Beijing Travel Forum

I would like to go by public transit from Beijing to the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall. Can anyone tell me how to do that ? I do NOT want to take a tour - I want to do this myself.

the long-trip bus station is near the Dongzhimen Metro Station, but sorry, I don't the bus number.

I should add this : I'd like to do the 10 km hike on the Great Wall that starts at Jinshanling and ends at Simatai. So then I also need to know how to get back to Beijing from Simatai, by public transit.

Also, I read something about a "zip line" somewhere on this segment of the Great Wall. Can anyone tell me where that is ?

What's your reason to want to take public transport instead of going on a tour?
The zip-line is near the Simatai end of your hike: http://www.backpackingchina.com/UpLoadFile/2009031213282073499.jpg

Ellyse, I've heard stories that local people at several places along the way want payment. Do you know if that is true?

I hate tours because I hate being herded around like a sheep. Also, on a tour, you are tied to the tour's schedule - I like to go at my own pace. A third thing I hate about tours, which is especially true in Asia, is that they usually stop at some factory to try to get you to buy things.

Unfortunetly there is no direct public transportion to neither Jinshanling nor Simatai section of Great Wall. One has to take either bus (No. 980) or train to Miyun county, then take a local mini bus or a taxi to get to the Great Wall. It's very inconvenient for foreign travellers for all the information at bus/train station is in Chinese only, and neither bus/taxi drivers nor train staff speak any English. That's probably the reason why most independent travellers choose to hire a private car back and forth.

Thanks. If I take the train to get to Jinshanling, what station should I get off at ? Then I could take a taxi - how many kilometres would that taxi ride be ?

MikeySoft: When I went, the villagers who followed us for the length of the hike asked us to buy some postcards or books from them. It's up to you to buy or not. When we reached the Simatai portion of the Great Wall, there was also another chap selling tickets -- this was told to us beforehand so I don't think it's a scam.

I can vouch for the Downtown Backpackers' Jinshanling-Simatai Great Wall daytrip, when I went on it they did NOT have any shopping stops. You're NOT required to follow some flag-toting guide, you're free to go at your own pace. The hostel merely organises the round-trip bus transport, which saves a lot of hassle.
I don't think there's a train near Jinshanling at all!

Thanks for your reply ! Can you tell me this : does the Downtown Backpackers run that trip every day ?

In non-winter I think it runs every day. In winter they run every other day, unless there's more demand to have it more often.

Here's the website for the trip Ellyse mentioned above:

http://www.backpackingchina.com/ProductsView.Asp?id=33

Looks very organised and also gives you the freedom to walk without anyone carrying flags and loudspeakers, which I also hate!

Thanks to you both ! This sounds like exactly the kind of trip I'd like to take to the Great Wall.

I would recommend that you take the backpacker hostel trip as my boyfriend went with his parents two days ago and did it from Simatai to Jinshanling which is the opposite way to the way people usually go and so they had a few problems along the route. And as a non Chinese speaker, it would be practically impossible to do this part of the wall without getting ripped off left right and centre! In fact, they only saved a couple of hundred RMB by going on their own.

But its a great walk, right now its beautifully green and weather is great!