长城

Why this place

The 'Great Wall' is not one wall but many, built by different dynasties over two thousand years. What most people visit is the Ming wall — brick-faced, with watchtowers, running from Shanhaiguan on the sea to Jiayuguan in the Gobi. The earlier rammed-earth walls, in Gansu and Inner Mongolia, are much older and far emptier.

What to see

• Mutianyu and Jinshanling, near Beijing — restored but with far fewer people than Badaling
• Jiankou, the unrestored 'wild wall', for anyone prepared to scramble
• Shanhaiguan, where the wall runs into the sea at Laolongtou
• Jiayuguan, the western terminus, standing alone in the desert
• The Han-dynasty earth wall near Dunhuang, which is 2,000 years older

What to eat

• Northern wheat cooking in the villages below the wall
• Roast lamb and chestnuts in the Beijing and Hebei sections

How to plan

One day from Beijing for Mutianyu or Jinshanling. Jiayuguan and Dunhuang are separate trips.

Best time

April–May and September–October; winter is clear and empty but cold

Practical tips

• Badaling is the most crowded — go to Mutianyu or Jinshanling instead, and arrive before 9am
• The unrestored sections are genuinely dangerous; do not attempt them alone or in bad weather