Of all the Great Wall sections I visited, Simatai (pinyin: Sīmǎtái) was my clear favorite. Eugenia and I rented a car and driver and went out of town to Simatai on a cloudy day (it's about 75 miles from Beijing). There is a funicular that takes you to the top and then we are free to walk on the wall. There weren't too many people here when we visited. We rounded off the visit with a lunch at a restaurant at the bottom with a view of the Great Wall.