Walking the Great Wall

Probably the best trip I've ever been on- lovely group, awesome country, words can't describe how amazing and immense the Great Wall is...

An absolutely fantastic holiday! This was the most incredible experience to trek along The Great Wall of China and it exceeded our expectations.

The trip was well organised and was as described in trip notes. Any changes to itinerary were made by the group leader and as for example our early visit to Tiananmen Square and the forbidden Palace were excellent choices because of the timing of the trip and National Day!!! The accommodation was generally as described in the trip notes but home stay was quite basic and cold!!! The Qing Feng Hotel was very basic and the food not up to the standard of other accommodation. One of our best lunches was at the farm on day 5. The extension to Xian was well organised but again extremely busy which made it very difficult to feel the full impact of the site. The over night train journey fine but quite and experience!

One of the best holidays for location we have ever done. The People were friendly and our guide looked after us. We we lucky with the weather and our fellow travelers were a great bunch.

Brilliant off the main tourist route hiking with an entertaining and informative guide

I enjoy hiking and love the Far East for its culture so this trip was a good choice when comparing length, cost, activities and travel involved. The majority of the time was spent hiking the Great Wall (6 days). A worry I had before setting off were that it could be quite monotonous spending all your time walking on a wall but I was pleasantly surprised to find that each day and usually multiple times during the same day the terrain would vary from fresh reconstructed parts of the wall to sections that were ruins and had not been touched for hundreds of years. The constant ups and down, with some sections being *very* steep, some minor scrambly sections, areas that looked to have a sheer drop to one side and also not really knowing what was coming next as you headed around a corner or over a ridge made for a fantastic hike. The scenery was amazing, seeing the Wall snaking over the beautiful mountain ridges for miles into the distance leaves you in awe of the sheer scale of its size and human effort that went into building it. The apricot trees were blossoming and the skies were blue for most of the trip. Walking the untouched areas meant that for the majority of the trip we were the only group walking the wall which added to the experience and lessens that feeling of "being a tourist". One day we did walk a beautiful but touristy part of the wall that was fairly packed with visitors but this was a nice experience, especially the huge groups of local school children who wanted to practice their English skills with us and take selfies with members of our group. At the homestays the local families were friendly and welcoming and the food provided was outstanding, and quite different to the usual fried Chinese food you may be used to in the UK. Our final day was spent in Beijing, visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City which is a worthwhile experience and along the way we attempted Tai Chi, visited a Taoist shrine, saw a Kung Fu and an acrobatics show as well as some shopping in town. This was just a small taster of the China experience and it did leave me wanting to visit other parts of that vast country at some point. I've been on a few Exodus tours and I've been fortunate once again to have shared this one with an extremely friendly, kind and funny group of people that made the trip all the more enjoyable.

Walking the Great Wall is a great tour with a good mix of activities. I go on theses trips to do some good trekking, but it is also nice to see the important tourist sites in Beijing. What is nice about this itinerary is that you do Beijing, spend time away and then finish in Beijing giving you a nice balance and not spending too much time in the big city. The guesthouses are a unique experience and are run by the nicest people I have ever come across. I highly recommend the Xi'an extension as the Terracotta Warriors are a must see, and Xi'an itself is very different with a lot of charm and character.

Overall, we LOVED this trip and would highly recommend it. Just a few minor complaints, many of which are unavoidable (but some could be addressed): - Air pollution was pretty bad on some of the days (though not all). Obviously, Exodus can't do much about this, but future travelers should be aware. I had heard the air quality had improved significantly since the 2008 Olympics, and that might be...but it was still pretty bad. - Plumbing! Other than the Beijing hotel, every single guest house we stayed at had plumbing issues (and it wasn't just our rooms - the other travelers in our group had the same issues). You name it - scalding/freezing shower water, no water pressure, drainage issues. It seems like these SHOULD be pretty easy to fix, and yet.... - WIFI - there are many sites that are banned in China, but others (CNN, EPSN, local news sites) are accessible...when you can get a signal. Most places we stayed at *claimed* to have wifi, but the networks were slow at best, and in most cases unusable. - Food - generally pretty good at the guest houses, but there was not much variety (suprisingly). - Tai Chi - it was nice to have a Tai Chi lesson, but the instructor stood in the front of the group which made it difficult for those of us in back to see her. She should have been in the center, or if possible elevated on a platform or stage so everyone could see her. - Crowds - on the final day we went to the Forbidden City in Beijing at what seemed like the worst possible time: Sunday afternoon. The crowds were ridiculous. If possible, Exodus should try to arrange this tour early on a weekday morning to avoid (or at least lessen) the crowds. Again, all these complaints are minor. Overall, we loved our experience and would recommend it to anyone considering it!

An excellent overall experience, really enjoyed the walking, especially the less touristy parts of the wall. The hotel rooms in Beijing and Xi'an were looking a little tired but, they were clean with comfortable beds and good showers. The homesteads were fine with very welcoming hosts. The food overall was very good, although breakfast was a little limited if you like your traditional "English" style to start the day.

EXCELLENT TRIP WELL ORGANISED. THE LOCAL GUIDE WAS VERY TOP CLASS.