I travelled on the G Adventures China Active Adventure last year with and it was amazing, so I wanted to share my review. This post is mostly a review of that tour, but is also relevant if you travel differently.
People told me that I wouldn’t like China, but I thought – why not? There’s a Great Wall there and I like Chinese food! So I went anyway and I’m glad I did.
I chose to visit China on a group adventure tour, mostly because I was worried about getting around by myself – it’s not so easy if you don’t speak Chinese (I don’t!). I also really wanted to visit a less maintained part of the Great Wall and get some photos without a hundred other people in the shot!
Why choose an active adventure in China?
Be outdoors
One of the greatest things about China is the scenery. On an active adventure in China you will be outside a lot, taking full advantage of the amazing views. Plus, you’ll get super fit!
Safety in numbers
I’d say China is relatively safe, but there is always more safety in numbers than alone. The issues are more around communication. Ordering my first meal in a food court in a Chinese mall was really quite tough, so I was glad to be with other people the rest of the trip! Plus, I didn’t fancy a solo trek on the Wall.
Ease of travelling around
China can be a little difficult to navigate if you don’t speak Chinese. Street signs and signs at train stations etc aren’t always in English, and the staff don’t always know enough English to help easily either.
On a group tour, the transport is all arranged for you by the guide. They make sure that transport is waiting to take you sightseeing and that you’re at the station in time to catch your train.
A decent guide
I had a brilliant guide on my active adventure in China who taught me a lot about the culture. A dedicated guide for your whole trip means that you essentially have a local friend. You have someone to tell you the background of the places you visit and someone on hand to answer your many many cultural questions!
Choosing a tour company
There are a ton of tour companies offering an active adventure in China, from big foreign owned corporations to simply booking a guide when you touch down in Beijing.
Personally, as a solo female adventurer, I wanted to know I would be safe and looked after from the moment I arrived in China.
For me, it was between G Adventures and Intrepid Travel because they are well known to me. I had travelled with them before and both have partnered with STA Travel, who I trust.
Plus, they both have different levels of travel style to suit different budgets – from basic to luxury – and include adventure-style tours.
I ended up going with G Adventures, so the rest of this post is about that trip.
The down side of an active adventure in China
Of course, group tours aren’t for everyone. I don’t always travel this way – I’ve backpacked around Australia alone and arrived in Thailand without a plan.
I love the freedom that solo travel brings – to stop and stay longer in one place if you wish, or to wander a city alone. That is what is missing from a group tour, so it’s swings and roundabouts with the safety aspect!
An active adventure in China can be a bit ‘whistle-stop’ – you don’t get long in each place because you are fitting a lot into just a few weeks. And, with the physical aspect (hiking, cycling etc.) it can be a bit full on.
You don’t get a lot of ‘me time’ either – especially if you’ve opted to share a room. But it is safer and I met some awesome people that I’m still in touch with.
G Adventures China Active Adventure Review
The tour I chose was the G Adventures China Active Adventure tour.
Check out the full itinerary on their website (…and get lost dreaming of all their amazing active tours – they have so many around the world and I want to go on them ALL!)
This one is a Active style tour, so there’s activities like hiking and cycling involved. The accommodation in this style is fairly standard, though probably a little more on the basic side.
I’m sharing some of my experiences and photos from the tour below to bring it to life a little!
Check out Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing
I arrived in Beijing the night before the start of the tour, so I had the first evening and the following day to explore alone.
With the group the next day, we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City which were both cool to see, but super busy! I learned not to allow Chinese tourists to have their photo taken with me (people start to queue for the privilege and, whilst it’s fun feeling like a minor celeb for a while, it gets old quite quickly!) and to watch out for the hundreds of parasols being held level with my eyes!
Then we took a nice easy hour-long cycle tour of the Hutongs (Beijings low-level backstreets, which have been deliberately preserved).
Trek the Great Wall of China on the G Adventures China Active adventure!
The two-day trek on the Great Wall of China was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. The China Active Adventure deserves a glowing review for this experience alone.
Starting the trek on the ‘maintained’ part of the wall a couple of hours from Beijing – watching with horror as tourists balanced precariously on the towers with selfie sticks – we then climbed onto the non-maintained section of wall.
The crumbling sections of the Great Wall are an experience in themselves. Steep inclines with rubble underfoot makes for a fairly energetic trek. Add in an electric storm and you have some pretty atmospheric memories!
If you’d like to know more about what to expect, check out my other post about hiking the Great Wall of China.
Try out your Kung Fu skills and hike in Song Shan
Song Shan is home to the famous Shaolin Temple and Shaolin Kung Fu school, where we stayed. I watched children as young as two practice backflips, running drills around the schools at sunrise and sunset in training to become Kung Fu masters.
We took a pretty epic hike one day to a temple in the mountains. This one isn’t for the faint-hearted. After an hour of climbing there is a sign which tells you it is 7,000 steps (as in stairs) to the temple. That’s 15,000 there and back!
Maybe that is putting you off, but take a look at the photo above – the scenery is like that the whole way so it is totally worth working your calf muscles!
Besides, I really enjoy telling people about all the steps I hiked in China. It makes me sound like a boss.
See the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an
After all that hiking it was nice to visit a city and have a break from it all. Being an active tour, we didn’t just wander around though. We started early morning with a cycle around the Xi’an City Wall. Don’t worry – it’s completely flat and a lot of fun!
I also visited the attraction that Xi’an is best known for – the Terracotta Warriors. They are completely amazing. Hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers made of clay, incredibly detailed with no two the same.
Imagine having the power to request that your people create a Terracotta Army to guard your tomb when you die?
Get active cycling around Yangshuo
Yangshuo has a really cool vibe. It’s a bit backpackery. A place to grab a coffee, some decent western food (Chinese food every day does get a little much and, a year on, I still can’t quite face it…) and some souvenirs.
Related post: Your Coffee Habit Will Cost You in China
Yangshuo is surrounded by distinctive thin green mountains which make for interesting Instagram photos.
Again, being an active tour, there was cycling involved through a fairly flat area of rice paddies and a couple of hills on quiet roads.
Hike the Longji Rice Terraces
Hiking the Longji Rice Terraces was my absolute favourite place in China. The mesmerising terraced rice paddies go on for miles (more Instagram material!) and you pass through some tiny villages on your way.
The hiking trail was super quiet and we passed only a few villagers tending to their crops on our way.
It was a long trek though and some of the hills were pretty steep. But I was pretty in shape from the Great Wall and all that cycling!
End your China Active adventure with an evening in Hong Kong
The G Adventures China Active Adventure ends with crossing the border from mainland China into Hong Kong. I immediately noticed the cultural differences.
I was disappointed not to get a stamp in my passport (I’m British, and as Hong Kong was under British Crown rule until 1997, they are still pretty happy to let us in without a fuss!).
In mainland China people push and shove and behave in a way that many westerners may consider rude (they aren’t though, it’s just culturally very different). Hong Kong, on the other hand, is more like home. People queue. I’m a Brit – I love a good old queue.
One disappointment was that I was only in Hong Kong for less than 24 hours before my flight out to Bali. So there was really only time to have dinner.
A few of us decided to take a late night trip up to the peak (see photo above – totally worth it! Sorry for the blur, but yes that is a t-shirt with a photo of my tour group on the Great Wall on it – we had them made in Yangshuo!)
I hadn’t realised there would be so little time when I booked, or I would have extended my stay. I’ll just have to go back and explore further one day!
Other, less active, G Adventures China tours
I thoroughly enjoyed the G Adventures China Active Adventure tour, hence this review! But if you’re worried about the ‘active’ travel style there are heaps of other options for a group tour in China!
No matter how you choose to travel, do visit China – the scenery is absolutely amazing.
I’ll be honest – this article contains affiliate links, which means I will get a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you decide to buy a tour from G Adventures.
Integrity is really important to me, so I only recommend products that I really love! Of course, do your own research and if you have any questions about the tour itself or need some advice, please feel free to get in touch – I’d be happy to help a fellow traveller!
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