Can you take a bus to the Great Wall?
I googled this question and found out you can. But it is difficult.
The big problem is the scammers at the bus station who try to stall you so long you will give in and pay for a private taxi. The taxi costs around 40-70RMB per person. The public bus costs 12RMB ($2).
When we got to the Beijing Deshengmen bus station to go to Badaling, we fell for exactly the scam mentioned here. This guy kept telling us we had to wait for the 919 #2 bus, which doesn’t seem to exist. He had us waiting by the 919 #1 and #3 stop. There were several other foreigners who were equally confused. One couple had waited for the 919 #2 for 1.5 hours the day before when they finally gave up and went somewhere else.
This is the guy (wearing an official bus-company jacket, the same as the bus drivers!) who kept lying to us.
Don’t believe this guy!
I kept sending Mr. A out to do reconnaissance. Several other people told him the same thing as the scammer guy. We think they were all getting kickbacks from the taxi guys. Finally, finally, after about 30 minutes in the cold, Mr. A figured it out. Then, he led a parade of foreigners away from the scammers and to the 919 bus like the pied piper.
There is no 919 #2. The bus to Badaling is 919 (no extra number). To get on the 919, you have to go PAST what seems like the end of the bus station to the giant gate. (I think former part of the Beijing city walls). There will be TONS of people waiting there for the 919. Get in a turnstile and you will get on the next bus. You pay 12RMB to the lady on the bus (no tickets needed).
L’s view of the bus
We finally made it to the Wall. We chose the Badaling great wall location because it was the easiest to access for the kids. It was VERY cold and windy, but we had a great time. We ended up taking a gypsy cab home, though because the bus was standing room only and it was a 1.5 hour ride to the subway station. We got dropped off at a FAR north subway station, so that took us an additional 1.5 hours and 3 transfers to get back to our hotel.
It sounds like a hard day, but we didn’t mind. We felt victorious because we beat the scammers.
Hey China, your dumb outdated Olympics sign is wrecking my pictures!
Pretty view WITHOUT an Olympics sign.
Awesome that he figured it out before you waited as long as the others. We had a similar incident, as far as the scam goes, at the airport in Guangzhou–very official looking man took off with our luggage!
It’s a good thing you knew about the scam so you could be leary of the wait!
Go, Mr A! He’s totally a hero.
So great, good for Mr. A!
We went through the same rigmarole at the same spot this past April. Our friend who was studying in the south was there traveling with us. She had been on the 12 rmb bus before, but didn’t know exactly where it was. She argued with the bus driver for awhile, saying that she’d been there two months ago and had been on the 12 rmb bus. Then she asked several other people, who either weren’t clear on what we were looking for, or who gave us answers that she couldn’t understand.
After walking further down the block, we went back to the scam bus driver again, and she started arguing with him again. After like 15 minutes, he finally stops, walks away, and then motions for us to follow him. He goes behind a sign away from the other drivers and whispers, in Mandarin of course, “The bus you want is one block down that way. I don’t want my boss to see me tell you.”
We thanked him profusely, then walked the one block to the giant castle looking gate. Language help is just beyond useful.
Wow–that last picture is beautiful!
Way to go, Mr. A! How did it feel to be the Pied Piper?
[...] realize the map from one year ago is hopelessly outdated due to the pace of construction in China, get scammed by guys who tell you the wrong information so they can force you to pay extra for their bus, manage the nightmare chaos at the small airport [...]