Beijing

The Forbidden City is the incredible palace of the Ming Dynasty. It housed the Chinese government for almost 500 years and is located in the middle of Beijing. The palace is massive and extremely unique. Visiting the palace gives you a sense of how developed the Chinese culture was even hundreds of years ago.The entire palace covers 180 acres and will take you a few hours to get through. When ...

This is a really nice section of the Great Wall that is much less known than many other parts. You are likely to hike here and find yourself the only one on the wall. Some parts are completely overgrown, you have to bushwack through the growth on top of the wall to go ahead and stairs are dangerously crumbling, other parts have been fully restored.Practically, if you want to do it entirely on y...

The 2nd most visited section of the Great Wall of China, Mutianyu is a beautifully restored and a relatively accessible spot of the wall. Located 43 miles from Beijing, it can take between 1 ½ to 2 hours to drive to the entrance. Note that you’ll have to park slightly away from the actual entrance and take a bus up to the gate once parked. Be prepared as the area surrounding the entrance of the...

The Jiankou section of the wall is known as the ‘Wild’ section due to its complete lack of restoration since its construction in the 1300s. This fact alone makes this area of the wall fascinating. Located 45 miles outside of Beijing (1.5 -2 hrs driving), getting to this area of the wall can be accomplished via 2 separate routes.The first is to park at a nearby village (Xizhazi- 40°27'16.44"N 11...