Walking the Great Wall

An excellent trip, well organised, and a real experience! Each day brought a new challenge, and our Tour Leader Jerry was a fantastic leader - a real motivator on achey mornings! The food was the biggest culture shock, but if you aren't fussy it wont be a problem - try everything! Tips? Take Baby Wipes, buy a camel back, and stash some sweets!

It is a myth that you can see the Great Wall of China from space. But close up it is an amazing structure, with a fascinating history. This walk took us to parts of the Wall that other tourists never reach. And with a guide who brought Chinese history and culture to life. It is a strenuous walk, with lots of steep ups and downs - I lost count of the number of times we encountered "the thousand steps" or "the stairway to heaven" - but it is well worth the effort.

A fantastic trip made infinitely more enjoyable by the people in the group.

Space, and the (temporary) frontier abound provided that you go boldly, up, more up, and even more up; cast aside fears of teeming hordes, and remember, the people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history. At times, you become the 'attraction' - videoconferencing a chap's wife on her drive home so she could practice her English (at the top of the Wall, naturally). That was a first. High fiving hundreds of school kids, while teachers convulsed with laughter (on the wall too), in a society where physical contact is not a thing, also a first. Underpinning it all, a long past with, to quote a fellow traveller, "zero history of democracy". And the kittens really do want their fluffy tummies tickled, oh yes they do.

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.

An excellent trip for fit people with an interest in cultural experiences with exercise.

An amazing 10 day trip that was full of inspirational moments - breathtaking scenery and a varied itinerary meant that the time flew by too quickly! The group size at 9 was ideal, meaning we all fitted around one table and were able to discuss the days proceedings! Really great set of people too.

A truly amazing and unforgettable experience with an abundance of variety - the breathtaking beauty and tranquility of the countryside in the off-the-beaten-track areas we walked, the splendour of tombs and museums visited, the multitude of attractions to be enjoyed in Beijing and Xian and all the while expeiencing incredible hospitality from our hosts and our enthusiastic, informative, and attentive guide, Kevin.

The trip was excellent and far exceeded my expectations. The walking is good. There are a lot of steps and some uneven sections but the distances and days aren't particuarly long. Most days we had a late lunch on arrival to our accomodation. There's plenty of opportunities for seeing the culture and taking part in other activities e.g a chinese massage, an acrobatics show, tea taasting, visiting temples etc. 

The trip exceeded my expectations but I would have liked to spend more time walking the Great Wall.This was my first trip with Exodus and on the basis of this experience I would be happy to travel with Exodus again and also to recommend it to my friends.