Walking along the wall with James - We booked a private tour along the Great Wall of China with James, and what a day it was! The weather couldn’t have been better as James led us to the unrestored section of the wall to start. As we walked and marveled at the breathtaking scenery, James shared his extensive knowledge of the area’s history. The hike led us through stunning spots with postcard-worthy views. Eventually, we reached the restored section of the wall, continuing our hike while soaking in the beauty around us. James had thoughtfully provided snacks and water, which were much appreciated on a hot day. We concluded our adventure with a delicious local lunch, every dish was yummy. Thank you, James, for an unforgettable experience—it was a pleasure from start to finish.

A magical experience! - We had a fantastic time on our trek with James! Not only did he show us the best scenic spots, but he helped us get through the parts of the trek that were more difficult (which we really appreciated!). And he is an AMAZING photographer! We will definitely be doing another trek with James in the future, and are so looking forward to seeing another beautiful part of the Great Wall!

Perfect intro to the Great Wall away from the crowds - Peter was an excellent guide and lovely man. The views on this tour are stunning. We hiked for 4 hours (almost 10km) over some challenging terrain, but nothing too difficult. We only saw a couple of other people the entire time. Highly recommended.

Great time with James, highly recommended! - We had a great day with James! The hike is beautiful with no tourist around. We saw a big part of the Great Wall. The lunch was very nice. James is very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. Great experience overall!

Miko made our day! - A group of three of us booked this tour and were the only ones on it, which was awesome. Miko was our guide for the day, and although we've been on some great tours with GREAT tour guides, Miko was the best guide we've ever had. His English was perfect, and from the very beginning of the tour he was honest and hilarious. He entertained us during the drive to the Wall with stories about himself and about China, and the two hours went by super fast. The route we took once we got to the Wall was 10 km and had a lot of stairs, descents, and some slippery areas in trails away from the part of the Wall we had to bypass because it was still being used by the military. I am a terrible hiker, but Miko was patient, slowed down when I needed to and helped me balance during the super slippery areas. Every difficulty of the terrain was worth it, though, because we were the ONLY people on the Wall until the very end of our trip. It was hot and sunny for our trek, so we had incredible views. Lunch was delicious and it was great to have more time to talk with Miko about life in China. He even helped us set up another private tour for our last day in Beijing, which was so appreciated and made our vacation that much better. We couldn't have asked for a better Great Wall experience with a better guide!

Very well taken care of by James - Excellent hiking, glorious views. James was careful on the dodgy sections and there was always a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.

About 6mi / 10km hike - Great views and lookouts - I did two hikes and had James as the guide for both. Highly recommend. Was picked up promptly at our hotel (Renaissance Beijing) and had about a 2 hour drive to the start of the hike. You start at the unrestored section, then hike through a valley and end up at a restored section. We saw very few people on this hike which was ideal. Great views and James is very knowledgable and helpful, and he brought a snickers (and plenty of water) for us which was nice. There were parts that were challenging (loose rocks and gravel from unrestored can challenge your footing at places) but for those who do hikes often it shouldn't be too bad. Not too many huge ascents/descents. Highly recommend

Excellent trip with family - We went with James from GreatWall Trekclub to the Jinshanling section of the wall, about 2 hours drive from Beijing. We went with our children, ranging from 7 to 14 years old. Everything about the trip was just excellent. James and the driver were at the hotel on time. The van was very new and comfortable for the 2-hour drive and the driver did a great job of getting us there through traffic without terrifying us like some tour drivers do. We arrived at the Great Wall a little after 10 am and there was hardly anyone there. James had recommended this section for that reason and he was right. We might have seen 30 people the entire time we were hiking on the wall. We hiked for about 3-1/2 hours, at a bit slower pace than some because of the smaller kids. James was a great help and was happy to work with the kids on the steeper sections of the wall. He brought plenty of bottled water and snacks for the kids. We hiked about 3 miles (5 km) on the wall and went down a different place than we started - having a driver meant that we could hike one-way, rather than having to go back to where we started. As for the Great Wall itself - it's just amazing and you have to see it. I definitely would like to go back and see other sections or the same section at a different time of year. After our hike, we drove about 5 minutes to a local restaurant for lunch. The food was amazingly good - much better than your typical tour group food. The restaurant served a variety of vegetarian and meat plates and we got plenty to eat. To top it off, we had casually mentioned to James on the way to the Wall that it was the birthday of one of the kids. Unbeknownst to us, he made some calls while we were on the wall and arranged a birthday cake for us at the restaurant! We chose to go with Greatwall Trekclub because of the great reviews on Trip Advisor and they definitely deserve their high rating. I highly recommend them.

Perfect hike on the Great Wall of China - Perfect day! We were picked up at our hotel on time. Our guide, James, was wonderful! He knew a lot about the area, very enthusiastic and patient with while we took lots of photos. He pointed out the best areas for photos. The walk itself is about seven miles. We walked most of that without meeting another person. We spent about a month in China going from Beijing to Lhasa to Shanghai and this is my favorite day.

perfect day - Perfect day, pick up at the hotel in time, nice guide, good driver, spectacular hike, it could not have been better... thank you James ...