One of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Great Wall of China has to be the ultimate building project the world has ever known; constructed by human hands over 2000 years ago, it stretches across this hilly region with long spurs and watch-towers often disappearing into the mists.
This trek is very varied, as you’ll pass through woodland and terraced farmland, and follow the contours of the beautiful hills and mountains in remote areas north of Beijing. You’ll follow old sections of the Great Wall, as well as restored sections with smooth flagstones and lots of steps!
See the full event informationHow does it work?
Our partners at Discover Adventure run the trips, and offer a comprehensive package for all participants. From the moment you book on a Discover Adventure trip, you will be in touch with their office team, who look after everything, including ground operations, flights, crew training, admin and marketing between us.
On your challenge you’ll be in the safe hands of the Discover Adventure crew, including leaders and medics. The leaders are all professional, friendly and experienced at running adventure trips all over the world. You can find out more about our partnership with Discover Adventure and the other challenges we offer here.
We at Spinal Research are here to help with your fundraising every step of the way, and you’ll receive the full #TeamSpinal support package, including 1-1 personalised fundraising support, team e-newsletters and even a branded top to take with you on your challenge. Our team is always happy to hear from you so if you have any questions or need any support, let us know!
Trek itinerary:
Day 1: Fly from London to Beijing
Day 2: Beijing – Huangyaguan – Forbidden City Tour
Depending on arrival time, you will either transfer directly to Huangyaguan to relax or explore Beijing’s iconic sights like the Forbidden City before an evening briefing and overnight stay.
Day 3: Huangyaguan
After a relaxed morning in the Yanshan Mountains, you’ll tackle your first trek on the Great Wall, navigating steep steps and downhill paths before returning to Huangyaguan for the night.
Day 4: Huangyaguan – Mountain Village
After ascending the challenging “Heaven’s Ladder” and trekking along the mountain ridge, you will follow the ancient Wall down into a valley for a unique overnight stay in a local village.
Day 5: Mountain Village – Jinshanlin
Leaving the village, you will hike through farming terraces and alongside an unrestored section of the Great Wall to a scenic ridgeline before descending through lush orchards to meet your transport for the drive to Jinshanling.
Day 6: Gubeiko – Jinshanlin
After a short bus ride to Gubeiko, you will trek past well-preserved Qing Dynasty sections and detour around a military post before navigating steep, scenic ridges that lead to the restored steps of Jinshanling and your village accommodation.
Day 7: Jinshanlin – Watchtower Panorama – Beijing
Completing your journey on the restored flagstones of Jinshanling, you will take in final “dragon’s back” panoramas before descending through forests to return to Beijing for a well-earned celebration.
Day 8: Beijing
Visit Tianenman Square and the amazing Forbidden City before free time to explore or shop. If you saw this on your arrival day, you are free to spend your time as you wish.
Day 9: Fly Home
Available Dates
FAQs:
What comes included with the trip package?
Your trip package includes:
- Return flights from London to Beijing
- All known airline taxes
- Transport and transfers as part of itinerary
- All accommodation in hotels (twinshare) and homestays
- All meals except where specified
- Discover Adventure crew (number dependant on group size)
- English speaking local guide/s
- Local support and back-up
- Tour of Forbidden City and entry to all other sites included in itinerary
Is accommodation provided?
Accommodation on this trek ranges from good quality international-style hotels in Beijing to more basic mountain hotels or lodges. Expect plenty of variety. There is one night in guesthouses (dorm-style) in converted farmers’ homestays.
How do roomshare arrangements work?
From the Discover Adventure website:
Our trips are sold on a shared accommodation basis, usually twin-share. Occasionally we may use hostel-style accommodation.
You can tell us if you are travelling with someone else on the trip when you book or within your passenger portal, and we will do all we can to accommodate this request. It is important that both people complete the room share request on their bookings. For customers booking and travelling together, including same-sex couples, a double bed can be requested if available.
If you’re not familiar with anyone in the group, rest assured, we always pair you with someone of the same gender (as per the information you provided when booking, or passport markers), and a similar age where possible. We’re actively working to improve our system’s gender restrictions to be more inclusive, and we’ve recently made significant strides in this area. If you identify differently from the gender marker on your passport and would like to discuss this before booking, please feel free to reach out to us.
Do I need a certain level of fitness to do this challenge?
Discover Adventure provide the following advice:
This is designed to be a challenge, and it is vital that you train sufficiently for it. We will supply you with a thorough training guide once you have registered. We expect all participants to train hard in advance, but we respect everyone’s limits and do not expect everyone to maintain the same pace. Inadequate training is likely to have an impact not just on your chances of completing the challenge, but enjoying it too – and we want you to have the time of your life!
Our challenges attract people of all levels of experience, fitness and ability as well as all ages and backgrounds. We design our challenges so that everyone can go at their own pace: this is not a race. If you have concerns about your fitness or if you have reduced mobility please do contact us for a confidential chat about whether this challenge is appropriate for you.
For logistical and safety reasons we sometimes need to re-group, so the front-runners may find themselves waiting for the slower ones. Please relax, and remember that this is a team effort that enables people to achieve their personal goals and earn sponsorship.
This trip is graded a Yellow 2 – please click here to see how trips are graded and what this means.
Is this suitable for me if I have any dietary requirements?
From the Discover Adventure website:
The food provided is plentiful, often local in style and freshly-cooked, and will give you plenty of energy. Sometimes we enjoy a buffet-style lunch-stop, other times we might have packed lunches. On some trips we stop at small local restaurants. Dinners are generally eaten at our accommodation each evening. In some regions there may be less variety than you are used to, and in others fresh meat or produce can be harder to come by. Any meals not included are listed in the itinerary and are generally on travel / free days, giving you the opportunity to explore and try other culinary experiences! There is always something to suit different budgets.
Being vegetarian or having other dietary requirements is not usually a problem provided you let us know well in advance. Please do not expect as much variety as you would have access to at home – we may be in very rural or remote areas, or among people of a different culture who may not understand your requirements, however willing they are to help. If you know there are plenty of foods you cannot eat we strongly recommend you bring extra snacks from home so you can top up your energy supply. Please feel free to ask us for advice.
Is there a minimum age for taking part in this challenge?
Yes, all participants must be aged 18 or older – you will be asked to confirm your age when you sign up.
What is the registration fee and how much do I have to fundraise?
The registration fee varies depending on the date chosen and we ask all our charity place fundraisers to raise a minimum of £3,800.00
Please note there is a first fundraising checkpoint of £3,040.00 which is due 10 weeks before departure. The remainder of your fundraising target is due 2 weeks after your return.
There are multiple fundraising options for this challenge – please click here for full details.
Will I get a fundraising top to wear on the day?
Absolutely, we love to send our team a technical top to wear for their challenge.
These are usually sent out after your first fundraising checkpoint.
Can I take part in a wheelchair?
Unfortunately due to the nature of the course this challenge isn’t suitable for wheelchairs. Please click here for a list of wheelchair-accessible events.
I have my own place on this challenge and would like to fundraise for Spinal Research. Can I do this and will I have a fundraising target?
Congratulations on securing your own place – we would love to have you join #TeamSpinal! Please fill out this form.
Please only fill out this form if you have your own place on this challenge.
As an own place participant, you won’t have a fundraising target. We just ask that you raise as much as possible so you can to help us fund essential research.
Who are Discover Adventure?
Our partner Discover Adventure are a third-party organisation who connect fundraisers with charities to support, and are a fantastic way to guarantee a place on incredible challenges connected with a good cause. More information on our partnership can be found here.
Have another question?
If you have any other questions or need support, please contact us through the button below.
Email us
