is called 长城 Chang Cheng in Chinese
the ride is approx 2 hours and the bus stops you at the Gubei Watertown parking lot. admission to the Wall costs RMB40, oneway cable car RMB90, but you need to buy a Watertown admission too at RMB150. we went for the bundled Joint ticket deal at RMB280 (price options in the picture attached)
it’s a 30 minute walk to the gate to Simatai (there are regular signs in English and Chinese) or you could take a minibus (RMB10 one way). the minibus isn’t compulsory unlike the ticket to Watertown which is. but if you walk, it will be at least half an hour assuming you don’t get lost or stop to take pictures (be warned : its so picturesque! that most people get distracted snapping pics – not a wrong thing being a traveller but it means less time on the Wall itself). one solution is to minibus to the Wall gate first and stroll thru the “town” on the way out, and you can take as many pictures depending on the bus departure time you are planning for
for the return journey, it’s a little easier at the Gubei parking lot for the buses going back. firstly it’s a smaller space and secondly, there are signs! but in Chinese (a tip : 东直门 is Dongzhimen - the stop in the city and 古北水镇is Gubei Watertown). so the bus times correspond to the time the bus departs东直门/Dongzhimen and 古北水/Gubei respectively (in attached pictures). there is somewhat of an semi-organized queue and the bus crew will say, plse assemble about 20/30 minutes before the ETD. last bus for the day leaves at 9pm, so you can take the nite walk on the Wall and still make it back to Beijing
the bus also goes to Beijing Railway station (北京站) and Beijing South station (北京南站), but i havent checked out the stops at those stations
A BIG BUT for those intending to make a day trip, the entrance tickets need to be reserved ahead of the visit at Simatai, can be done on their website or on the Watertown app (they are partly in English), that the number of visitors is monitored that there is no overcrowding. night tickets don’t have to be reserved ahead
the travel to and fro is a little tricky, will add a bit more to one’s spirit of adventure. was a lot harder for the slaves and the guards, worse for the attackers, most of them never made it back. we can
the ticket counter starts selling the night passes at 5:30pm. that’s also the time the gate opens and you have the choice of walking from the foot to the ridge (takes about 45 minutes) or take the cable car which gets you to just below the ridge line in about 10 minutes
at the ridge top station, you still have to walk about 600 metres to the Wall. we made it with more than 40 minutes to spare before sunset, meaning we got to see the Simatai Wall at daylight, sunset and night
the changing colours of the sky with Wall in the background was truly awesome. we managed to find ourselves a window on the watchtower 5 to catch the sunset and see the Wall in the distance get dark
the section between watchtower 1 to 10 are lit up. the lamps designed as 19th century kerosene lamps fitted with 20th century LED lights - making it trek friendly. the scenery of the Gubei area and WaterTown from the Wall was stunning, day or nite but i found being on the Wall at nite, an experience beyond visually spectacular. walking and standing where guards and slaves spent big parts of their lives, looking down where attackers looked upwards to capture, absorbing the experience of place which has seen more than a thousand seasons
Visit directions and tips : we have it easier than the guards, slaves and attackers of past seasons who must have had a hard time getting here. but it helps if you understand some Chinese
i credit Josh, Shanwei and Guylon for their clear directions on the bus route(s) from downtown Beijing to the foot of Great Wall Simatai. i went for the direct bus, my updates are on the bus times, some calculations and pics for anyone who wants to head on this road somewhat traveled
there are 2 direct bus services plying 2-way between Dongzhimen and Simatai, costs RMB48 per person per one way. as of my travel, there still wasn’t any signage at the Dongzhimen end, but the bus is parked on the kerb near a power cable box and a road sign that reads “东直门外斜街Dongzhimenwai Xiejie” (both in my attached picture). the driver says the bus will be parked there about an hour before the ETD and will have a large A2 sized card on the windscreen (picture attached it is partly in English). ask the driver or people standing nearby if this is the bus going to “Simatai” or “Gubei”, use these keywords, as for a non-English speaker “Great Wall” is called 长城 Chang Cheng in Chinese
the ride is approx 2 hours and the bus stops you at the Gubei Watertown parking lot. admission to the Wall costs RMB40, oneway cable car RMB90, but you need to buy a Watertown admission too at RMB150. we went for the bundled Joint ticket deal at RMB280 (price options in the picture attached)
it’s a 30 minute walk to the gate to Simatai (there are regular signs in English and Chinese) or you could take a minibus (RMB10 one way). the minibus isn’t compulsory unlike the ticket to Watertown which is. but if you walk, it will be at least half an hour assuming you don’t get lost or stop to take pictures (be warned : its so picturesque! that most people get distracted snapping pics – not a wrong thing being a traveller but it means less time on the Wall itself). one solution is to minibus to the Wall gate first and stroll thru the “town” on the way out, and you can take as many pictures depending on the bus departure time you are planning for
for the return journey, it’s a little easier at the Gubei parking lot for the buses going back. firstly it’s a smaller space and secondly, there are signs! but in Chinese (a tip : 东直门 is Dongzhimen - the stop in the city and 古北水镇is Gubei Watertown). so the bus times correspond to the time the bus departs东直门/Dongzhimen and 古北水/Gubei respectively (in attached pictures). there is somewhat of an semi-organized queue and the bus crew will say, plse assemble about 20/30 minutes before the ETD. last bus for the day leaves at 9pm, so you can take the nite walk on the Wall and still make it back to Beijing
the bus also goes to Beijing Railway station (北京站) and Beijing South station (北京南站), but i havent checked out the stops at those stations
A BIG BUT for those intending to make a day trip, the entrance tickets need to be reserved ahead of the visit at Simatai, can be done on their website or on the Watertown app (they are partly in English), that the number of visitors is monitored that there is no overcrowding. night tickets don’t have to be reserved ahead
the travel to and fro is a little tricky, will add a bit more to one’s spirit of adventure. was a lot harder for the slaves and the guards, worse for the attackers, most of them never made it back. we can
Written 23 April 2018
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I'm going to be in China with National Geographic. They want to arrange a private trip for me to the Simatai zipline, but need to know where it is to tell their staff where to take me.
Can you help?
Written 9 October 2019
As far as I am aware the zipline no longer operates, I could be wrong, however, when I was there in May 2019 it looked as if it was all closed. The zipline is accessed from the walkway leading from the pay kiosk. That is if you choose not to take the cable car you would have to walk to the wall, close to the top is the zipline, on the left and it is suspended across the gorge to the other side of the river that feeds into/out off Gubei Water Town. You will need to go through Gubei Water Town to get to the pay kiosk. As stated, I think it is closed as I saw no activity on the other side of the gorge, there is buildings and parking areas but nobody was there.
Written 10 October 2019
A friend of mine did a tour of Simatai and said he went on a ZIPLINE to the bottom, this was years ago now. I am travelling in OCT and I can't seem to find anything online, does anyone know if this is still available? Thank you!
Written 28 August 2019
Hi, I did ask about it but was told that it has been discontinued. Similarly, hiking between Simatai and Jinshanling is no longer possible. However, I strongly propose to visit the GW @ Simatai as it is the only section that is lit in the evening. Wall visit must be scheduled for the evening.
Written 29 August 2019
Hi! Am visiting Simatai from Gubei via a cable car this Sep with my elderly mom. Am wondering if it’s possible to avoid any walk once we reach the top via the cable car? Just wanted to check out in case my mom is not able to walk much then, especially the tour we are keen on is a night tour
Written 17 July 2019
We visited Simatai in April. We are older persons, me having a bad knee so balance is vital & one of my other friends has alot of physical restrictions. We did not think that we would go further than the cable car but found it easy to walk to the lookout, it is flat as other post has stated. Once you get off the cable car you and your mom can gauge it from there as we did & very happy with ourselves. We took good head lamps & with all the other people who had torches, etc the path was good to walk back down in the dark. Also other people doing the walk were so considerate of our slowness & didn't push us along. Hope this help
Written 18 July 2019
HI Anthony. I'm really keen to visit Simatai (especially at night) and Gubei Water Town. We're staying in Beijing, and wondering if it's easy for us (a family of 2 adults and 2 children) to get to these sights on our via public transportation in the morning and then back at night.
Would it be worth visiting both the Simatai and Mutianyu parts of the Great wall?
Thanks, Maryanne
Written 18 December 2018
I agree with Vishal280's response. I don't know if you can get there by public transportation from Beijing. I had a car, and if I remember correctly, it was about 2 hours on divided highway. The hardest part was getting out of Beijing.
Written 19 December 2018
We only have 23hours in Beijing arriving 2pm. We are thinking of going straight from London overnight economy flight to the night Simatai tour of the wall by private taxi trip then hotel in Beijing quick look at forbidden city in the morning before a 2pm flight out. 2 adults 2 children 15&11. Do you think we can get to the wall ok and is it worth it at night
Written 22 November 2018
I would skip the Forbidden City and go to the Temple of Heaven or the Lamasery instead. The Lamasery has the advantage of being by one if Beijing's most interesting Hutongs,where you can have a bite to eat and peek into the shops along the street. The Forbidden City was a huge disappointment. It's crowded, and honestly not that much to see. The lamasery has an 80 meter tall Buddha and lots of really interesting temples to explore, and the Temple Of Heaven feels more personal and has more to fascinate you than Forbidden City. I am not sure about the Simitai section of the Great Wall, but you wouldn't want to see any of the Great Wall at night- you really need to see all around, the views of the mountains and the way the Wall snakes over them off into the impossible distances, to get the sense of perspective. I did the Jinshanling section. We did not take a cab but hired a car for the day through our hotel with a guide- it's very cheap. But if all you hve is the option of the night time tour- do it. When will you get the chance again? From Beijing, its about an hour and a half drive to the Great Wall. so hopefully you can be there before sunset. I wish you had more time there; we loved Beijing. But we were totally disappointed by the Forbidden City and got out of there as soon as we could.
Written 27 November 2018
Is it possible to go from Simatai to Jinshanling? or is it still closed?
Written 5 June 2018
Hi, it was possible to do this journey when we were there in March.. thanks
Written 11 June 2018
Hi, How long does it take a person to walk up to the first tower, continue all the way to the 10th and then walk back down?
I am a moderately fit person and a frequent hiker.
Also I would like to continue my hike to Jinshaling from Simatai. Can you tell me how far that is, or how long that will take?
Thank you so much.
Amritha
Written 21 April 2018
I don't know how long it is and how long time ☺️ we hiked as far as we could, turned around and hiked back to our starting point. We spend about 7 hours hiking in total. Hiking from the road to the wall takes about 30 minutes in itself
Written 30 April 2018
Hello everybody, I would like to hike from Jinshaling to Simatai. Then from Simatai go to Chengde. Do you know if from Simatai there are any means of transportation to Chengde?
Thank you,
Silvia
Written 1 April 2018
Good evening, is it possibile to take a night tour?
Written 29 January 2018
Not at present. I wanted to watch the sunset but I just missed it as they closed just before sunset. You are allowed entrance for around 2-3 hours, They have time slotted entrances. They shut around 4.30/5pm.
Written 7 February 2018
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