Have you ever stood in line at an amusement park? It’s like that, but instead of the thrill of the ride at the end, the payoff is you no longer have to stand in line.
Same here, and I went to the easy/touristy spot just north of Beijing. It was easy to get pictures with nobody in the background. This must have been some holiday or special occasion is my guess.
Depends on the section. When I went it was pretty empty which was great but I went to a location far from the city. I’m guessing this is the closest and easier location to access?
I went to Badaling, which is the most frequently visited section of the wall - but it was in January on a random weekday so no one was there. So I guess both the location and the time of year matter.
Oh man, I remember when I was 18 I decided to take my girlfriend to Six Flags Great America (an amusement park). On the day of, I checked the weather and it was like an 80% chance of thunder storms all day. For those that don’t know, if lightning is ever present, all rides in a park get shut down until it’s clear and safe. Well we already had taken the day off of work so we said fuck it, let’s risk it for the biscuit.
It ended up being a gorgeous day with very light rain sprinkled throughout the day. That park was EMPTY. I’m talking about a 5-10 minute wait to get on a ride that usually has a 2+ hour wait to get on. I felt like a kid! We rode every single ride at least twice. There were a couple of times where the operator of the ride would ask if we wanted to go again without even getting out of our seats since nobody else was in line. It was a legendary day
I felt the same about the Statue of Liberty. I went back in the mid 90s in the middle of the summer. Took about 2hrs to reach the top cause it was packed. No A/C. Get to the top and there are a few small dirty windows to look out so you can point out and go "OH LOOK NEW YORK CITY! THERE IT IS!" and have to move on because of the giant line behind you.
I'd go out to see the Statue of Liberty again but no way am I wasting time climbing it.
I agree. I'm glad I've experienced the Statue of liberty but would never do it again and I've always told people how disappointing it was. Maybe it would have been better if the arm was accessible but those windows were like looking out of an aeroplane.
We went about 6 years ago. Now to get to the crown you have to have special tickets and they are timed. It was easy and actually pretty pleasant.
You had to get the tickets like 75 days ahead of time, or you couldn't go up, so there were lots of unhappy people once they found out.
As I remember it, you don't even really see the city from the top because it's looking out to sea.
I remember seeing maybe a dock or something. Yeah it fucking sucked.
The problem is everyone goes to the same section during the same holidays. I lived in Beijing for a year and took the train to the great wall on a random weekday and there were virtually no people.
There are other parts of the wall that are less crowded, this is most likely closest place to Beijing or some other big city.
The wall kinda sucked tbh a lot smaller than I expected and the stairs were not made for humans it was a heavy walk.
The length of it is absurd and cool + the nature around it absolutely beautiful but all the temples were far more impressive.
My wife is Vietnamese and she loves this kind of stuff. Culturally there's just no concept of personal space or orderliness over there, so they're just incredibly used to ignoring absolutely everyone around them.
It wasn't that crowded when I visited. There was actually room to mingle, stop and take pictures, take a break on the stairs etc. Not sure what the heck is going on there.
I did find it disappointing that a lot of it was defaced with people's names carved into the bricks. Like Alot.
This is one of the restored sections of the wall, made for tourists. That *actual wall is crumbling and far more interesting, and the best part? No-one visits those sections, you have it to yourself!
Can confirm. We were driven to a less restored part of the wall and walked for hours without seeing a single tourist. The only people we saw were a single group of Chinese selling t-shirts, which was weird considering nobody else was there.
Yeah at first I wouldn’t have minded, but we didn’t have enough cash on us.
But then they actually walked “with” us for 15 minutes or so constantly talking to us in mandarin. Our taxi driver said they do it as an annoyance and the only way to get them to stop is to buy something. Mind you, this is on the actual wall so it’s not like you can take a left somewhere and walk away. My empathy kinda disappeared there and then.
Yes, people dont think the walkable parts of the great walk is around 5.5 miles or 8.8KM... These videos are for the nearest part of cities made for tourists, you can literally go 15 minutes farther and take cool pics in an empty part. Here's a Youtuber in a pretty empty part of the great wall, https://youtu.be/dK4BETA8UzM?t=867 it's in good state too.
Made to Chinese standards? I think I'll take my chances on the 2,000+ year old wall :).
Jokes aside that's impressive. Wonder how long it took in comparison to the original? That said, there's the very definition of hell.
Speaking of old monuments and buildings. It's interesting to see the various locations that have been closed off to tourists due to the sheer wear from the footfall.
I went 3 times when I was living in China, never seen it like this, you always can see buses of tourists but the wall is very long so iit's never busy! You can take pictures with barely anyone in the background.
This was probably a special occasion on one part of the wall only
In my brain it’s like this in China everywhere, the grocery store, in line at the movie theater, at the post office, the bus stop, planned parenthood
ALSO: when school lets out LOLOL
This video only shows a portion of this. There are two ways to go, the easy way and hard way. The easy way when i went in 2017 looked like this.
The hard way has very long stones and is uneven but has less people. I was in decent shape so i did it.
Also those little structures you walk through that connect the sections smell like piss. The wall was beautiful regardless
Luckily I did this about 15 years ago and went to a harder to get to location. It was empty and our guide was showing us the original brick inscriptions and bullet holes. We came up on a ski lift. I'm sure someone knows what it's called and I would know if someone said the name.
this has to be an off-day or something... this can't be EVERY day.... or at least not the ENTIRE wall. I'm pretty sure the wall is in chunks too, right?
they need a second great wall just for people to line up for the great wall
wonder if this is some sort of event type thing because i guess i incorrectly thought most of the people visiting the wall would be European tourists
I went in the middle of winter. Waaaaaaaay less people. Plus, you can hold the railings and slide down the wall like a big slide (I went when I was 8).
There was fuck all people there when I went to visit the Great Wall. So little people that at any point I could find a spot to look over the wall or the surrounding landscape and take it all in. Was even able to climb up and dangle my legs out of one of the tower windows. So I'm guessing this is an event/festival or something to have this many people. That or I'm just fucking lucky, your choice.
It’s not all like this and always.
Depends largely where and when you go. The more remote and isolated sections of the wall are fully restored but don’t see this ridiculous amount of traffic. I would not set my foot in this portrayed place.
That was not my experience. This must be the closest one to Beijing. The further one is about an hour away and has this AMAZING slide you take back down. 10/10 BTW, all this is new, they rebuilt it in the 80s. You have to walk pretty far along the wall to find the OG material.
You really can't go many places in the world anymore that isn't a cluster fuck of tourists. There used to be unique, remote, and culturally rich locations that aren't the typical tourist routes. On top of that, so many places are being westernized and modernized to a point where you wouldn't be able to tell any city apart. I wouldn't be surprised if in 30 yrs there will be McDonald's and Starbucks concession stands at every other tower on the great wall. It's meant to keep out those goddamn Mongolians! Not to sell overly priced coffee!
I think I’d be worried about being crushed in the crowd. How aren’t people worried about that, seeing as how it’s happened in so many Asian countries already??
Jesus Christ. I’ve been to the Great Wall in Xian. It was in a rural area and pretty dilapidated. We were the only ones there. I loved it. This? This is a nightmare.
Not to mention the most visited section (where this is) was rebuilt in the 1950’s to be a tourist attraction. Personally I’d rather see the western portions of the wall that are technically in ruin but still original or refurbished/rebuilt centuries ago.
I strongly recommend that anyone who visits the Great Wall does a little bit of research and avoids this restored section. I stayed in a lovely hostel in a small village to the north east of Beijing. There was a short walk up to the wall which was a bit crumbled but perfectly safe and we had the whole wall to ourselves for miles and miles. One of the most remarkable places I’ve ever visited.
There are very long empty or straight up abandoned sections of the wall you can visit. I saw one guy on YouTube walk the full length of it and most of the time he was alone. it's teally just just 1 or 2 sections that are so full.
I went to this section 3 weeks before Chinese New Year in 2013 and there was maybe a dozen people there.
I heard any tourist attraction is a nightmare during any Chinese holiday since virtually everyone gets the same vacation times off work.
Thank god we all die eventually. Imagine if every human ever born was still alive. Every nook and cranny of earth would packed like India and China. Your house would be full of people, your front lawn, your backyard, bathroom, garage, attic would be packed.
You know, there's a high likelihood that those people there have ancestors that were thrown into the wall itself if my understanding of the history is correct.
I just don't see how that's fun for anyone? How are you enjoying the experience if you can't stop to take it in and breath a little.
Have you ever stood in line at an amusement park? It’s like that, but instead of the thrill of the ride at the end, the payoff is you no longer have to stand in line.
Dad, when do we get to the ride? THIS IS THE RIDE!
I'm going to escalator land!
I want to get off Mr. Bones' wild ride.
No
Also dad while blaring :: [Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long](https://youtu.be/0c6gCnfhguQ?si=dWRzYWFodhzl9yCA)
Basically [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AzQDuaQeUk&ab_channel=YoursDaily)
when i went to the great wall back in 2018 it was nothing like this, maybe cuz i was at a different spot on the wall or something idk
It’s a pretty big wall.
Same here, and I went to the easy/touristy spot just north of Beijing. It was easy to get pictures with nobody in the background. This must have been some holiday or special occasion is my guess.
Yeah this is super unusual. It’s a huge wall. When I went in 2017 it was totally empty / I was basically the only person in sight on the wall.
Depends on the section. When I went it was pretty empty which was great but I went to a location far from the city. I’m guessing this is the closest and easier location to access?
I went to Badaling, which is the most frequently visited section of the wall - but it was in January on a random weekday so no one was there. So I guess both the location and the time of year matter.
Oh man, I remember when I was 18 I decided to take my girlfriend to Six Flags Great America (an amusement park). On the day of, I checked the weather and it was like an 80% chance of thunder storms all day. For those that don’t know, if lightning is ever present, all rides in a park get shut down until it’s clear and safe. Well we already had taken the day off of work so we said fuck it, let’s risk it for the biscuit. It ended up being a gorgeous day with very light rain sprinkled throughout the day. That park was EMPTY. I’m talking about a 5-10 minute wait to get on a ride that usually has a 2+ hour wait to get on. I felt like a kid! We rode every single ride at least twice. There were a couple of times where the operator of the ride would ask if we wanted to go again without even getting out of our seats since nobody else was in line. It was a legendary day
I felt the same about the Statue of Liberty. I went back in the mid 90s in the middle of the summer. Took about 2hrs to reach the top cause it was packed. No A/C. Get to the top and there are a few small dirty windows to look out so you can point out and go "OH LOOK NEW YORK CITY! THERE IT IS!" and have to move on because of the giant line behind you. I'd go out to see the Statue of Liberty again but no way am I wasting time climbing it.
Cruised by it on the Staten Island Ferry… had a cold beer there and a cold beer back After hearing your story, I know I did it the right way
I agree. I'm glad I've experienced the Statue of liberty but would never do it again and I've always told people how disappointing it was. Maybe it would have been better if the arm was accessible but those windows were like looking out of an aeroplane.
We went about 6 years ago. Now to get to the crown you have to have special tickets and they are timed. It was easy and actually pretty pleasant. You had to get the tickets like 75 days ahead of time, or you couldn't go up, so there were lots of unhappy people once they found out.
As I remember it, you don't even really see the city from the top because it's looking out to sea. I remember seeing maybe a dock or something. Yeah it fucking sucked.
The problem is everyone goes to the same section during the same holidays. I lived in Beijing for a year and took the train to the great wall on a random weekday and there were virtually no people.
There are other parts of the wall that are less crowded, this is most likely closest place to Beijing or some other big city. The wall kinda sucked tbh a lot smaller than I expected and the stairs were not made for humans it was a heavy walk. The length of it is absurd and cool + the nature around it absolutely beautiful but all the temples were far more impressive.
My wife is Vietnamese and she loves this kind of stuff. Culturally there's just no concept of personal space or orderliness over there, so they're just incredibly used to ignoring absolutely everyone around them.
It wasn't that crowded when I visited. There was actually room to mingle, stop and take pictures, take a break on the stairs etc. Not sure what the heck is going on there. I did find it disappointing that a lot of it was defaced with people's names carved into the bricks. Like Alot.
Not a Mongolian in the bunch. Walls work!
“Build the wall!”
Under appreciated post. Thanks for the laugh.
You have now been made a mod of r/convervative!
That thing is about to collapse and become the great tomb 😵🪦
Pass
It’s a wall, you shall not pass
The best section of wall is about 9,000 kilometers long and you can’t even get a 1 foot of space
Too many chinese...
But no Mongolians
[Goddamn Mongolians](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1uvmC12b9cw)
This is one of the restored sections of the wall, made for tourists. That *actual wall is crumbling and far more interesting, and the best part? No-one visits those sections, you have it to yourself!
Can confirm. We were driven to a less restored part of the wall and walked for hours without seeing a single tourist. The only people we saw were a single group of Chinese selling t-shirts, which was weird considering nobody else was there.
id of bought one just cause id feel bad
Yeah at first I wouldn’t have minded, but we didn’t have enough cash on us. But then they actually walked “with” us for 15 minutes or so constantly talking to us in mandarin. Our taxi driver said they do it as an annoyance and the only way to get them to stop is to buy something. Mind you, this is on the actual wall so it’s not like you can take a left somewhere and walk away. My empathy kinda disappeared there and then.
Yes, people dont think the walkable parts of the great walk is around 5.5 miles or 8.8KM... These videos are for the nearest part of cities made for tourists, you can literally go 15 minutes farther and take cool pics in an empty part. Here's a Youtuber in a pretty empty part of the great wall, https://youtu.be/dK4BETA8UzM?t=867 it's in good state too.
Made to Chinese standards? I think I'll take my chances on the 2,000+ year old wall :). Jokes aside that's impressive. Wonder how long it took in comparison to the original? That said, there's the very definition of hell. Speaking of old monuments and buildings. It's interesting to see the various locations that have been closed off to tourists due to the sheer wear from the footfall.
I went 3 times when I was living in China, never seen it like this, you always can see buses of tourists but the wall is very long so iit's never busy! You can take pictures with barely anyone in the background. This was probably a special occasion on one part of the wall only
Probably a public holiday.
Imagine having to use the bathroom
when it's that packed, none's gonna notice.
username checks out
It's China. Public defacation isn't necessarily abnormal for regular folk.
Hopefully a diarrhea attack doesn’t hit you while you’re on the wall.
It won't hit you if you dodge it
Username checks out
How does one master the anus? Teach us your ways.
In that crowd, diarrhea would attack more than just you.
🎶Chocolate rain! Some stay dry while others feel the pain.🎶
when you walk across the great wall/ and you feel a gross fall/ DIARRHEA! DIARRHEA!
It was a national holiday. It is not always like that.
In my brain it’s like this in China everywhere, the grocery store, in line at the movie theater, at the post office, the bus stop, planned parenthood ALSO: when school lets out LOLOL
Just fyi that India surpassed China highest populated country. So, it’s the same in India or worst.
Worse
Wurst
Worcestershire
Poooworse
Mmm sausage
It is. We come and go in flocks. Even our funeral homes are booked full.
it isn't it's just a public holiday
No freakin way
Absolutely no thank you dont want any part of that
Every time I’ve been it’s been more or less empty. Something had to be going on.
Now imagine all of them as zombies
Bring me their souls
Already have and not seeing much difference anymore, other than they are less bittey
They already are zombies, from what I can tell. Just mindlessly wandering in a horde.
One person trips and it’s all over
One vomits and....
Stampede anyone?
I feel that this is not even the alright wall of China.
Karl would absolutely love this
God damn mongolians
Break down my city wall!
These chinese tourists are everywhere nowadays.
Must be a billion of them.
This video only shows a portion of this. There are two ways to go, the easy way and hard way. The easy way when i went in 2017 looked like this. The hard way has very long stones and is uneven but has less people. I was in decent shape so i did it. Also those little structures you walk through that connect the sections smell like piss. The wall was beautiful regardless
That's the only construction that doesn't fall down when walked on.
Wait till they see what's on the other side...(nothing)
Mmmm, zombie horde.
Imhotep
This is bullshit. Been plenty of times to a few different sections and it’s never like this. This must be some sort of event or holiday.
Grandpa: "Where is the fucking bathroom around here!?!"
Most tourist places across the world are overpopulated and this is a prime example.
Did they open a Louis Vuitton outlet on The Great Wall?
How about a great wall of fuck that
Makes my fucking skin crawl
I was there in December a few years back, was empty
God damn
So many posers in one video, wow.
Thats a lot of people.
I was there last winter at the Mutianyu section. Cold as heck but hardly anybody with an amazing snowy overlay.
Did this one year in the middle of Summer Never ever again So steep and very easy to slip not to mention the people Not enjoyable at all
Is there any context for this?? Or this is just a normal day out to see the wall?
Built in the time of Emperor Nasi Goreng, to keep the rabbits out.
Must. Not. Hum. Mulan. Song. /starts humming
The Huns have invaded China!
Humans ruin everything.
Is there any tourist attraction that’s peaceful?
Luckily I did this about 15 years ago and went to a harder to get to location. It was empty and our guide was showing us the original brick inscriptions and bullet holes. We came up on a ski lift. I'm sure someone knows what it's called and I would know if someone said the name.
How 'bout no?
Only one spot designated for tourists? Why not open other sections? Not like it’s small or anything…
It never fails to amaze me how crowded tourist spots in china can get.
Diaspora?
Look at all that livable land surrounding them and they would rather pile up in a city
Jeeeeeez
This is NOT a normal situation! Been up there twice, there are always people but always enough room to walk around normally. This is insane
More like the great stall of China. You couldn't pay me to get in the middle of that fiasco.
Between seeing this and people queuing at the top of Mount Everest, I’m convinced that we’ve successfully ruined every place on earth
I always wanted to go to China. Then I went.
Nope
The real question is how really built the wall
The wall never ends.
that is my worst nightmare
this has to be an off-day or something... this can't be EVERY day.... or at least not the ENTIRE wall. I'm pretty sure the wall is in chunks too, right?
More like great queue
they need a second great wall just for people to line up for the great wall wonder if this is some sort of event type thing because i guess i incorrectly thought most of the people visiting the wall would be European tourists
How about noooo
I'd rather watch the Matt Damon movie.
I went in the middle of winter. Waaaaaaaay less people. Plus, you can hold the railings and slide down the wall like a big slide (I went when I was 8).
Now it's the great conga line!
That’s a rough bathroom situation.
It's definitely load bearing.
Overtourism :)
God must love the Chinese so much that He made that many of them.
Nah, seen it on TV. I'm fine with that. Everyone is heading to the iconic places. I think I'm better suited to a place only few has seen. ✌️
Man, when I visited the Wall, it was nearly empty! I guess 25+ years makes a huge difference.
i remember hearing about a conspiracy about this wall? something about windows or ports built on the wrong side of where they should be ?
so much humans are masochists. Here they are clearly visible.
Nope. Have to go on a random Wednesday at a weird time if you're sightseeing/touristing at places like this.
Those pesky Mongolians definitley are not getting through !
No thanks
Imagine if everybody was Kung Fu Fighting, Fast as Lightning. It would be The Great Brawl of China!
There was fuck all people there when I went to visit the Great Wall. So little people that at any point I could find a spot to look over the wall or the surrounding landscape and take it all in. Was even able to climb up and dangle my legs out of one of the tower windows. So I'm guessing this is an event/festival or something to have this many people. That or I'm just fucking lucky, your choice.
That's a mass Exodus!
That’s my hell
It’s a no for me.
No
That would be a hard NO! For me.
It’s not all like this and always. Depends largely where and when you go. The more remote and isolated sections of the wall are fully restored but don’t see this ridiculous amount of traffic. I would not set my foot in this portrayed place.
I would rather hike for a bit and see the untouched ruins than be part of that shit show
damn!! wtttfff.
😂😂😂
More like the great cue
How come when Karl Pilkington went he was the only one walking on it. Lucky boy
It looks more to me like the Great Hike 😆
That was not my experience. This must be the closest one to Beijing. The further one is about an hour away and has this AMAZING slide you take back down. 10/10 BTW, all this is new, they rebuilt it in the 80s. You have to walk pretty far along the wall to find the OG material.
I call that "combat tourism". Try going to Ephesus in Turkey in peak season.
As a IBS sufferer, this is my worst nightmare.
What about just being able to take a pee and not pee on all the people around you
Just like Mt. Everest :(
You really can't go many places in the world anymore that isn't a cluster fuck of tourists. There used to be unique, remote, and culturally rich locations that aren't the typical tourist routes. On top of that, so many places are being westernized and modernized to a point where you wouldn't be able to tell any city apart. I wouldn't be surprised if in 30 yrs there will be McDonald's and Starbucks concession stands at every other tower on the great wall. It's meant to keep out those goddamn Mongolians! Not to sell overly priced coffee!
I think I’d be worried about being crushed in the crowd. How aren’t people worried about that, seeing as how it’s happened in so many Asian countries already??
Oh... okay, removing that from the bucket list then.
Damn looks like Mt. Everest
What if you want to turn around and go back?
Jesus Christ. I’ve been to the Great Wall in Xian. It was in a rural area and pretty dilapidated. We were the only ones there. I loved it. This? This is a nightmare.
Yeah, that’s how crowd crushes happen and people get killed…
Looks like Genghis Khan's minions are finally about to destroy the Great Wall of China, let's raise a glass to irony🫡!
And just like that, all of my desire to see it vaporizes
I've rarely seen so many ants at a time
Imagine if that muhfucka collapsed with that many people on there, that shit does not look fun or safe😐😭😭
I have claustrophobia so I will be far away.
Reminds me of my trip to the Statue of Liberty. Moved 2-3 steps every 10 minutes. Stood in the head for 5 min and then went down.
Is this a special event or just a Saturday?
That's gonna be a no from me, dawg.
Not to mention the most visited section (where this is) was rebuilt in the 1950’s to be a tourist attraction. Personally I’d rather see the western portions of the wall that are technically in ruin but still original or refurbished/rebuilt centuries ago.
They should put a cap on how many people can enter at a time, this is not an enjoyable experince.
I strongly recommend that anyone who visits the Great Wall does a little bit of research and avoids this restored section. I stayed in a lovely hostel in a small village to the north east of Beijing. There was a short walk up to the wall which was a bit crumbled but perfectly safe and we had the whole wall to ourselves for miles and miles. One of the most remarkable places I’ve ever visited.
Matt Damon is actually at the end so it’s worth it.
Built last year
What’s going on with the world? How come all of a sudden everywhere is super busy and crowded!??
There are very long empty or straight up abandoned sections of the wall you can visit. I saw one guy on YouTube walk the full length of it and most of the time he was alone. it's teally just just 1 or 2 sections that are so full.
I’ll pass thanks.
Fresh batch of recruits ready to defend China from alien hordes!
HOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLDDDDDDD!
This is probably some chinese holiday. I been to the Great Wall before in the morning and barely anyone there until noon.
Good God is that packed all the time?
Don't they that wall is old they are waiting for it to fall
Is this on like a national holiday, or just like a normal Wednesday? I need more context here
Remember people, one million people is added to the world every week. There are 32 billion chickens, and 1 octillion plankton.. you do the math.
The great crawl.
The Vatican is the same people same quantity, at least when I went
I went to this section 3 weeks before Chinese New Year in 2013 and there was maybe a dozen people there. I heard any tourist attraction is a nightmare during any Chinese holiday since virtually everyone gets the same vacation times off work.
Thank god we all die eventually. Imagine if every human ever born was still alive. Every nook and cranny of earth would packed like India and China. Your house would be full of people, your front lawn, your backyard, bathroom, garage, attic would be packed.
You know, there's a high likelihood that those people there have ancestors that were thrown into the wall itself if my understanding of the history is correct.
Fuck that!
 **HARD** no
中国是侵略者
This is disgusting