Watching the sun go down over the Great Wall - We booked with May to see the evening tour of Simatai section of the Great Wall and the Water Town. We're very pleased with our choice as seeing the wall at dusk an amazing experience, and also avoided the daytime heat. May, together with our driver Joe, picked us up from our hotel, chatted and shared lots of info that made it a lovely experience. The Water Town was a great bonus, giving an insight into local history, and also providing a show and food options. A great experience and a fabulous way to see the Great Wall if you are staying in Beijing. Thank you May.

Great tour! - I had an amazing time at Gubei Water town. May was very knowledgeable about the history of the area. She answered all my questions, took really nice pictures and also taught me how to properly use chopsticks! Highly recommend to book a tour with her. You won’t regret it!

Night tour to Great Wall & Gubei Water town - We organised this from home before we left and chose to have a private guide and dinner included. We were met promptly at our hotel by Lucy and her driver for our tour of the Great Wall at Simatai at night. During our 2 hour drive to Simatai Lucy shared information about her country, their lifestyle, and answered any questions we had. When we arrived at the water town, she organised all the tickets and showed us through the town and made stops at some special exhibits in the town before we headed up to the wall by cable car. It’s a bit of a walk to actually get to the wall from the cable car, but it is so worth it. It was getting on dusk and all the lights were starting to come on down in the town as well as on the wall. You don’t realise how big the town is until you see it from above. The wall was only open between 2 towers so you couldn’t walk very far, but that was ok as it was very steep and rugged and there are no side barriers so you need to be very careful. It wasn’t very crowded so you could take plenty of photos and our guide Lucy even took some photos of us together. We were never rushed and had plenty of time to enjoy the moment. Once back down in the town, Lucy asked what sort of food we wanted for dinner and then sought out a number of restaurants and found a suitable place to eat. Lucy chose some meals for us and we enjoyed them immensely. On our way back to the driver she even stopped and bought us some Hawthorne fruits on a stick (Chinese sweet) which we would never have tried ourselves. It was a fantastic afternoon and evening. Thanks Lucy you made it very special. Would highly recommend this trip to see the wall lit up at night. Karen & Alex, Sydney

Amazing - Actually we went up to the wall before sunset which was a great decision as the steps are big & uneven. Fabulous views. Our guide Neil from Odynovo was terrific.

Terrific Tour - My husband and I have travelled to 33 countries during the last 10 years. We usually tour on our own but given the challenges of traveling in China, we decided to book the Viator tour of Gubei and the Great Wall. We were fortunate to get ShanShan as our guide. Her knowledge of Chinese history and culture that she shared with us on the car ride to Gubei, during dinner, and the tours was outstanding. We look forward to our next trip to China and will be sure to contact ShanShan again. We will also share our wonderful experiences with her with family and friends.

Patient and Recommend Good Food - Kevin is very nice and accomodating through out our tour with him. Very patient waiting for us and he also recommended good food for our stay in Beijing.

It was really special to see the... - <p>It was really special to see the Wall lit up at night, and the water town was a memorable experience--quite chilly in winter, with many parts of the park closed, but this tour would be especially magical in warmer months. Our guide was very warm and kind. We cherish this memory.</p>

A beautiful evening - My fiance and I had a lovely time at the water town, and we can imagine it would be even more fun when it's warm out. The Great Wall lit up at night was quite beautiful. A night to remember.

More a photography tour than something to learn - Although it takes about 2 hours one way, we felt it was very worth it. We did not know that the Water Town of Gubei is completely artificially built; we were under the impression it was an original one restored and simply replaced from closer in Beijing to a little further away. We took a shuttle bus and walked along the streets during the afternoon; the kids having found a thermal pond of some sort where they could warm their feet. We were somewhat unlucky with the weather because it was raining like crazy but luckily it had stopped when we arrived. So despite being cold, it was at least not totally wet and uncomfortable. Towards the sunset we headed via Cable Car up to the Great Wall. We have been to Mutianyu before so the sole reason why we came here was the evening lights of this part of the Wall. Hence, we were not disappointed that it was a very small part only that you could walk along (and the guards made sure that you do not step one centimetre out of line). Some Watch Towers are closed until further notice. Our guide Linda said it is because of very heavy rains last summer and stones got washed away. My verdict: in terms of the evening (or should I say night) lights, this is definitely worth it. If you are into photography and especially night shots this is where you should go. We did not mind that the Water Town was artificial because it was very well done and looked beautiful. The Great Wall all lit up is also something else to see, so all good here. What we did not appreciate too much was that we did not learn anything. Linda was a very nice guide but very quiet. She told us later that she worked 40 days through and I felt that she was really exhausted- and maybe did not enjoy this trip as it is not “real Chinese” for her. I actually understand that (I mean that! No criticism here at all!) and whenever we talked about family, or she showed our boys how to count with your fingers in Chinese, or taught some words, it was good fun, but overall we had the feeling that she did not know much about Gubei (I perceive it as an open air museum that beside being artificially built could still show clearly how people lived, what they did and particularly why certain things were done and how), or the Simatai part of the Wall. It seemed to me also that she did not expect for me to take many pictures, waiting for full darkness at about 7.30 h, so eventually we had to rush down again and ended up looking for a restaurant that was still open. We were not sure if she did not know where to go or if the stay up on the Wall was longer and that put us into twang, but finding a good Chinese restaurant still open at about 8.30 h seem to be a challenge here. She first suggested one which was close by but my husband refused as it was a typical -or so it seemed to him- big white hall with mediocre food for Western tourist. We could have been wrong though. Then we did find one, which was actually part of a hotel, but that was excellent. Really enjoyed it. We then went back another 2 hours and everybody minded their own business, no further engagement into what we experience etc. Overall, it was more a photography tour (well worth it though!!) and not a learning experience.