Welcome to the Great Wall of China! When you visit Beijing, you GOT TO tour the Great Wall. "You are not a man of courage if you do not climb the Great Wall!" as a Chinese popular saying tells the world. It must be a huge regret if you miss the amazing experience of hiking the Wall in your life. 

 However, while the touist masses tend to head for Badaling to grope the Great Wall, there are more challenging stretches of this historical and architectural marvel within an easy day-trip from Beijing proper. One of the least developed (for now) is Simatai (pictures), and it's not for the faint-hearted. The 19 km (12 mi) section is very steep, with a few slopes built at a 70-degree incline but it's worth it to see the Wall all natural, in contrast to the heavily-visited Badaling and Mutianyu sections, which are so well restored they could have been built yesterday - Gubeikou and Jinshanling (pictures) are another two sections which are also very original.  WE TAKE YOU THERE!