China, from the Wall to the karst rivers.

★★★★★★★★★★4.9· 9,216 travellers on the Mutianyu run

Badaling is nearest to Beijing and the most crowded. Mutianyu has the cable car, the toboggan run and space to walk. Jinshanling is unrestored, steep and almost empty. These three carry more travellers than anything else north of the city.

• 1Mutianyu Great Wall Tours with Optionsfrom $19
• 2Mutianyu Great Wall Daily Tour with Ticket & Lunchfrom $18
• 3All-Inclusive Tour: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wallfrom $128

The easy classic

Mutianyu: cable car up, toboggan down

8–10h· from $45· lunch included

Ninety minutes north of the city, restored battlements along a green ridge, and a chairlift that saves your legs for the walk along the top.

The quiet one

Jinshanling and Gubeikou, unrestored

Full day· from $95· small group

Broken towers, grass in the crenellations and long gaps between other walkers. Bring real shoes: nothing up here has been rebuilt for visitors.

Between flights

The wall on a Beijing layover

4–6h· from $60· airport pickup

A driver meets the flight, takes the expressway north and has you back at the terminal with hours to spare. The commonest way travellers spend a long connection here.

Compare all 128 Great Wall days →

The wall, the buried army, the panda nursery, the canal towns and the karst river. Six days that most first trips are built around, and the best way to book each one.

The bookings more travellers take than anything else in the country, and what each one buys you for the day.

1

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 9,216 reviews

Mutianyu Great Wall Tours with Options

MuBus takes you from Beijing to Mutianyu Great Wall with skip-the-line tickets, guided storytelling, and up to 4 hours on the Wall.

From · $19

Read our review →

2 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 7,974 reviews Forbidden City Tour(Group/Private)-Tickets Included from $4 3 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 4,446 reviews T-Square & Forbidden City Group or Private Tour from $17 4 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,056 reviews Mutianyu Great Wall Daily Tour with Ticket & Lunch from $18 5 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,873 reviews All-Inclusive Tour: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall from $128 6 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,361 reviews MuBus: Mutianyu Great Wall ENG/ESP/RUS Guided Bus Tour from $20 7 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,863 reviews 4-Hour Small Group Tour to Forbidden City with Entry Tickets from $15 8 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,704 reviews Tiananmen Square Registration Service(Ticket) from $3

Every tour on the site, grouped by what it charges. The bottom of the range is entry tickets and street-food walks; the top buys a car, a driver and a guide for the whole day.

Under $60

477 tours

Entry tickets, hutong food walks, tea houses and the hop-on city buses.

• 1Mutianyu Great Wall Tours with Optionsfrom $19
• 2Forbidden City Tour(Group/Private)-Tickets Includedfrom $4
• 3T-Square & Forbidden City Group or Private Tourfrom $17

$60–200

1,064 tours

The standard day out: wall trips with lunch, Terracotta Army mini-groups, water-town runs.

• 1All-Inclusive Tour: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wallfrom $128
• 2Beijing Full Day Tours: Tiananmen Sq, Forbidden City, Great Wallfrom $99
• 3Authentic Local Food Tour in Central Shanghaifrom $79

$200 and up

475 tours

Private guides, chartered cars, Tibet permits and the multi-day trips that leave the cities behind.

• 1Zhujiajiao Water Town and Shanghai City Private Day Tourfrom $246
• 2Tibet Tour 8 Days Lhasa to Everest Base Camp Small Group Tourfrom $949
• 3Top 6 Highlights All Inclusive 2-Day Private Tourfrom $330

Old towns and temples exist all over Asia. The panda nursery, the sandstone pillars of Zhangjiajie and the acrobatic stages belong to this country alone.

Chengdu mornings

The Panda Base

Nearly every giant panda alive traces back to the breeding programme on the northern edge of Chengdu. The base opens at half past seven because that is when the cubs are fed; by ten the enclosures are quiet and the bears are asleep in the forks of the trees. Volunteer days exist and are capped at a handful of places a session.

1. 1Giant Panda Breeding Research Base Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 580 reviews
2. 2The Beijing Zoo Entry Ticket with Pandas★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 368 reviews
3. 3Private Half-Day Chengdu Panda Breeding Center Tour with Optional Volunteer★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 353 reviews

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The floating peaks

Zhangjiajie

Three thousand sandstone pillars standing in cloud, in the park that fed the Avatar concept art. It wants two days: the Bailong lift up the cliff face and the Avatar Mountain loop on the first, Tianmen Mountain and its glass walkway on the second. The glass sections run on timed slots with a daily cap.

1. 12-Day Mini Group to Avatar Mountain, Glass Bridge and Mt. Tianmen★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 210 reviews
2. 21-Day Private Zhangjiajie Tour to Avatar Mountain & Glass Bridge★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 103 reviews
3. 3Best Mini Group to Zhangjiajie Forest Park & Avatar Mountains★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 97 reviews

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Two thousand years old

The Acrobats

Chinese acrobatics predates the Han dynasty and still takes children into training at seven. Beijing runs the classic hoops-and-poles version at the Red Theatre; Shanghai runs the newer high-wire spectacle at Circus World. Ninety minutes, no language needed, and the good seats go first.

1. 1Red Theatre Beijing Acrobatic Show Tickets★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 461 reviews
2. 2Shanghai Circus World: ERA2 Intersection of Time Acrobatics Show★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 235 reviews
3. 3Red Theatre Beijing Acrobatic Show Tickets Official Booking★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 218 reviews

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