N1U9F8C7 has indicated that this thread is about China
You don't need a tour guide for the great wall. There three main public open sections near Beijing (and many un watched sections where you can camp on the wall. The main tourist section is called Badaling (ba da ling). It fairly easy to get to, sure you can find it on Google. This section is highly built up and filled with tourist. The other two are close to each other, one of which is called ShiMaTai (don't remember the other name). This one is hell to get to, but it's not crowded and unrestored.
As for ticket price, don't remember it, but 100RMB is I'm going to guess.
[ 23-Feb-2010, at 10:34 by Lugor79 ]
There's a section called HuangHuaCheng where the great wall falls to a river. It's also hard to get to and only small sections are restored, view is fantastic, hardly any tourists on most days, and only cost 2 RMB to get on (dont pay anymore than this, the fees are charged by local officials and sometime they try to overcharge people).
There's also a sections of the wall that goes by the same name nearby, it's done up commercially but the view is not very good, tour guides tend to take people there, so be careful.
Here's a google maps link to give you an idea of where it is and what it looks like:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=zh-CN&newwindow=1&rls=com.microsoft:zh-CN:IE-SearchBox&resnum=0&q=%E9%BB%84%E8%8A%B1%E5%9F%8E&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=vl
I dont remember how much it was, but I thought it was very cheap.
The entrance to some theme park in shenzhen or caves in some counties are the same.
I just bought my ticket from the hostel. I really dont think there is a need to avoid the tours, since it is the Great Wall.
Many of the hostels in Beijing run tours out to the Wall. This will save you any issues in organising it and getting there on your own. These are normally fairly good value - 300RMB / USD$40 or so, but many of the ones you see advertised on the web are 3-4 times this price.
Many of the hostels in Beijing run tours out to the Wall. This will save you any issues in organising it and getting there on your own. These are normally fairly good value - 300RMB / USD$40 or so, but many of the ones you see advertised on the web are 3-4 times this price.
300 is so cheap... trips to some ancient towns in some provinces cost 150 -200 in low season... you'll need a 100 to see a enter a cave or a ancient tree. I probably paid less than 3, and I almost decided not to see the wall, because I thought it would be too expensive. Considering the distance of the wall from Beijing, 300 for the package is really generous.
In my opinion, considering the Great Wall is one of the wonders of the world, I would probably go with a guide/tour, through a local, established travel agency. If you search well, you may be able to find reasonably priced intineraries with agencies who use good, local English speaking tour guides. I recently visited the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven etc and I paid less to the agency than I would have had I gone to all 5 places separately. The guide was funny, helpful, flexible and catered to everyones needs.
The luxury of being picked up and dropped off is worth it and usually your meals and water are included. This cuts costs further. If you know nothing about the place or do not have friends to go with that know it, I would recommend an agency. Many do half day and full day tours from 50RMB.
0 Response to "Great Wall Of China - Entrance Fee"
Post a Comment