The Great Wall is really great

After doing a bit of research, we eliminated all the touristy Great Wall sites like Badaling and Mutianyu, deciding at the end to see Jinshanling. There used to be a 4 hours hike from Jinshanling to Simatai, however this is no longer open because of restorations in progress in Simatai. 
To get to Jinshanling, you need to catch a bus to Miyun County, then a mini-bus from there. Unfortunately the bus does not run during low season, so we had to bargain with the local taxi drivers to take us, wait for us and drive us back. Make sure you don't pay in advance!

The views from Jinshanling Great Wall were breathtaking and the hike was not easy but amazing. Then we got to the 'Five Windows Tower' where we were supposed to walk down to meet our taxi driver. We had a couple of hours of the 4 we had agreed left, so we decided to continue on to what we later on found out to be the start of Simatai Great Wall - possibly for us the most beautiful part of the wall! The site is very run down, no restorations seem to have been done whatsoever. This is the original wall and that's what makes it unique. We even spotted a couple of squirrels who live in the area. Parts of the wall are missing, it is not entirely climbable due to the fact that it is partly in ruins as not many tourists go there.

Vendors walk around the area trying to make some money by selling water, snacks, souvenirs and so forth. They can be annoying, especially when they start following you. However after chatting to one vendor-lady, we found out that they are local farmers who live around the wall.

There is no work for them during the cold months, so they walk up and down the wall searching for tourists to try and make a living. This particular lady we spoke to walks one and a half hours each way every day, plus ckimbs the wall all day to find visitors. We spotted about 20 people visiting the wall on the day we went and about 6 vendors – hope they have better luck during peak season.

That same night we tried Peking Duck at the popular restaurant QuanJuDe. The whole restaurant is majestic and it is fabulous to watch the chefs carving the duck in front of your table. Needless to say, it was a great meal, even though it was a bit expensive. The duck is very fat, but works well with the pancakes with oyster sauce and shallots, plus the cold temperature outside allowed for us to consume a hyper-caloric meal.