The Great Wall of China5. The Wall

The Great Wall of China is actually a lot of different walls that stretch out thousands of miles. You get to different walls from different cities. Beijing is probably the most popular starting point because it is the easiest, and also since Beijing is a destination on its own.

The easiest entrance from Beijing is Badaling. Buses and taxis from Beijing go there every day, and it only takes an hour. It is also the most crowded. The only reason we rented a car was so we could get to a less crowded, more scenic section.

Mutianyu is supposed to be far more authentic than Badaling and far less crowded. Fewer people go there because it is harder to get to by bus and far more expensive by taxi. In China, taxi drivers are generally honest, but when it comes to the biggest tourist attractions with the most foreigners that are out in the middle of nowhere, getting ripped off is not rare.

With our own car, we could drive to whichever entrance we wanted. We would also not have to worry about missing the last bus back to Beijing. Some of the buses stop running surprisingly early. With a car, we could set our own schedule, go where we wanted and not deal with scams. That was the plan, at least.