Which Bus Goes from Beijing to Mutianyu?

Two buses and one transfer: the 916 express from Dongzhimen Transit Hub to Huairou, then the local H23 to the Mutianyu roundabout, from where a shuttle covers the last stretch to the ticket area. It is the cheapest way to reach the section by a wide margin, and the transfer at Huairou is where the day is either efficient or lost.

Everything below assumes you are travelling independently. If the connection sounds like more than you want to manage, the alternatives are a car, a driver or a booked trip — compared on how to get to the Great Wall from Beijing.

The route, step by step

1. Get to Dongzhimen Transit Hub by subway. The bus station is part of the interchange, not a separate building across town.
2. Board the 916 express. Make sure it is the express and not the ordinary 916, which follows the same corridor and stops far more often.
3. Ride to Huairou. The express terminates at Huairou bus station, and the village routes start from a different yard — so plan on a short walk or a local hop between the two, and ask at the station rather than trusting a stop name you read in advance. Guides still name a single interchange stop for this transfer; the district transport office no longer lists it.
4. Transfer to the local H23 heading toward Mutianyu, and tell the driver where you are going — this is a village route, and stops are announced in Chinese only. If you have read elsewhere that the H24 also serves the section, it does not any more: the route was cut back in 2025.
5. Get off at the Mutianyu roundabout, then take the site shuttle to the ticket area and lift stations.

The seasonal direct bus

There is also a direct service from Dongzhimen that runs seasonally and only in the morning. When it runs, it removes the transfer entirely and is the best public option available. When it does not, it is invisible — which is why it is worth checking on arrival at the terminal but never worth planning around.

The table above lists them alongside the other ways to reach the section, including how often each one actually runs.

Why the transfer is the hard part

Everything that goes wrong on this route goes wrong at Huairou.

• Touts meet the express bus. People will approach offering a “direct taxi to the Great Wall” as you step off, sometimes claiming the local bus is not running. It is running. What they are selling is a fare several times the bus, negotiated under time pressure — see Great Wall scams to avoid.
• The local stop is not obvious. It is a street-side stop rather than a terminal, and the signage assumes you can read Chinese.
• Local buses are less frequent than the express. Missing one costs real time, which is why arriving at Dongzhimen early pays twice.
• Not every h-route ends at Mutianyu. Confirm the destination with the driver before boarding rather than after.

The simple defence: have “慕田峪长城” and the Huairou stop name saved on your phone, and show them rather than pronouncing them.

What the ride is actually like

Two different experiences bolted together. The express leg is a proper long-distance city bus: seated, air-conditioned, and busy enough on a weekend morning that the queue at Dongzhimen forms before the departure. The local leg is a village bus — smaller, slower, stopping wherever people want it to, and the part where you will be the only foreign passenger.

Neither is uncomfortable, but they reward different things. On the express, get there early enough to sit rather than stand. On the local, sit near the front so the driver can tell you when to get off, and keep an eye on the map rather than the announcements.

The last stretch is not the bus at all: from the roundabout, the site shuttle takes you up to the ticket area and lift stations, and it is a separate ticket from your entry — see Mutianyu tickets.

Small things that make the day work

• Set up transport payment the night before, not at the barrier with a queue behind you.
• Take something to eat. The transfer is not a food stop, and prices at the section are what you would expect.
• Valley roads wind. If anyone in your group gets motion sick, the local leg is the one to prepare for.
• Use the toilet at Dongzhimen or Huairou rather than counting on the roundabout.
• In winter, start earlier than the timetable suggests. Daylight is short, and the bus chain has no interest in your sunset.

Paying, and what to have ready

Beijing buses take a transport card or a mobile wallet, not foreign cards, and the driver is not the place to sort that out. Set up payment at home — the apps you need for travel in China — and keep some cash as a fallback.

You also need your Great Wall ticket already booked before you set off. Entry is sold online in advance under real-name rules tied to your passport, and there is no useful way to fix that from a bus: how to book Great Wall tickets online.

Pack for a walk rather than a bus ride: the section itself is a climb, and the shuttle stops well below the wall.

Getting back

Plan the return before you commit to the outbound. The chain reverses — shuttle down, local bus to Huairou, express back to Dongzhimen — and each link thins out as the afternoon goes on. The last useful departure, not the section’s closing time, is what decides when you should start walking back to the roundabout.

If you miss the chain, the fallback is a ride-hailing car or a taxi from Huairou back to the city, which costs many times the bus but exists. That option, and what it is worth, is on taxi and Didi to the Great Wall.

The same corridor serves another section

The express bus out of Dongzhimen is also the way to Huanghuacheng, using a different local connection at the Huairou end. That is useful in two situations: when Mutianyu entry is sold out for your date and you want to stay on a route you have already worked out, and when you have been to Mutianyu before and want the quieter lakeside wall instead.

It is the same first leg, the same transfer town and the same payment setup — only the second bus changes. What the other section is like is on the best section of the Great Wall.

Is the bus the right choice?

Take the bus if you are travelling alone or as a pair, you are comfortable with transfers, and you are starting early. It is genuinely cheap, and the express section of the journey is comfortable.

Do not take the bus if you are on a tight schedule, travelling with small children or older parents, or arriving in Beijing the same morning. The saving is real but small next to a day that does not work.

The middle option most people miss: bus out, car back. It puts the cheap leg where you are fresh and the expensive one where the queue for a taxi is shortest.

For the shape of the whole day — what time to leave, what it costs, what to do on arrival — see the Great Wall day trip from Beijing, and for the section itself, what to expect at Mutianyu.

What’s next

• The rest of the day: the Great Wall day trip from Beijing.
• Other ways out of the city: how to get to the Great Wall from Beijing.
• Booking entry: Mutianyu tickets.