View Full Version : thru/section The Great Wall of China? 4000 mile club!
chrishowe11
04-22-2009, 11:33
would you hike the Great Wall? have people done it? what should I Bring? Where will I resupply? How much food should i have between sections?
EverydayJourneyman
04-22-2009, 11:37
For starters, you need permission from the Chinese goverment, which is not very easy to get. Do you know anyone in China of importance who can help you in that regard?
I've heard that after Chinese hikes you feel you still have to hike some more.
Nearly Normal
04-22-2009, 12:08
I think I'd filter and chemical treat the water on that hike.
I had thought about hiking the Great Wall myself or at least part of it. Would be an interesting way to see parts of rural Chine. This is about all the more thought I gave it, will have to look into logistics.
Goose Catcher
04-22-2009, 12:46
This couple completed it 2006-07, and are looking to give it another go for charity (a smaller section, but more publicized).
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/walkingthewall/index.php/2006/05/
Has a pretty extensive blog that I haven't even made a dent into, but if you have time to dig around, it could hold useful information.
The Great Wall also has sections that are significantly deteriorated, and China has enforced protective laws in certain areas. So be sure to get all the legalities cleared up of whether you can even hike those sections let alone camp nearby.
So is it possible? Yes!
Good luck
EverydayJourneyman
04-22-2009, 12:55
I read this story some time ago
http://www.studenttraveler.com/mod-Pagesetter-viewpub-tid-10002-pid-21.html
This couple completed it 2006-07, and are looking to give it another go for charity (a smaller section, but more publicized).
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/walkingthewall/index.php/2006/05/
That is extremely impressive!
Hikes in Rain
04-22-2009, 20:33
Agreed. Bookmarked for more prolonged study. Thank you!
fiddlehead
04-22-2009, 22:47
After meeting on a thru-hike in '89, my friend "Chooch" and I decided we wanted to hike the Great Wall.
We researched it pretty extensively. Met up in Wash. DC and went to the Library at the Smithstonian and found out a few things:
There were many Great Walls. Each dynasty in Chinese history had different boundaries so, different walls to protect them. The older they were, the less was remaining of them.
I believe the one most people talk about was from the Ming dynasty. That is the one we decided to go for.
However, although it was possible in the East, the more west you got, the more it went thru some restricted areas.
We thought about inviting some Chinese people to hike it with us. (mainly to help with permits but also because neither of us spoke Chinese)
We went to Nepal also 2 years after that hike and Chooch got very sick on the food there.
We then decided we didn't want to try to live off the food that would be available to us on the Great Wall hike and ended our dream.
All of this helped me to fall in love with the cultures, religion, and people of Asia and one of the reasons why i live in Asia today.
I don't know if things have opened up since 1991 but i sure would think so.
If i didn't have a 3 1/2 year old, I would definitely be up for trying it again.
But i think i would take a pack animal so i could carry lots and lots of food. (I love rice but need some other food to go with it sometimes)
Also, i would try to find some old wall that went thru Mongolia as that place intrigues me even more since becoming good friends with some folks who bicycled thru there. The Mongolian people are some of the friendliest in the world.
About 10 years ago, there was a travel agency in Vancouver, BC that was selling package deals to hike the Great Wall of China for around 2 weeks. It cost about 4K at the time. The package included flying from Seattle to a point in China. You would then hike the Great Wall during the day and stay in villages at night. Could not find any reference to this package recently on the web. I'm sure that it would cost more now and one would have to worry about the food, visa issues as well as possible actions of the Chinese Government. I thought seriously about this. It would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Great Wall up close.
More than a dozen people have completed the thru-hike of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall with varying degrees of "completeness".
Because the Great Wall is so complex (it's not a single path at all), the distance can vary greatly. See the list here (http://www.greatwallforum.com/forum/thru-hiking/106-thru-hiking-list-dates-locations-etc.html).
http://www.greatwallforum.com/images/jinshanling/jinshanling01ld7.jpg
http://www.greatwallforum.com/images/simatai/simatai03lk4.jpg