The Great Wall of China at Mutianyu

By intlnabers On December 28, 2023 · Leave a Comment · In Asia, China, Expat Life in Beijing, Travels

We surprised the kids with a 2 night stay at the The Brickyard Retreat at Mutianyu for the 2 nights leading up to Christmas and wow it did not disappoint. This portion of the Great Wall that is closest to Beijing is only an hour and 15 min or so away. Talk about convenience! There was something so magical about the snow, and the fact that we were out of the city, that the Brickyard was totally decorated for Christmas, and that we rented a cottage where we could grill out and let the kids and dog play while enjoying a fire and playing card games. Mountain life in a small village. It’s so peaceful.

We have been wanting to visit the Great Wall for a while now and it completely took our breath away. Our goal is to visit it in every season, and I cannot wait to actually hike up to the wall….this time around was a bit too icy and cold for me, lol.

Let me first start with the Brickyard Retreat. This place is a no brainer. So the down and dirty history is this: back when Beijing was to host the 2008 Olympics, they shut this old tile factory down due to the massive pollution it was causing. Fast forward to 2010, and investors bought to and turned it into the Brickyard. It’s so unique, has such charm and rich cultural history, and I hear the spa is fantastic! They expanded their footprint by buying old homes in surrounding villages and turning them into rental cottages for larger groups. Such a great idea! They have the hotel portion where you can reserve rooms and suites but since we wanted to bring our dog and had 2 kids instead of 1, it just made better sense to rent one of their cottages. We chose the Lilac Cottage which was only a 5 minute walk to the main hotel, had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an enclosed backyard for our dog. It was so perfect! Plus…I mean hello heated floors!!!! We were so excited to grill out since we are now living in an apartment, and grilling has been such a huge part of our lives, that we packed a cooler and grilled out both nights, plus brought more to grill to take home, hahaha. Such Americans, lol!

The day we arrived we just played in the snow, explored the hills behind our cottage, walked the village, and visited the hotel. We were all so happy to just be in this magical place together. Fire building, grilling, games galore…..even our dog seemed to smile brighter- haha!

When we woke up the next day, we all bundled up, had an amazing breakfast at the hotel (which was included and we also had the choice of having a breakfast basket sent to our cottage), and got a free hotel shuttle to the base of the Great Wall (a 5 min shuttle ride). It was fairly easy at the ticket counter to get 4 tickets to Great Wall, including the shuttle to the cable car ride and back down of course. The village base camp village, I like to call it, had restaurants, coffee shops, street vendors, you name it!

The trek to the cable car base was still very uphill….so be prepared to get that heart rate up!! Once you reach the top, which took about 10 minutes tops, it was just miles and miles of mountains and the wall. It just went on FOREVER- as far as the eye could see. I just could not get over how peaceful it made me feel. Realizing with these mountains surrounding me while on the Great Wall of freaking China….just how small I am in this great world. Truly magical. It’s amazing when you stop to think how long ago this wall was built…..and it’s 13,000 miles long I believe…..and without modern day technology to build it. Truly inspiring. I could have stayed up there walking along the wall for HOURS. But let’s let the ground thaw a bit right?! haha

Of course the universal language of children……the kids found some patches of snow along parts of the wall and on the hills….found they could body sled down it. Soon enough other kids watching them followed suit- their giggles made us all smile so big- kids from all different countries and cultures and backgrounds enjoying the same fun and free and awesome gift of PLAY. All while us parents, also from all over the world, felt that instant connection as well smiled fondly and watching alongside them.

The Great Wall at Mutianyu is a place I will go back to time and time again…..but I am also very interested in climbing the “wild Great Wall”. So you know I will be posting more about that as the weather warms up in 2024.

Enjoy the pictures!~