Who's been to the Great Wall of China? Is It all that?

[jreckoning]

Thx for the green man. The holiday I was referring to is called "Chinese national day" and it's from 1st till the 7th of October. During that time everybody is off from work and traditionally Chinese people go to Peking to see that national parade, go to the forbidden city and then to the Badaling part of the great wall.

I know from experience because I went at that exact same time 2 years ago with my girlfriend who's Chinese by the way. I spent 3 days in Shanghai which was amazing and not so crowded like Peking at that time.

Tip: If you wanna go to the great wall you have to catch a bus really early in the morning, I'm talking about 5-6 O'clock before traffic hits, we left late and as a result it took us more than 2 hours to get there and then would've had to stand in a line for like an hour if we wouldn't have gotten our tickets online beforehand.

Be careful with the girls as well, I was waiting on my girl once in Peking for less than 5 minutes on the street and I was approached like 3 times in 5 minutes by b1tches talking about how cute I was and how they want me to teach them English and they can give me a massage or something in return, no idea how that would've turned out.

Go to a shopping mall by yourself and you will be hounded by hotties on the prowl for your money or whatever else.

[Drunken Cat]

Who's been to the Great Wall of China? Is it all that?

It's always been a bucket list of mine to go, but my crew doesn't wanna go they wanna go straight to Thailand to party.

I told them lets hit the Great Wall and then make our way to Thailand but none of them are interested.

So those of you who been to the Great Wall how was it? Describe? does it live up to the hype? Thanks.

It's pretty sweet, and China is cool and stuff. You can walk along it pretty far. I went from Beijing on a bus trip and there was sort of a designated course to walk, at the end of which there was a slide shoot that took you back to the staging area. I'd say definitely do it if you are in Beijing, or another place with access to it. I'd go again, and it'd be cool to visit a different section.

I don't know about going to China just to go to the Great Wall. China's cool though, and there is plenty to see in Beijing. Tiananmen Square, etc.

I'd say it's worth it to go to China. But if you are with your crew, keep in mind you need a visa to go to China. For Americans, it's like $150 to get a visa, per person (it's cheaper for other nationalities). On the other hand, they now offer Americans 8-year tourist visas. But, you also have to file the paperwork and stuff. It's not like Thailand, where you can just fly there. You actually have to plan ahead, and pay for the visa. A lot of people use a visa agency (I never have, and I'm on my third Chinese visa), but that costs still more.

[Drunken Cat]

It’s forgettable. I have a factory in China that I visit every year and everytime im there, it’s like the filthiest place on earth.

China is the dirtiest country out there. Ive been to many places but china is the dirtiest .

He’s talking about the great wall itself. Was it dirty over there?? Im sure some parts of a china are dirty. But the great wall?

It ain't dirty in the part of China where I live. Not even a little bit.

[Drunken Cat]

Green K bro.

LOL we were actually planning to go next October how ironic lol. A bunch of us do one big trip a year and the fellas wanna do Thailand to party but id rather hit Great Wall since thats always been on my bucket list.

so what is the holiday you are referring to?

It's only like that for literally one week though. There are a number of major national holidays, and it isn't the time to travel. It's currently the National Day holiday. I have 5 days off, and ain't barely leaving my room. Not the time to travel, unfortunately. But not working is still cool.

[Randall Cunning]

Most drunk I've ever been was on the Great Wall of China. Went China with a buddy of mine who was cold turkeying off a huge cocaine binge. We ended up there for some reason, and I don't need an excuse to drink. Soon as we hit Beijing just drank Johnnie Walker, every moment of the day, had room service bringing us up bottles every couple of hours and Cheese Pizzas. Few days of this we decided to go to the Great Wall, drunk as ****. It aint the place to be when youre that drunk. Must have toppled down the staircases 20-30 times. Taking out stands selling tourist titbits. Locals loved me though, taking group photos of me. Think they thought I was some kind of stuntman entertainment.

[TheGR8TESTOAT]

Thx for the green man. The holiday I was referring to is called "Chinese national day" and it's from 1st till the 7th of October. During that time everybody is off from work and traditionally Chinese people go to Peking to see that national parade, go to the forbidden city and then to the Badaling part of the great wall.

I know from experience because I went at that exact same time 2 years ago with my girlfriend who's Chinese by the way. I spent 3 days in Shanghai which was amazing and not so crowded like Peking at that time.

Tip: If you wanna go to the great wall you have to catch a bus really early in the morning, I'm talking about 5-6 O'clock before traffic hits, we left late and as a result it took us more than 2 hours to get there and then would've had to stand in a line for like an hour if we wouldn't have gotten our tickets online beforehand.

Be careful with the girls as well, I was waiting on my girl once in Peking for less than 5 minutes on the street and I was approached like 3 times in 5 minutes by b1tches talking about how cute I was and how they want me to teach them English and they can give me a massage or something in return, no idea how that would've turned out.

thanks bro. yeah my real only goal is to hit Great Wall and take pics and videos on top.

I also heard and saw some youtube videos about some white dudes getting scammed by the Chinese chicks. They basically trick the dude into thinking they gonna get drunk and smash but waiting for them is some big Chinese bouncer dude who charges them like $100 bucks to drink with the chicks and intimidates them to pay up.

Im not even into Chinese chicks so I wouldn't even fall for that nonsense lol.

So actually we were aiming to fly into Peking around the 5th or 6th hit the great wall then head to Hong Kong and make our way down to Viet nam and eventual Thailand.

Is it pretty simple to get around? Obviously we don't speak Chinese lol. How much does everything cost over there? Id probably just stay at a marriott or Hilton and just eat the hotels I don't trust street food or whatever.

[TheGR8TESTOAT]

It is ok. I didn't think it was anything special. The history is interesting, and it's interesting that despite being a massive wall it didn't really work that well for defensive purposes.
I took a bus from Beijing to get to it. Perhaps other parts of the wall are more interesting than what I saw.
It's largely rebuilt as it's old as **** and has had millions of tourists walking on it.

It is the "OK Wall of China" to me.

damn bro that doesn't sound to exciting or inspiring. it was always a bucket list goal of mine ever since I was kid and saw movies and documentaries on PBS.

[DeadLikeMe]

Most of the great wall is fake. The real great wall is the parts where you see stones scattered about the ground completely grown over. The rest of it has been casually replaced by the Chinese over the last 50 or 60 years. They're kind of dicks about any non-Chinese doing research on parts of it because they've built/replaced so much of it with shoddy work they know would never hold up to the scrutiny of foreign historians.

[TheGR8TESTOAT]

Honestly, OP, China to Thailand is a pretty long flight, so it's not exactly on the way unless you had a stop there on the way to Thailand. Generally those stops would be Hong Kong or Shanghai which both aren't close to the Great Wall. Beijing proper isn't really that close either.

You'd be going out of your way quite a bit to see it if Thai was final destination.

yeah bro I definitely want to see great wall I feel that be the only reason to go to China. we were planning to hit Hong Kong after great wall, then Viet nam and then Thailand.

My buddy parties all the time in HK and tells me he does real well there with the ladies but he's Hawaiian so maybe thats why they like him?

I really don't care about Thailand but I'd like to see the beach that was in that Leo flick the beach. im sure there be some hot chicks also in that area vacationing.

How about Singapore how is it there?

[TheGR8TESTOAT]

It's pretty sweet, and China is cool and stuff. You can walk along it pretty far. I went from Beijing on a bus trip and there was sort of a designated course to walk, at the end of which there was a slide shoot that took you back to the staging area. I'd say definitely do it if you are in Beijing, or another place with access to it. I'd go again, and it'd be cool to visit a different section.

I don't know about going to China just to go to the Great Wall. China's cool though, and there is plenty to see in Beijing. Tiananmen Square, etc.

I'd say it's worth it to go to China. But if you are with your crew, keep in mind you need a visa to go to China. For Americans, it's like $150 to get a visa, per person (it's cheaper for other nationalities). On the other hand, they now offer Americans 8-year tourist visas. But, you also have to file the paperwork and stuff. It's not like Thailand, where you can just fly there. You actually have to plan ahead, and pay for the visa. A lot of people use a visa agency (I never have, and I'm on my third Chinese visa), but that costs still more.

GREEN K!
Thanks bro what part do you live? and why are you there for work?

Damn $150 for visa? WTF I didnt even know that. That might piss off few of my boys some of them real cheap when it comes to petty shat.

We were planning to fly in and stay at like a Hilton or Marriott for few days hit Great Wall and then go to Hong Kong, Viet Nam and then Thailand at the end.

Are things expensive there? Like tours, transfers, food, drinks, etc?

Also we don't speak a word of Chinese do they have English speaking help over there?