The Great Wall of China: Where should I start a visit?
The Great Wall of China is more than 6000 kilometers long. So if I want to see that wall, where should I start my visit? What are typical places to see the wall?
I'm interested in places that offer a cool view such as this one:
Picture by http://www.theinspirationblog.net
Additionally, the places shouldn't be too crowded with tourists.
Best Answer
Well there were actually several stages of the wall, and it's now in various states of disrepair / ruin depending on where you go. Presumably you want to go where there's actually wall, as opposed to rubble.
One of the most common routes is ex-Beijing, but since you want less crowded, we'll skip that.
For something quite cool and different, try Shanhaiguan - the Old Dragon's Head - where the wall actually juts out into the sea! 3 hours from Beijing by train.
Personally I'd head for something from the Ming dynasty - maybe with a garrison town as well - Xingcheng, Yulin or Shenmu.
Really, however, as you've pointed out it stretches several thousand kilometres - across several provinces: Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, Liaoning, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ninxia, Gansu, so I'd rather choose a province you're headed to for some other reason, and then visit the best part there as per the Wikitravel article.
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Answer 2
The Great Wall is mainly composed of Jiayuguan Section, Badaling Section, Simatai Section and Shanhaiguan Section, of which the most famous section is Badaling Section, and Beijing has a number of famous sections of the Great Wall, which really deserves your time. Beside, you can also visit the Great Wall Section near Hukou Waterfall in Shaanxi Province.
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Images: Diana, Andrea Piacquadio, Tom Fisk, Diana