Are Gubei Water Town and Simatai Great Wall one ticket?
No. Gubei Water Town (古北水镇) and Simatai Great Wall (司马台长城) are two scenic areas in one resort, so a Water Town ticket does not include the Wall. You buy a Wall ticket separately, or a combo. On the official ticket pages shown on 2026-10-04, the Wall is ¥40 for adults. Water Town is ¥120 there, but two other official pages give different numbers. The night Great Wall costs extra.
That date is inside the National Day holiday. A ticket marked 国庆限时特惠 is a limited-time price, not a regular one.
Gubei Water Town ticket price in 2026
Three official pages give three adult prices for the Water Town ticket. We don't pick one.
| Official page | What it says |
|---|---|
| Water Town ticket page, shown 2026-10-04 | Adult ¥120, preferential ¥70. The header image says original price ¥140, save ¥20. |
| Beijing government English page (shows no date) | Adult ¥140, preferential ¥80. |
| Resort FAQ (shows no date) | Gate price ¥160, individual (walk-in) price ¥140. No peak-season or low-season wording. |
The price at booking is the one on the ticket page.
Who pays less or nothing
The ticket page's discount table needs the original, valid ID or certificate, which cannot be transferred.
- Preferential (¥70 on the ticket page): children 1.2–1.5 m (inclusive), primary and secondary school students and full-time university students (including postgraduate students) with a student card, minors under 16 with ID, ages 60–69, active military, fire and rescue personnel, veterans.
- Free: ages 70 and over with valid ID, children 1.2 m and under, and other certificate groups in the table. Disabled visitors need a disability certificate issued by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation. Journalists need a press card issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication and must register at the Visitor Service Center information desk before entering.
The table says these discounts cannot be used together with combo-ticket discounts, so you pick the better one. The ticket is good for one entry on the day, and everyone on one order must enter together. Check-in is at the Visitor Service Center (游客服务中心) gate.
Simatai Great Wall ticket price and day hours
| Ticket | Price (shown 2026-10-04) |
|---|---|
| Adult | ¥40 |
| Preferential: full-time university and secondary school students aged 18 and over with a student card (excluding adult education and postgraduate students), active military, fire and rescue personnel, holders of a social security benefit certificate | ¥20 |
| Free: under 18 with an ID card or other valid ID; ages 60 and over with valid ID; other certificate groups | Free |
Hours are 9:00–17:00, with ticket check-in until 15:00 and clearance at 16:30. The ticket is good for one entry on the day. Check-in is outside the Tourist Service Center, next to the shuttle bus station.
Simatai night Great Wall: how it works, hours and price
The night Great Wall double cable car ticket (夜游长城双索票) is ¥200 for adults and includes the round-trip cable car. Children 1.2–1.5 m (not including 1.5 m) pay ¥110. Children 1.2 m and under are free. The Beijing government page lists "Great Wall at night, CNY 200", which matches this ticket.
- Who can buy it: only guests who have already bought a Water Town ticket and entered the town. You give a name and a mobile number when ordering.
- The route: cable car up, walk to Watchtower 5 for the night view, walk back, ride down. A Beijing government article dated 2025-09-28 says night tours are open all year. Keep your QR code, because the Wall and the cable car are checked separately and you are checked again on leaving the Wall.
- Not recommended: people over 60, children under 1 m, anyone in slippers or high heels. Not allowed: drunk visitors, pregnant women, people with heart disease or high blood pressure.
Night hours
- May to October: the Water Town + night Simatai combo page gives check-in 18:00–21:40, with the Wall cleared at 22:40. The night Great Wall double cable car ticket page gives check-in 18:00–21:30, sets the last sale at 21:30 and suggests entering before 20:00.
- November to April: the Water Town + night Simatai combo page gives check-in 17:30–20:10 Sunday to Thursday (cleared 20:40) and 17:30–20:40 Friday and Saturday (cleared 21:10). The night Great Wall double cable car ticket page sets the same-day last sale at 20:00 Sunday to Thursday and 20:30 Friday and Saturday, and suggests entering before 19:00.
Night combo with Water Town
The Water Town + night Great Wall + round-trip cable car combo, shown on the official site on 2026-10-04, is ¥260 for adults, ¥150 for children over 1.2 m and under 1.5 m, and ¥200 preferential (ages 60–69, students at least 1.5 m tall and under 16, full-time university students including postgraduate students, fire and rescue personnel, veterans, active military). You enter through the Water Town gate first, then go to the Wall. The page says hotel guests should not buy it. Its Water Town part stops being usable at 19:30 (November–April) or 20:30 (May–October).
Cable car and day combo tickets for the Wall
- Round-trip cable car: ¥200 adult, ¥110 preferential, shown on the official site on 2026-10-04. It is a real-name ticket: the order needs full name, ID type, ID number and mobile number. The page does not say which ID types it accepts. You must buy the Simatai ticket first. Sales run 9:00–16:10 at the lower station and 9:00–17:30 at the upper station.
- One-way cable car: the ticket list shows only a starting price of ¥70, so no adult one-way price is given here.
- Combos: the official ticket list shows starting prices on 2026-10-04, not adult prices. Simatai plus one-way cable car starts at ¥150, Simatai plus round-trip cable car at ¥220, and Water Town plus day Wall plus one-way cable car at ¥240. The list says the Water Town ticket in that day combo stops being valid at 14:30, so it does not cover an evening in the town.
- Zipline combo: Simatai ticket, cable car up and zipline down, from ¥220, shown on the official site on 2026-10-04. Two versions are listed: one checked in inside Water Town, which requires buying a Water Town ticket and entering the town first; the other checked in at the Great Wall reservation office outside the town, with a dedicated Great Wall shuttle bus.
Can I buy Gubei Water Town and Simatai tickets with a foreign passport?
The official pages do not say how a foreign passport is entered when you buy a ticket, whether it counts as a valid ID, or whether it works at the on-site window. Ask the Visitor Service Center or call 010-81009999 before you go. What the pages do say:
- The FAQ says online purchase needs an ID number. Entering by scanning a code on site needs no ID card for plain sightseeing.
- Discounts need a valid ID or certificate, such as a student card. For under-18s, the Simatai table says "ID card or other valid ID" and does not list what "other" includes.
- The one official mention of foreign visitors is a Beijing government news item dated 2026-03-09 about the Gubei Women's Festival (8–22 March 2026, now over). It says women visitors from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign countries could complete entry procedures at the Visitor Service Center on site during the event. That was an event rule, not a general one.
Do I need to book in advance? Visitor limits and refunds
A Beijing government English page says no reservation is required and tickets can be purchased on-site. The ticket pages sell online by visit date: fill in details and pay, find the order QR code, show it to enter.
The resort FAQ, Beijing government resort page and official ticket pages do not state a daily visitor cap for Simatai or Water Town. The night ticket page says management can change opening hours, suspend facilities or control the number of people without prior notice, for reasons that include capacity and bad weather.
Unused tickets can be refunded before 24:00 on the day of the visit, and not after.
Gubei Water Town and Simatai opening hours in winter (from November)
- Water Town: the ticket page lists 9:00–22:30 Sunday to Thursday and 9:00–23:00 Friday and Saturday, with ticket checking until 22:00 and no separate winter hours. The Beijing government page gives the same opening hours but says ticket checking is 9:00–21:00 from November to April and 9:00–22:00 from May to October.
- Simatai day visit: the standalone Simatai Great Wall ticket page gives 9:00–17:00 with check-in until 15:00 and clearance at 16:30, and no separate winter hours. Some day combo tickets on the official ticket list give check-in until 16:10. Night times are in the night section above.
How to get from Beijing to Gubei Water Town and Simatai
The official traffic guide shows no date and says routes can change with weather or other conditions.
- Driving: Jingcheng Expressway, exit 24 Simatai, right-hand ramp, then about 2 minutes to the car park.
- Bus from Wangjing West: boards at the hub's bus mezzanine gate 5 at 09:00 and 13:00, and returns from scenic area car park No. 2 at 12:00 and 17:00. 134 km, 120 minutes, ¥48 per person. Pay with a Beijing public transport card, phone NFC, a listed downloaded app, or cash with no change.
- China Youth Travel Service (CYTS) line: boards at the south-west exit of Dongzhimen metro station, north of the west gate of the CYTS building. 135 km, 120 minutes, ¥48, arriving at the Water Town Hotel. Its timetable is in pictures on the official page.
- Metro and bus: Line 2 to Dongzhimen, express bus 980 to Miyun Xidaqiao, then bus Mi 51 toward Simatai.
- Train: Huairou–Miyun line from Beijing North or Qinghe to Gubeikou, then a shuttle to Water Town. The fare follows the bus company's rate.
- Bei Tucheng metro station: Saturdays from June to October, 9:30 out and 20:30 back from the Water Town Hotel, ¥48.
- Ended or limited: the Miyun high-speed rail station direct bus stopped on 10 September 2026. The airport bus is listed only for 1–3 July.
We can help you plan the Beijing to Gubei day trip, and a private car or local guide can be arranged. For other Great Wall options, see Mutianyu tickets, Badaling tickets and the Beijing travel guide.
Gubei Water Town parking: price and charging
All the official ticket pages give ¥25 per time for cars up to 7 seats and ¥50 for larger vehicles. The traffic guide says the first 30 minutes are free. The FAQ says there is no time limit and does not mention the 30 free minutes. Cars that need charging can use car parks No. 5 and No. 6, per the traffic guide.
