Begin your journey with a shared transfer service from designated spots within Beijing’s 5th Ring Road. A professional bilingual guide will lead you away from the crowds to the east section of Simatai Great Wall, perfect for casual sightseeing.
Join a Great Wall culture mini-class hosted by local cultural heritage volunteers. Learn to identify the age characteristics of Great Wall bricks, listen to stories of Simatai’s restoration, and make a Great Wall-themed rubbings bookmark by hand to take home.
After a homemade fried sauce noodle lunch at a farmyard at the foot of the Wall, head to Gubei Water Town for an afternoon of folk experiences. Choose one of two handcraft activities: make a simple lantern with the town’s intangible cultural heritage paper art (take it home) or learn to create beginner-level sugar paintings (Chinese zodiac patterns, including tasting) from a local vendor.
Your guide will also take you to the town’s street market, where you can try freshly made traditional Beijing snacks like ludagun (glutinous rice rolls with sweet bean flour) and aiwowo (glutinous rice balls with sweet filling) at your own expense, soaking up authentic local flavours.
As the sun sets, enjoy a free outdoor folk performance in the town (yangko dance, shadow puppet show clips), then stroll along the canal to admire the water town’s night view lit up by red lanterns. Capture stunning night photos right on the stone bridges. At the end of the tour, enjoy a shared transfer back to the Beijing meeting point.
