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Climb with this family and their private guide for an insider's look at one of the 7 New Wonders of the World.

When we first heard about hiring our own guide for a 'private' tour of the Great Wall, far from the maddening tourist crowds, we were delighted. It was late June and our July visit to China was still very unstructured.

"He's great," raved the email from Jacqueline Frank, director of Lonely Planet TV's "Guide to Beijing." She was recommending Mark Yan, a local she'd met while location scouting for her docudrama. Ms. Frank claimed this young man had a deep passion for all things Great Wall.

The day arrived and from the air-conditioned lobby, we saw a dusty white Jeep Cherokee pull up in front of the posh Shangri-La Kerry Centre Hotel. A slight young man in glasses jumped out. Mark strode right in, looking around for a family of three, and firmly grasped our hands. Though he wasn't much taller than our 10-year-old, we immediately knew who was in charge. As we walked out, we grabbed a few of the hotel's courtesy bottles of mineral water to add to the case Mark said he had brought.

On the sweltering drive to the Mutianyu area, our son rode shotgun, entranced by Mark's tales. For 90 minutes, he narrated the skyscrapers and neighborhoods emerging beyond Beijing's Central Business District (CBD) along the 4th Ring Road. In late 2003, the 5th Ring Road was completed as one of Beijing's extensive preparations for the 2008 Olympics, when it expects an influx of millions of international visitors. China is changing quickly since its days as an insular nation. Mark lived alone -- a social state unheard of just a decade ago -- like several employed young people we met.

He pointed out the neighborhood of his small, family-owned apartment and dreaming of future rentals proudly noted, "It's a great location for tourists coming to the Olympics."

With the temperature hovering at 40ºC, Mark had planned for us to hike slowly around two areas of the Great Wall. We started at the village of Huanghuacheng, about 20 kms west of Mutianyu, which rose from the concrete walls of a small reservoir, or man-made recreational lake, known as "Little West Lake." As he parked beyond several women selling peaches by the road's shoulder, he pointed out a small resort hotel that had failed to attract guests, and the new wing they were constructing despite their lack of success.