The Great Wall of China, Simatai
Simatai is most definatly the best location to travel to, to see the Great Wall of China. It is just east to the Janshanlang part of the Great Wall. Simatai is also very quiet compared to the other parts of the wall, especially Badaling. There is an excellent hostel near the Simatai section of the Great Wall callled the Simatai Great Wall International Youth Hostel which can be booked online.
A popular travel trek along the Great Wall of China is from Janshanlang to Simatai, its about six miles and is quite a walk to the top! The views over Simatai are spectacularly awesome, and of course you don’t have to walk the entire way back down, you can ride a flying fox to the bottom 😉
The stretch is within a days travel from Beijing. It is around 80 miles north east of Beijing, and due to this there are not enormous crowds of tourists and backpackers. The natural damage to this part of the wall helps proclaim its authenticity earning it the reputation of being the most beautiful stretch of the Great Wall. So if your off travelling to China, make sure you pay Simatai a visit!
Comment by John Hobson on 17 July 2006:
Couldn’t agree more! We loved our 10k trek along the wall from Jinshangling to Simatai – one of the highlights of the China leg of our travels. We’d been well warned previously to avoid Badaling and were going to miss out seeing the great wall completely until we heard about the less touristed Jinshangling, so pleased we didn’t miss it off!
Comment by John Hobson on 17 July 2006:
Couldn’t agree more! We loved our 10k trek along the wall from Jinshangling to Simatai – one of the highlights of the China leg of our travels. We’d been well warned previously to avoid Badaling and were going to miss out seeing the great wall completely until we heard about the less touristed Jinshangling, so pleased we didn’t miss it off!
Comment by Asia Flights on 18 December 2008:
This is a must see in one’s lifetime…..I can’t wait to go.
Comment by Asia Flights on 18 December 2008:
This is a must see in one’s lifetime…..I can’t wait to go.
Comment by Alex on 22 April 2014:
I am struggling to find out where this is actually located on a map and how I would get there from Beijing – are you able to help with these questions?