I planned our route from Indonesia to Mexico in such a way that we could make use of the maximum allowed visa-free time in Beijing, where we had to go anyway to catch our onward flight to Mexico. In our case, that was 144 hours, which was sufficient for our itinerary. We wanted to get an impression of Beijing and make a short trip to the Great Wall of China.
Wie lange darf man in China ohne Visum bleiben?
- Besitzer eines EU-Reisepasses (auch Besucher aus den USA, Kanada, Russland und noch vielen anderen Ländern) dürfen sich laut Transitregelung bis zu 144 Std. (6 Tage) in vielen chinesischen Metropolen (Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan usw) aufhalten.
- Die Transitregelung gilt nur für Flüge in ein 3. Land. Zum Beispiel: Moskau - Beijing - Singapur würde gehen, aber Moskau - Beijing - Moskau (oder eine andere Stadt in Russland) - nicht.
- Man muss während eines Transit-Aufenthaltes in der Regel in dem Gebiet aufhalten, wo man eingereist ist. Rundreisen, Inlandsflüge sind eingeschränkt und nur unter zusätzlichen Bedingungen möglich.
Not far (in Chinese terms) from Beijing, there are a few places where you can visit the Great Wall of China. Several travel agencies offer such trips, and hundreds of tourist buses go there. These sections of the Wall are easily accessible and, as a result, crowded with people. Moreover, the Wall there has been completely renovated. To be more precise, it's been rebuilt. There's hardly anything left of the original Wall. For me, this has no historical significance, no charm, and is considered fake. I didn't want a fake Wall; I wanted the real one. I was willing to travel further and change busses 5 times for that. So, we set out on the journey to Jinshanling village.
From Wangjing West Station, we took a bus to Miyun village. Finding the right bus was quite a challenge. Communication with locals was very difficult because almost no one in Beijing speaks English. Most of them can't even read Latin letters. I had a note with our destination written in Chinese characters just in case. I showed this note to everyone around us until we were directed to the correct bus.
After a few hours on a bus filled with very loud Chinese passengers, we reached the village of Miyun. From there, we took a taxi (negotiating the fare was quite challenging; everyone suddenly understood us very well when it came to money). We walked the last few kilometers with good spirits, singing songs, and having a picnic by the roadside. It was all worth it! The Great Wall of China stood there, completely empty, just for us. And we hadn't seen such a clear blue sky in Beijing at any other time.
Was ist zu beachten bei China Reisen?
Diese 3 Punke haben mir die Orientierung erschwert
- Google Maps sind in China gesperrt. Generell sind viele Apps (Facebook, Whatsapp usw.) gesperrt. Ohne einen Map war es sehr schwer sich in der Gegend zu orientieren und auch Distanzen einzuschätzen.
- Die meisten Menschen sprechen kein Wort Englisch und können keine Lateinschrift lesen.
- Wenn man dann doch noch jemanden gefunden hat, der etwas Englisch kann und ihn nach dem gefragt hat, die Antwort war: "Lauf nach Westen/Osten ...". So war das mindestens in Beijing. Für uns war das irritierend, da wir keine Ahnung hatten, wo gerade der Westen war. Wir reisen ja ohne Kompass.
Our Great Wall hike was truly grandiose! This section of the wall is hardly renovated, still very authentic and charming. Anna was thrilled and came up with a brilliant idea for our next trip – crossing China from top to bottom along the Great Wall, of course, on foot.
The journey back.
Even though I always make sure no one takes advantage of us, a Chinese taxi driver managed to do just that. He said the last bus to Beijing would only depart from a specific bus stop in the village. We should hurry, and he was more than willing to take us there. So, we rode with him to this village, only to find out that everything was exactly the opposite.
The last bus was only available from the place where we were before the taxi ride. By the time we figured this out, our taxi driver was long gone. Another driver came along and was happy to take us back.
I spent all my Chinese money on these pointless taxi rides and only had the exact amount left for two bus tickets back (no exchange offices available, and in general, you can only withdraw money from certain ATMs in China with foreign credit cards).
We were lucky; the bus was still there and ready to depart. I handed the driver the money for the tickets. He looked dissatisfied. It was too little. We came to this village for the same amount with the same bus just a few hours ago! But the driver insisted that a ticket back costs more than a ticket there. I've only experienced something like this in China! He didn't want dollars or any other currency. I was angry. We got off the bus and walked towards the highway. I wanted to hitchhike.
Suddenly, a young woman came running towards us. She had been on the same bus and had noticed our problem. She offered to buy the tickets for us. I paid her the ticket price in dollars, and we took the bus. She was from Australia. We became friends instantly and still keep in touch.
That's how it was for us the entire time in China. Moments of excitement and disappointment, ups and downs - an emotional rollercoaster.
Our Documentary Films
We capture our years of travel life in documentary films that we produce independently and together. Our travel film 'Anna, Asia, and Me: 250 Days on the Road' Part 1 was shown in many cinemas across Germany in 2019. Now, this film is available for download for your home cinema. Here's the movie trailer!
The second part of the film 'Anna, Asia, and Me: 250 Days on the Road' was completed in 2020 and was screened in multiple cinemas in Germany in the fall of 2020 and winter 2021. For our viewers who prefer to watch it at home, this film is also available for download.
Here's the movie trailer!
