--- title: Airbnb Had To Cancel Their Great Wall of China Stay description: You'll have to rent an Airbnb near the Great Wall instead because the stay on the wall itself is cancelled. canonical: https://time.com/5361130/airbnb-great-wall-of-china/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-08T16:37:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:13.550Z og:title: Airbnb Has Cancelled That Great Wall of China Stay og:description: You'll have to rent an Airbnb near the Great Wall instead og:url: https://time.com/5361130/airbnb-great-wall-of-china/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe7b3923973e4b30/6989374d096a94087e6a322e/greatwallofchina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: Great Wall of China og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Airbnb Has Cancelled That Great Wall of China Stay twitter:description: You'll have to rent an Airbnb near the Great Wall instead twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe7b3923973e4b30/6989374d096a94087e6a322e/greatwallofchina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # That Sleepover on the Great Wall of China Is Not Going to Be a Thing After All > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Aug 8, 2018 4:37 PM UTC  A view of the Great Wall of China near Beijing. The wall is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Donat Sorokin/TASS (Photo by Donat SorokinTASS via Getty Images) A view of the Great Wall of China near Beijing. The wall is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Donat Sorokin/TASS (Photo by Donat SorokinTASS via Getty Images) Great Wall of China by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Aug 8, 2018 4:37 PM UTC If you were hoping for a chance to stay in an open-air luxury suite on the Great Wall of China, [don’t book](http://time.com/4858050/airbnb-racist-asian-california-trump/) your plane ticket quite yet. [Airbnb](http://time.com/money/5247304/unforgettable-airbnbs-100-or-less/) has cancelled their stay on the world heritage site. The home stay company’s [Night At program](https://www.airbnb.com/night-at?irgwc=1&irclid=wSdXDHzpiTlP2VKWjIzajUCZUkjSwpxlWwyj1w0&ircid=4560&c=Skimbit%20Ltd.%5F290446&sharedid=content&af=126295512) has invited guests to stay in unexpected locations like Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania, a Canadian Taco Bell, and the top of an Olympic ski jump outside Oslo. However after announcing their plans for a Night At the Great Wall where contest winners would win a one night stay in a customized guard tower on the Wall, a multi-course gourmet dinner, and traditional Chinese entertainment, plans have been shelved. [In a statement on their site](https://press.atairbnb.com/update-night-at-the-great-wall/), Airbnb wrote that while “there was an agreement in place” that lead them to announce the contest, it appears to have been insufficient. The [_South China Morning Post_](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2158807/airbnbs-great-wall-china-competition-crumbles-heritage-bureau)reports that the governing body, the Beijing Yanqing Cultural Commission, did not support the project as it “is not in line with the Great Wall’s heritage conservation values”. In the wake of the government’s statement, [Airbnb](http://time.com/5265991/airbnb-safety-risks/) announced that they “made the decision to not move forward with this event,” and apologized to anyone who had already entered the competition. “We partnered with experts to help educate people about the Wall’s heritage and raise awareness of protection and preservation efforts,” [Airbnb](http://time.com/4147597/airbnb-sharing-economy-racism/) wrote. “We remain committed to that goal and in the weeks and months ahead, we will be working closely with our hosts and guests in China as well as community leaders to highlight the culture and history that make China one of the most dynamic destinations in the world.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5361130/airbnb-great-wall-of-china/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5361130/airbnb-great-wall-of-china/"},"headline":"That Sleepover on the Great Wall of China Is Not Going to Be a Thing After All","datePublished":"2018-08-08T16:37:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:13.550Z","description":"You'll have to rent an Airbnb near the Great Wall instead","url":"https://time.com/5361130/airbnb-great-wall-of-china/","keywords":["Newsfeed","China","Travel","Airbnb"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe7b3923973e4b30/6989374d096a94087e6a322e/greatwallofchina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe7b3923973e4b30/6989374d096a94087e6a322e/greatwallofchina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Great Wall of China","caption":"Great Wall of China","creditText":"Great Wall of China","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5361130/airbnb-great-wall-of-china/","name":"That Sleepover on the Great Wall of China Is Not Going to Be a Thing After All"}}]}] ```