He who has not climbed the Great Wall is no true man (不到长城非好汉). A pretty bold statement but one that shows that I am a true man having already visited the Great Wall of China multiple times over the past 20 years. Of all the Great Wall sections I’ve visited, my most recent visit to the Simatai section is the one that has stuck with me. It sits about 2.5 hours from Beijing, with an entrance point tucked right within Gubei Water Town, and is the least touched-up stretch of wall I’ve come across. The rawness of this section of the great wall is exactly what makes it worth the trip, but it also means you need to plan a little before you go.
The wall itself
I’ve been to both the Mutianyu and Badaling sections before, and I’ve got to say that the experience on the Simatai section is completely different. It’s the least modified of the three, and you feel that the moment you step on it. Crowd-wise, it definitely had a lot fewer folks compared to the other two, making roaming around the area a rather splendid one.
I liked that while there were fewer people, there were still pockets of foreign and local tourists cheering each other as we approached the wall. As I approached the Simatai section, the grandeur is right there in front of you with the wall stretching out, sparse and dramatic.
What I wish I’d known.
Go early — the last entry is at 3pm
I planned a later start to this day and reached the area around 2pm as my family and I had originally planned on exploring the Simatai section at night, when the wall lights up and you get to see a different side of it, something I’d seen plenty of people do on Insta.
However, I had a change of heart when we arrived, and I decided to see it in the daylight instead. I’d realised as I was approaching the area that only a small section of the wall is open at night, and climbing it in the dark looked a fair bit more dangerous. That was also when I found out the last day entry was at 3pm (you can choose to hike up or take the cable car) Cue the scramble and my family quickly bought an internal bus ticket within Gubei Water Town for a quick ride to the far end, and made a dash for it.
Do note that the last day entry is 3pm. If you’re going in the day, give yourself plenty of buffer — and do check their official page for any updated entry and exit timings before you go!
You’ll need a separate ticket
Access to Simatai requires its own entry ticket, on top of your Gubei Water Town entrance fee. Do take note of this so it doesn’t catch you out at the gate. You can, however, also buy the entrance ticket to the wall separately and not visit the water town. You’ll just need to enter from the correct entrance!
Take the cable car (but it’s still a climb)
We took the cable car both up and down, and I’d recommend it. The ride is short, but it spares you what would otherwise be a pretty gruelling climb from the bottom. That said, don’t let the cable car lull you into thinking the rest is a gentle stroll.
Once you step off, there’s still a solid 25 to 30 minutes of steps and slopes before you actually reach a section of the wall and remember, you’ll have do it all again on the way back. This is not the place for strollers, wheelchairs, or anyone hoping for a casual wander.
Tips worth noting
- If you’re above 60, you can get a subsidised ticket with proof of age. Your passport works just fine.
- Check for a WeChat voucher. When we visited, there was a discount that saved us about 40 yuan per person on the cable car — which normally runs 200 yuan per pax for the round trip. Always worth a quick look before you buy.
- Mind the re-entry rule. This one’s easy to miss. Enter Simatai through the water town and you can re-enter afterwards but only if you’ve kept your original ticket on hand. Go straight to Simatai without passing through Gubei first, and you’ll need a separate ticket to enter the water town later.
A word on safety
The flip side of all that rawness is that it can feel a little precarious, especially on a breezy day. There are (very) minimal safety railings and not many staff around but I do believe they station more staff on busier days. We went on a quiet day, so it was perfectly fine. But I imagine a bigger crowd could make it genuinely risky, something worth keeping in mind if you’re travelling with elderly family or young children. If you explore the section at night, I’d suggest walking very slowly.
Would I recommend it?
Absolutely! The Simatai is the most striking section of the Great Wall I’ve seen, precisely because it hasn’t been smoothed over. Just do go early, have some snacks and water on you, wear proper shoes, sort your tickets in the right order, and don’t underestimate that climb from the cable car. Do those few things and you’re in for a memorable day.
To anyone heading out to the Great Wall from Beijing, I hope this helped!
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