Beijing · Travel Guide
The capital, in the shadow of the imperial walls
Beijing (北京, Běijīng), China's capital, is a city defined by imperial palaces, hutong alleys, roast duck and the Great Wall. Five days covers the essentials: the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and hutong life. Autumn (September–October) has the best weather; a mid-range trip costs roughly ¥3,000–5,000 excluding long-distance transport.
| Known for | Imperial city · Great Wall · Roast duck · Hutongs |
|---|---|
| Budget | ¥3,000–5,000 for 5 days, mid-range |
| Days needed | 5 days |
| Comfort | Comfortable |
| Best time to go | Autumn (Sep–Oct); temple fairs at Chinese New Year |
Beijing, the capital of China. Almost everyone carries a picture of it: the Forbidden City they read about as a child, the hutong alleys they imagine losing themselves in, the Great Wall they dream of climbing while shouting that they, too, are a true hero.
Beijing absorbs everything. Three thousand years of city-building and six dynasties of capital rule packed Chinese culture from the Yuan, Ming and Qing eras into one place, and the city is too layered to describe in a sentence. It lives on the quiet lanes behind the red palace walls, in the turns of the hutongs, along the glass towers of Guomao, and on the brick paths beside Weiming Lake at Peking University. It looks like a modern metropolis, but underneath it keeps an old, nostalgic soul. Wander a surviving hutong, then duck into a steaming hotpot place — that is the real Beijing.
Even the smallest old Beijing hutong now has a generous heart: high culture and street life share the same alley, and the beauty of the mix plays out in full here.
Rediscovering the Beauty of Beijing
The saying goes: you are not a true hero until you reach the Great Wall. Badaling is the best-restored stretch of the Ming wall and the easiest to reach — which also makes it the most crowded. If you know only Badaling, you know one wall out of many; Jiankou, Mutianyu and Jinshanling each have their own character, with fewer people and wilder views.
Around Guozijian, Wudaoying and Nanluoguxiang you will meet rickshaw drivers happy to talk about the city for hours, old courtyard houses, and small private kitchens. The most direct way to feel old Beijing is simply to walk the criss-crossing alleys — that is the city's pulse.
The dish you cannot skip. Quanjude, Bianyifang and Da Dong each represent a different school — hung-oven, closed-oven and the modern crispy-skinn approach — and comparing them is half the fun. Book ahead; the famous houses fill up every night.
798 was China's first and is still its most mature art district, carved out of an old electronics factory complex that now hosts more than a hundred galleries, studios and design shops. Painting, photography, installation and performance shows run year-round — walk in with no plan and let the doors pull you in.
The shorthand for Beijing nightlife and the front line of its fashion scene, dense with bars, restaurants and boutiques. One warning from locals: whatever you do until 2 a.m., you will pay for it the next morning.
Behind the massive walls lie centuries of palace intrigue, and the scale still surprises first-time visitors. Walk the central axis for the classic route — about three hours — then dip into the side palaces if your legs hold up. Entry is by timed reservation only, so book ahead; see the sights chapter for details.
Autumn first. September and October are crisp and clear, and late October into early November turns the Fragrant Hills red — the city's best-known foliage season. The second window is December to mid-February, when temple fairs around Chinese New Year fill the parks. Summer is hot and humid; spring is pleasant but occasionally dusty with wind.
Less than you might expect. Metro rides cost a few yuan, meals range from street food to mid-range restaurants, and entrance tickets are modest by world-landmark standards. A comfortable mid-range day — including a decent hotel — runs about ¥600–1,000 per person; backpacking on ¥300–400 a day is realistic.
Wangfujing, Qianmen Dashilan and Xidan are the classic shopping streets; Guomao and Sanlitun are the modern ones. For antiques and curio-hunting head to Liulichang or the Panjiayuan market; for bargain garment trading it is hard to beat Silk Street (Xiushui).
Yes — noticeably so for anyone used to coastal climates. The city has four sharp seasons with most rain falling in summer, and autumn and winter air is dry. Pack moisturizer and lip balm, and drink more water than you think you need.
Yes. The Forbidden City sells no same-day tickets: they are released 7 days ahead at 8 p.m. and sell out in minutes in high season. Badaling can be booked online or bought on site, but booking is still the safer play. Book everything you can before you arrive, and bring your original passport — at most sights it is scanned as your ticket.
Beijing has several mainline stations. Most high-speed trains arrive at Beijing South; conventional overnight trains mostly use Beijing Station; trains from the west and southwest usually terminate at Beijing West. Every major station is tied into the metro network, so just check which station is printed on your ticket.
Not if you pace it. The Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace all have shuttle carts or boats to save walking, and Badaling has cable cars both ways. A good rhythm is one big sight in the morning and one relaxed stop — a park, a hutong, a museum — in the afternoon, staying out of the midday sun.
The National Museum of China, on the east side of Tiananmen Square, is free with an online reservation and closed on Mondays; the Palace Museum itself is the biggest museum of all. The Capital Museum and the China Science and Technology Museum are also excellent — the latter is a full-day hit with children.
With a single day, stay in the old city. Do the Forbidden City's central axis only — about three hours, entering from the south and exiting north — have lunch near Jingshan, then drift through the hutongs down to Houhai for an afternoon by the water. End with dinner and a stroll in Sanlitun.
Forbidden City → Jingshan Park → Houhai (Shichahai) → Sanlitun
Two days covers both faces of the city — the imperial one and the modern one — with enough slack for a long hutong walk and a late-night snack street.
Flag-raising at Tiananmen → Forbidden City → Nanluoguxiang → Houhai
Wangfujing → Sanlitun (or a midnight run to Guijie food street)
When you are not rushing, Beijing gets generous. Beyond the two obligatory sights there is room for hutongs, food streets, the Panjiayuan curio market, lakeside afternoons and an evening performance — the way locals actually spend their weekends.
Tiananmen Square → Forbidden City → Nanluoguxiang → Houhai
Mutianyu (or Badaling) Great Wall → Wangfujing → Sanlitun
798 Art District → Lama Temple → Wudaoying hutong
Summer Palace → Old Summer Palace → the campus edge of Tsinghua and Peking University
Temple of Heaven → Qianmen Dashilan → Panjiayuan (weekends) or Fragrant Hills (autumn)
The imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, home to 24 emperors and the largest surviving palace complex on earth. The central axis alone takes about three hours; the side palaces and the Treasure and Clock galleries fill a second visit. Entry is by timed reservation only — book ahead, enter at the Meridian Gate and exit north.
The best-restored stretch of the Ming wall and the origin of the 'true hero' saying. Fame and good maintenance have a price: in high season the ramparts are a river of people. Start early, or pick Mutianyu or Jinshanling for quieter stone.
Where the Ming and Qing emperors prayed for good harvests — a ritual complex four times the size of the Forbidden City, laid out as a square within a circle to mirror heaven and earth. Come early in the morning: locals practising taichi, singing opera and playing chess give the park a life the buildings alone don't.
The largest and best-preserved imperial garden in China, centred on the Tower of Buddhist Incense above Kunming Lake, with a 728-metre Long Corridor stitching pavilions to the shoreline. Allow at least half a day; entering from the north gate walks you from Suzhou Market Street down to the lake.
Prince Yong's residence before he became the Yongzheng Emperor, converted into a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in 1744 — the highest-ranking lamasery in the city. The ginkgo avenue at the entrance turns entirely golden in autumn, one of Beijing's great seasonal sights.
The hill directly facing the Forbidden City's north gate. Climb the pavilion on top for the classic panorama — the golden roofs of the central axis spreading out beneath you — and stay for the evening lights.
The imperial lake garden northwest of the Forbidden City, part of the historic Three Seas. The white dagoba reflected in the water is the one from the children's song every Chinese person knows. Boating, the dagoba and the lakeside walk make it an easy half-day.
'One mansion, half the history of the Qing dynasty.' Built by the infamously corrupt minister Heshen and later given to Prince Gong, it mirrors the dynasty's arc from splendour to collapse. It sits right by Shichahai, so pair it with an afternoon around the lakes.
On the east side of Tiananmen Square, walking you from ancient China to the present in one vast building. Free with an online reservation; closed Mondays. Like the Forbidden City, its slots vanish fast in high season.
The Qing emperors' garden of gardens, burned by Anglo-French forces in 1860 and never rebuilt. People come less for the landscaping than for the ruins themselves — the Great Fountain of the Western Mansions is the image every history book uses.
The 2008 Olympic stadium and aquatics centre, facing each other across the northern end of the central axis. The structures are worth a daytime look, but they earn their keep at night, lit up over the Olympic Green.
A decommissioned electronics factory turned art district — a hundred-plus galleries, studios, bookshops and cafés under saw-tooth roofs. There is no metro station at the gate, so come by bus or taxi; half a day is enough, with the densest programme on weekends.
Solemn and strangely moving: the honour guard marches out of the Tiananmen gate, crosses the Golden Water Bridge and Chang'an Avenue, and raises the flag at dawn. The exact time shifts with sunrise every day, so check it the night before and arrive early — the front rows fill up an hour or more in advance.
Chinese New Year turns Beijing's parks into fairgrounds — Ditan (Temple of Earth), Longtan Lake, Chaoyang Park and the Grand View Garden host the biggest ones. Expect folk rituals, snack stalls and craft sellers in a wonderfully noisy crush of locals.
Crosstalk (xiangsheng) is Beijing's comedy tradition — the Deyunshe theatres offer tourist-friendly prices and two hours of laughs even without perfect Mandarin. Peking opera packs song, dance and acrobatics into one art form; the Liyuan Theatre and similar venues stage excerpts nightly. Even without following the libretto, the costumes, makeup and percussion carry the show.
The bars around Houhai occupy converted courtyard houses with red lanterns at the door — quieter and more local than Sanlitun. Nanluoguxiang's eight symmetrical hutongs hide the Central Academy of Drama, the former home of writer Mao Dun, and small shops that stay open late.
Beijing has rooms at every level, from grand old hotels to budget chains. For independent travellers the sweet spot is the Drum Tower–Shichahai–Nanluoguxiang belt: walkable at night, proper breakfasts in the morning, and Metro Lines 2 and 8 at the door. Rough price levels (checked Oct 2026): budget ¥250–450 a night, mid-range ¥500–900, upscale from ¥900.
The location does the work: minutes from the Drum and Bell Towers, Nanluoguxiang, Yandai Xiejie and Houhai, with food on every corner. Rooftop terraces look over grey courtyard rooftops to the towers — the classic old-Beijing wake-up view.
Boutique conversions of real courtyard houses, done by designers and written up in the international press. Sleeping behind your own courtyard with grey tiles and pigeon whistles overhead is as atmospheric as Beijing gets — book early in high season.
The national chains (Home Inn, Hanting, 7 Days) are everywhere in Beijing, with very dense coverage. Pick a branch on Metro Line 2 or around Dongsi / Dongzhimen for easy commutes and late returns.
The Beijing Hotel and its peers sit at the south end of Wangfujing, steps from Tiananmen — history and an unbeatable location in one. Right for travellers who would rather spend on position and walk to the Forbidden City.
Beijing eats well and always has. Douzhir (fermented mung-bean drink), chaogan, quick-fried tripe, luzhu stew, rolled millet cake, pea-flour pudding — you need not love them all, but give the duck and the hotpot at least one serious sitting. Qianmen, Wangfujing, Huguosi, Houhai and Niujie are where the old snacks concentrate.
Fruitwood-roasted until the skin turns lacquer-red and the fat renders away. The classic hung-oven house is Quanjude; Bianyifang keeps the older closed-oven method; Da Dong and Siji Minfu are the modern favourites locals actually queue for.
Paper-thin mutton swished in a copper pot of clear broth, dipped in sesame paste. The ritual matters: tripe first, then meat, vegetables in three rounds, noodles last. Donglaishun is the famous name, Nanmen Shuanrou the local favourite, and Jubaoyuan on Niujie the connoisseur's pick.
Luzhu (stewed pork offal with baked wheat cake) is a meal in a bowl; chaogan is a thick, starchy pork-liver stew; baodu is quick-fried tripe, crisp and clean-tasting; douzhir, the fermented mung-bean drink, repels half of all visitors on first sniff — and hooks some on the second try. Huguosi Snacks, Xiaochenshao, Yaoji Chaogan and Baodufeng are the storied names.
Guijie (Ghost Street) is the famous one — spicy crayfish, frog and grilled fish served till dawn. Qianmen street is lined with century-old brands like Quanjude and Duyichu. Niujie is the Muslim-quarter food street, home to Jubaoyuan hotpot and Dashunzhai's caramel pastries. Wudaoying near the universities is known for Korean food and cheap eats.
Beijing shops for every budget: international brands around Dawanglu and Sanlitun, garment bargains at Silk Street, old-Beijing craft at Dashilan, antiques at Panjiayuan. For gifts that survive the suitcase, start with the list below.
Half flea market, half open-air museum: antiques, old books, socialist-era relics and reproductions side by side. Even serious non-shoppers lose half a day here. The weekend dawn sessions — the legendary 'ghost market' — are when dealers unpack the good stuff; look more than you ask.
The city's oldest and most storied shopping lane, running west from Qianmen. The silk house Ruifuxiang, cloth-shoe maker Neiliansheng, Liubiju pickles, Zhangyiyuan tea and Tongrentang pharmacy all keep shops here — and the storefronts are half the attraction.
'Climb the wall, see the palace, eat the duck, haggle at Xiushui' — the fourth item on the classic list. Garments, silk and bags at aggressively negotiable prices; the bargaining theatre is half the fun. Opening quotes run several times the real price, so start low.
Beijing has two international airports: Capital (PEK, about 25 km northeast of downtown) and Daxing (PKX, about 46 km due south, opened 2019). Both connect to the city by airport express rail and shuttle buses. Daxing is the far one — allow an hour or more into town — and it is worth double-checking which airport your flight uses before booking a hotel.
Beijing's rail traffic splits across several stations: most high-speed services arrive at Beijing South, conventional trains at Beijing Station, and western services at Beijing West. Book on 12306 (website or app); foreign passengers can register with a passport and enter stations by scanning the original document.
The metro is Beijing's most reliable way to move: distance-based fares of roughly ¥3–8 per ride (checked Oct 2026), with transport cards, QR codes and foreign contactless cards accepted. Most lines wind down before 23:00 — late nights mean last trains or taxis. Taxis and ride-hailing (Didi) are plentiful and queued properly at airports and stations. Buses reach everywhere but crawl in rush hour; use them for short, unhurried hops.
Driving into Beijing on non-Beijing plates requires a temporary entry permit and compliance with traffic-restriction rules, which change often — check the current policy before you go. For most visitors a car in the city centre is more burden than help.
Beijing has been a city for over 3,000 years and a capital for over 800. The Zhou enfeoffed the state of Yan here in the Western Zhou; the Jin dynasty made it its capital, Zhongdu, in 1153; under the Yuan it became Dadu, capital of all China, and the Ming and Qing emperors rebuilt it on the grand scale whose frame the city still follows. Anglo-French forces sacked it in 1860 and the Eight-Nation Alliance again in 1900, carting off treasures in both rounds. It has been the capital of the People's Republic since 1949. Its many names — Jicheng, Yanjing, Youzhou, Zhongdu, Dadu, Jingshi, Shuntianfu, Beiping — read like a timeline.
The city sits at the northwest edge of the North China Plain, walled in by the Western Hills (a spur of the Taihang range) and the Jundu Mountains (the Yan range), which curve together around the small plain the city occupies. The climate is continental monsoon: hot, wet summers; cold, dry winters; short springs and autumns. About 80 percent of annual rain falls in summer.
Beijing's temples, mosques and churches are living places of worship, not just heritage: the Lama Temple (Tibetan Buddhism), White Cloud Temple (Taoism), Niujie Mosque (Islam) and a string of Catholic and Protestant churches remain active. As a six-dynasty capital it holds more imperial palaces, gardens, altars and tombs than any other Chinese city, and it remains the country's education capital around Peking and Tsinghua universities.
In 1790 four Anhui troupes arrived in the capital to perform for the emperor's birthday. Their hui melodies merged with hanpi tunes from Hubei and borrowed freely from Kunqu and Shaanxi opera, and out of that fusion grew a new form. Over two centuries it absorbed ever more Beijing dialect and sensibility until it became the national stage art the West named Peking Opera.
If you have already done Badaling and Mutianyu, the connoisseur's wall is Jinshanling — at sunset the stone runs gold, grand and delicate at once, and far fewer people climb it. Pair it with the lakeside at Miyun Reservoir for a two-day loop. It lies inside Hebei, some 140 km out, which is exactly why it stays quiet.
Beijing → Jinshanling Great Wall (sunset) → overnight in Miyun
Whole-fish lunch at Miyun Reservoir → Heilongtan gorge → back to Beijing
By car, take the Beijing–Chengde expressway to the Jinshanling exit and follow the signs — about 140 km each way. Without a car, bus 980 from Dongzhimen reaches Miyun town, then hire a local car for the final leg. Bring mosquito repellent for the lakeside and a jacket: days and nights differ sharply.
This was the Mulan hunting ground of the Kangxi Emperor — 'source of rivers, home of clouds, world of flowers, ocean of forest', as the local saying goes. In autumn the grasslands turn sheet-gold, and the horse farm country around Hongshan carries an almost European alpine look.
Jixie Forest Farm → source of the Luan River → Huamugou → Hamaba
Taifeng Lake → Hongshan Horse Farm → Wild Duck Lake → General's Pond
Moon Lake → Seven-Star Lake → the Grand Canyon → back to Beijing
By public transport, take a train from Beijing North to Siheyong, then minibuses to Weichang town and onward shuttles — slow but possible. Driving via the Beijing–Chengde expressway is far easier. Base yourself around Jixie Forest Farm and the horse farm; roast lamb is the thing to eat, and portions are enormous, so order less than you think.