An Early Morning Climb at the Great Wall of China, Beijing

I spent last week working from our China office in Beijing which, although very interesting, didn’t offer much in the way of experiencing the culture outside of an extremely delicious peking duck dinner at Da Dong. I didn’t even get outside to run because of long work days and the fact that I’ve been nursing an injury.

But Thursday afternoon, as I was preparing to leave the office and plan for my flight home Friday morning, I got an idea. I looked up whether there were any tour companies that held early morning visits to the Great Wall. Because I have never seen it. And because it seemed a shame to be in China for my 3rd time and still not to. And what do you know? They sure do.

I booked a private car based on oodles of tripadvisor reviews for an extremely early trip to an unrestored section of the wall at Huanghuacheng, about an hour and a half outside of Beijing. Now, when I say extremely early, I mean I woke up at 3:00 AM, and the driver picked me up at 3:30 AM. So for real early. Let me tell you, it was totally worthwhile.

Sunrise at Huanghuacheng

You can see the sunrise progression below. It was just too lovely. And the best part? I was all by myself, sitting on top of the wall, admiring the view.

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A morning hike at Mutianyu

After the sunrise, I still had a surprising amount of time until my flight (guess that’s what happens when you wake up at 3:00 AM). So my super nice driver, Martin, and I headed to the Mutianyu section of the wall.

Mutianyu is a restored portion of the wall with incredible views and some fun amenities. It has a cable car, so you can travel up to or down from the wall on it. There’s also ski lift chairs, another way to get to the top of the wall. To descend, you can actually take a toboggan slide, which looks a little like a luge.

However, since it was so early in the morning, none of these options were available yet. No worries, I thought, I’ll just walk up to the wall, same as I did at Huanghuacheng. Oh but they are not the same, I quickly learned. I began climbing the stairs and I kept climbing, and climbing, and climbing… They just kept going. I felt like Jack climbing up the beanstalk into the clouds. I was out of breath, sweating, 15 minutes in and no end in sight. When I finally, finally reached the top I felt more relieved than anything else. But really, the stairs just continue as you hike the wall, so be sure to wear your comfy shoes.

Still, the views make it worth it – really! And the early morning meant I had almost no company – I saw fewer than 10 other people and the wall was so serene and peaceful. I saw butterflies, listened to birds chirping, and inhaled clean air scented with flowers.

And by the time I had finished hiking along the wall, about an hour and a half later, I was sweaty and exhausted, but also super satisfied. What a great way to end a week of work.