Great Wall Trail 2026

Here's the Trail of the China Wall ! 🇨🇳 Lace up your trail shoes and come run 🏃 on one of the 7️⃣ wonders of the world ! 🌟 For its 22nd edition in the month of May, the Great Wall Trail invites you for a race in 7 stages, organized in such a way that you can have an unforgettable experience 😍. Unlike the Great Wall Marathon, where only 3km are covered, this trail is 85% dedicated to one of the greatest relics that humanity has ever built 😯. The stages range from 3 to 14 km each, 6 of them are run directly on the Great Wall, and another on the Eastern Tombs 👑. Set off on the adventure and accumulate 4,500m in altitude 🧗‍♀️, on a unique route of the Great Wall and its wild sections, and discover the hidden side of one of the most visited monuments in the world every year 🌎. The concept in two words? Trip & trail. But what is quésaco ? 🤔 The trip & trail is organizing an entire stay around a race, with time dedicated to discovering the places where your competition occurs 🙌. So, who said you couldn’t play tourist during your trail ? 😜 The event organizes 10 days of activities to let you explore Beijing and its surroundings, and to make you live a timeless human adventure... 👀 Nourished, housed, that's the motto ☝️. Your registration includes: your flights ✈️, your meals 🍙, and organized tours to discover the splendor of the Middle Kingdom ! ✨ And if you're hungry for history and culture, you even have the option to choose an extension of your stay to visit what's affectionately called the Pearl of the Orient, Shanghai ✨. But beware ⚠️, the number of places is deliberately limited 🤏 for an intimate and friendly experience throughout your stay in the Middle Kingdom. Moreover, the race is open to both runners and walkers 🚶‍➡️. Enough to delight everyone and observe the landscape in complete tranquility, even if many runners admitted to stopping during their race because the landscape is breathtaking! 😍

For your odyssey on the Silk Road, the organizers have arranged a finely tuned stay 🧅. Departure from Paris-Roissy Charles de Gaulle 🛫, and upon your arrival the next day (yes, it takes time to travel halfway across the planet 🌎), you will be welcomed at the hotel Xinqiao in Beijing, more commonly known as Beijing ! The day after next, when you wake up, you will head out for the first stage (the 3.3 km), a prologue to discover the famous Great Wall of China. In the evening, you will eat and sleep at the hotel Crown Plaza with its modern and luxurious architecture 😎, worthy of the 24k Magic by Bruno Mars 🪩 (yes, you know exactly which one we mean). Their specialties are Cantonese and Sichuan dishes... 🍛 A real treat! 😋 "But all happiness starts with a quiet breakfast" ☝️, the next day, after indulging the night before, you will venture over the 10 km of Chenjiabu, and the following day, you will tackle 7.5 km to Mutianyu, a city with a strategic military past 🪖. Nestled in the mountains⛰️, it long served to defend Beijing against Mongol invasions 🇲🇳. After this, you will delve deeper into the Celestial Empire's backdrop... with a local resident 👲 who will host you for dinner and until the proteinated breakfast the next morning! In China, the first meal of the day often consists of small savory bites like Jiaozis 🥟 with meat or vegetables 🥬, or Jianbing, small crispy pancakes 🥞 filled with eggs, chives, and hoisin sauce! Yum, yum! Enough to build connections and chat over a good balanced breakfast 🥢 with a local who will share the customs of their country and of this culture that is both complex and beautiful 😍.

Next step: Gubeiko at 180 km from the capital ! After covering 13.5 km on this authentic section of the wall dating from the 6th century AD, where the landscape is outlined by mountains ⛰️ on either side, you will be taken to the Jixian Hotel. After regaining strength overnight 😴, you will hike on 11.5 km, return to the hotel , and go on an excursion to Jixian in the afternoon where you will notably visit the monastery and the tourist street.

End of the line, everyone off! 🚌 After a colorful trail 🌈, your last day of the race will be split in 2️⃣ parts! The first part of the day, you and your group will go for 11 km of running. 🏃‍♂️ Once you reach Huangyaguan, to the north ⬆️ of the Tianjin municipality, you will stop for one last lunch before heading for the ultimate 3.5 km of your trail, all in time trial! 💪 You did it ! 😎 Enjoy the beautiful award ceremony 🏆 and Peking duck 🥘, to recover from this intense effort 🥹. You will stay for 2 more days to visit the surroundings and return home with lots of memories 🫶.

During your free time, we recommend a few places to visit to make your experience as fulfilling as possible with no regrets! After all, it's not every day you go to China... 😬 Head over to admire the Forbidden City ❌, once the residence of Chinese emperors and their family. A place thus forbidden to the people, hence its name! 😉 Then, stroll around downtown Beijing, on the Tienanmen Square, the largest square in the world 😳, or in the Hutongs, little typical neighborhoods of the city due to their many alleys 🏘️. End your expedition at the Temple of Heaven or Lama Temple 🦙, a sight to behold before the journey back... 🔙 There you have it! This unique trail will let you discover the splendors of the Liaoning Province 🌟. Prepare to climb majestic mountains ⛰️ and lose yourself in unusual places that will be etched in your memory. Don't miss this chance to surpass yourself and uncover hidden treasures of China! 🇨🇳

So what do you say to an escapade to the other side of the world with Contrastes Running ? 🧳