Learn Chinese on the Great Wall

The accommodation

 You will be living in a renovated farmhouse, just a short hike from the Great Wall. You can choose to either stay in a shared room with shared bathrooms or to get your own single en suite room. The rooms and facilities are basic, but come with all necessities needed, including WIFI, hot water and western style toilets. Teachers and students all live together in the same area and quickly form a very tight community.

The food

All meals are prepared in the farmhouse using fresh local ingredients and you will get to eat some of the most amazing Chinese food this country has to offer. All meals are freshly prepared by Ms. Lu in the kitchen next door. If you want to learn a bit about Chinese cooking making friends with her is a great idea. The program includes three meals a day, all of which are very plentiful. Vegetarian or vegan options can also be provided.

The classes

The Great Wall Mandarin Program is individual Chinese teaching at its best. As the program has a limited number of participants – make sure you book in time – all classes are taught 1on1. You can choose between a standard course with four hours, or the intensive course with six hours of Chinese class per day, Monday to Friday. This is one of the best programs to get your Mandarin ahead fast. Living in a quiet environment, surrounded by non-English speaking locals you will see your spoken Mandarin improve very quickly. With the individual classes the program is also fully tailored to your needs and challenges. Like with all LTL programs, before you travel to the Great Wall we will do an assessment with you and based on this create a personalized study plan for you. All books and study materials are already included in the price.

Activities on the Great Wall

At the Great Wall everything is about the outdoors. After class you might decide to climb one of the different sections of the Great Wall, go for a cycle along the long winding roads through the mountains or challenge the local villagers at a game of badminton. Anyone who enjoys hiking will find an amazing variety of trails to hike up to or along the Great Wall and in the mountains surrounding it. The pictures you’ll take and then scenery, is breathtaking.

Every evening students and teachers will eat together at the farmhouse, usually followed by drinks together in the village square, one of the other farm houses or our own courtyard.

On the weekends it is possible to organize day long excursions to other Great Wall sections like the flooded Wall or more famous sections of the Great Wall like Mutianyu, Yanqi Lake, do a horse riding trips, go rafting or for day long hikes up the Wall from the village.

Summer on the Great Wall – Where is it?

While certain parts of the Great Wall have been extensively renovated and opened for tourists, with cable cars, fun rides, souvenir shops and huge crowds, our program is in a village next to an abandoned section of the Great Wall. Here you can really see and feel the history of this amazing monument. Our village is about two hours north of Beijing city by car. That means while the locals of course don’t know any English everyone still speaks standard Mandarin. This makes it a great Chinese language immersion environment and making friends with some of the villagers is a very good way to improve your spoken Mandarin quickly. The program already includes transport to and from the village to the city. Like almost everywhere in China, the area is extremely safe – most people don’t even lock their doors at night.

Great Wall Program – Dates and Durations

It is possible to book the Great Wall Mandarin program as a tailor-made course for you all year round. However, our normal Great Wall Mandarin Program runs from Sunday to Sunday and runs in the warmer months of the year. It is best booked in combination with a program in either Beijing or Shanghai beforehand, allowing you to settle into China in a big city and then finish your China experience moving the countryside to discover the Great Wall and its history. Courses run from Sunday to Sunday and include transportation from Beijing to the Great Wall and back. This program has limited spaces, so make sure you book your course in time.

Great Wall Program – Pricing

You can do the Great Wall Mandarin Program for just one week, or the full six weeks. We recommend to start with a program at LTL Beijing, Shanghai or Chengde first and leave the Great Wall Mandarin until the end of your course.