Great Wall of China at Mutianyu Full-Day Tour Including Lunch from Beijing

Too many purchase stops at the jade store and the tea shop. I wish the tour guide came with me to the wall

I don't know where to begin... The actual tour is nothing like the description. First of all, transportation to and from your hotel is NOT guaranteed and I had to make other arrangements in order to join the group, and return to my hotel at the end of the day. Second, the tour operator did not seem to speak English very well - most of his stories and jokes were about sex (at 8:30 in the morning!), and when we asked questions, he had a hard time comprehending what we were asking. He also told us not to give him low tips! He was also extremely racist, and said he didn't like Japanese People because 'they cooked and ate Chinese babies during the war'.... I should have left the tour right then! Moving on to the actual outing - you are also forced to stop at a Jade Factory and Tea House (before and after the Great Wall) where you are hounded by staff, and pestered relentlessly until you purchase something. It became clear that the tour guide was also getting kick-backs from each venue. The 'picnic lunch' was enough to turn my stomach - it was re-heated chicken and veg sweet and sour in a little restaurant near the wall. The place was not clean at all, and drinks were not included. You are actually only on the wall for around 2 hours, and while it is gorgeous and such an amazing experience actually being there, I would strongly recommend that you find another way of getting there.

We enjoyed every minute, from the prompt pickup at our hotel and the skilled driving through busy Beijing traffic to the informative guide and yummy lunch. The wall is magnificent and we enjoyed our time there, plus there were opportunities to visit a jade factory, enjoy a tea ceremony, and pick up several souvenirs. Highly recommended!

The weather was on our side this beautiful day. It was not too hot and the sun was shining. The guide was Liu - he is very nice, organized and knowledgeable. We went to see the Jade factory, then to the Great Wall for 1:30h time enough to walk that whole segment and take plenty of pictures. Some parts are very steep. After we went for lunch and the meal was delicious. Further we went to a tea ceremony and drank tea and bought some as souvenirs. At last we went to a silk market and saw some goodies. Liu kindly offered us to drop us at some other tourist attractions and we went of at the Temple of Heaven. Glorious and unforgettable day! Whenever I book with Viator I get a nice guide, make friends and have a blast! Do book this tour!

While we enjoyed seeing the Great Wall and recommend the beauty and less-crowded aspects of the Mutianyu site, I can not recommend this particular tour through Viator because of the many hidden costs associated with it. The directions say to contact the tour agency directly with questions about the tour. We called the number a couple of days before, and there was no answer. We received an online message the day before the tour that gave us the number of our guide to contact. However, once we started learning about the hidden costs, it was too late to cancel and go with someone else. The tour description on Viator states that hotel pickup and drop off from Beijing hotels is included. Because this tour was the only reason we travelled to Beijing, we booked a hotel in the north part of the city since it was on the way to the site. When we finally got in touch with our guide, she said hotel pickup was only included in certain parts of the city, so we would have to take (and pay for) a taxi into the city, only to turn around and take the shuttle pretty much past our hotel with the tour group. When we arrived at the Great Wall, our tour guide told us to give her money so she could buy our tickets on the chair lift up the wall. We had been told this was optional, and there were others in our group that were unsure if they wanted to do this, but our guide was very pressuring and made everyone pay. The chair lift did make it much easier to see the wall, but this should be included in the price if it’s pretty much required. At lunch, our guide said that we had to pay for our own drinks except water. I ordered water, and never received it. When I asked, the guide said it actually wasn’t included. I think there just seem to be these discrepancies between Viator and the actual tour company in China. Viator could do a much better job explaining what is included and needed for the tour. If I had to do it over again, I would choose another booking agency.

The trip was good, despite of the time it took us to arrive at the wall (3.30 hs). ATTENTION : We were just advised that we would have only 2 hours to stay at the wall when we arrived, and we were told that is the standard offered by the company. So if you are planning to stay longer, be advised. The lunch was good, as it was the shopping experiences (despite of the very inflated prices) Our guide have his best to keep us happy, as did the driver

Our tour of the Great Wall was fantastic. Cynthia was a wonderful tour guide, she made the experience very special. She knew a lot about the Great Wall and provide us with a history lesson on the bus to the Great Wall. I highly recommend this tour and that you book in advance.

I took this trip on a short visit to Beijing and have to say was one of the most enjoyable I've ever taken! Cynthia was our guide and was super knowledgeable, friendly and funny throughout the day. The trip itself was great, with awesome views and much less busy than other sections of the wall. Would recommend!

Zoe was great and shared a lot of info about China and the history of the Great Wall. There was also a stop at a Jade factory and tea ceremony house.

This tour was extrememely disappointing. This was due to the rudeness of the tour guide and the abuse of the bus driver., who handled the bus in a dangerous manner. I do not recommend this tour operator. The guide was initially friendly to the point of being too familiar, and he insulted me and several other passengers on the tour with his off-hand ageist and racist remarks and general conduct. The itinerary was different to that advertised, and we visited a jade factory on the way to the Great Wall, shortening our time to explore and experience the main attraction. The tour guide became increasingly rude when none of the tour guests purchased jade products. He also began to hustle guests through the included lunch 15 minutes after we sat down to eat, basically telling people to shut up and eat, then get back on the bus. He had mentioned earlier that the bus would travel via the Beijing Olympic site and that we could view the contemporary architecture as we passed by. But, perhaps because the guide slept from the moment the doors closed at the end of lunch, we missed the turn off. Who knows. We were flung out of the bus again to 'experience' a tea ceremony, which was not so much a ceremony as a tasting. And not surpisingly, when no one purchased tea at the shop, we were again treated with contempt by the guide. Instead of being dropped at our individual hotels the collection from hotels at the beginning of the tour took almost 2 hours, all except two passengers asked to be dropped to a nearby market for shopping. The guide initiallly agreed, although twice tried to offload passengers onto the subway as we passed these. When the passengers asked to remain on the bus, the guide, exasperated, stated that we cold all stay on the bus until midnight for all he cared, and then he simply got off the bus and walked into the distance. He neither said thankyou or even good bye. At the end destination, I was the last to disembark, and the bus driver started screaming abuse at passengers as he slammed the door behind us. To be treated by rude and abusive hosts is not what I paid my 98 dollars to experience. I would not use this tour company again, nor recommend it.