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Beijing Travel Tips and Best Places to Visit 

I was dreaming about visiting China for a very long time, but I always wanted this trip to be more special than any other trip. My Chinese zodiac is snake, and this is the sign this year. I planned this trip a few years in advance, wanting to be a part of the celebration. When I was reading other blogs, everyone was saying to avoid visiting China during Chinese New Year, as the country is extremely busy during this time, the food places are closed, and there are problems with transport. Most Chinese people take this time off work to spend with their family. And partially this was true, but we did not see this as a problem. During our visit, we could eat everywhere we wanted. It was busy on the streets but not busier than I expected. The only time we had a problem with transport was when we went to an area where there was not much public transport around anyway. We went to watch lanterns and finished just before 11 pm on Chinese New Year. The issue was understandable. Piotr was responsible for all Chinese mobile applications; therefore, he managed to book a taxi, and, before midnight, we were sleeping in our hotel room. 

Day 1: Smooth Transfer and Culinary Delights 

We arrived in Beijing with great anticipation. The transfer from the airport was smooth; we took the metro, which took around 45 minutes to arrive at our hotel. To pay for the metro, we tapped our Visa cards, and there was no issue with payment whatsoever. The whole cost was around £3.00, which is unbelievably cheap. The metro was exceptionally clean and very well-secured. You must scan your bag every time you enter the underground, just like at the airport. Bonus, you are allowed to have a drink with you.

We booked ourselves into our amazing hotel, Grand Mercure, threw our luggage inside our room on the 9th floor, and went straight for food, as it was evening, and we had not had proper food since the day before. You cannot count airplane food as proper food.

We were so lucky our hotel was just a few minutes away from the extremely popular Grand Pacific shopping centre.

Our plan was to experience a proper hot pot, but on the way, I saw a couple enjoying grilled fish, and we changed our mind. We started the feast with a noodle soup, followed by the fish, some chicken wings, and fried banana rice pudding.

On the way back, we enjoyed our first glimpse of the city; it was already dark, and there were so many lights and New Year decorations around that we could not take our eyes off them. 

Day 2: Jet-lag and Historical Exploration 

Our first night was difficult; we were waking up nearly every hour and then did not sleep from nearly 4 am. Jet-lag is a pain when you just want to enjoy your trip. We went for breakfast, which was an amazing treat after a sleepless night, and decided to explore straight after that.

High warm boots, tights under jeans, a hat, scarf, proper winter coat, and off we went. Just around the corner, we came across the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It was closed during this time, but later I read that as one of the 10 famous churches in Beijing, this church provides English mass every Sunday.

From there, we took our steps through Hutongs to Liulichang, a great street for calligraphy, art, and painting lovers. Be ready to shell out quite a bit for exquisite brushes and ink sticks. Plenty of ink paintings on sale too. Do a bit of research on types of paper/brushes so you know what to look for! It can be quite overwhelming. There are also a couple of antique stores!

From there, we arrived at Qianmen Street, where you can enjoy a special tram ride, a crazy amount of street food, and admire many statues around. Qianmen Street runs along the Beijing central axis. It is one of the last remnants of the business centers of old Beijing.

This is also a street where you will find Zhengyang Bridge. Not sure why it is called a bridge since there is not actually a bridge; it is the gate and is a walking distance from TianAnMen Square. But we took a different route that day.

We decided to walk to the Temple of Heaven Park, but even though we did not see the Temple of Heaven itself this time, we enjoyed the walk around the park and saw The Double-Circle Longevity Pavilion, located west of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. It is fairly small and there is not a whole lot to see by way of large buildings, but the pavilion and attached walkways are quiet and peaceful. From there, we explored the area of Shizhang Pavilion. On the north side of the westernmost corner of the Summer Palace Corridor, near the ancient stone, there is an elegant and chic small courtyard called “Shizhang Pavilion,” with a “door” shape. Shizhang Pavilion faces the water and connects to the promenade on the east side. It is not a pavilion in the traditional sense. From the outside, it looks like an open house. Our last two stops in the park were the Circular Mound Altar and the Imperial Vault of Heaven.

The Circular Mound Altar, with three round white marble terraces that make up the altar, represents communication with heaven. The Circular Mound Altar is special in the sense that the architecture of the place circulates around the number 9. To understand why the people of China back then chose the number 9, we must look at the concept of Yin-Yang.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven is a single-gabled circular building, built on a single level of marble stone base. It is located south of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and resembles it but is smaller. It is surrounded by a smooth circular wall, the Echo Wall, that can transmit sounds over large distances. 

After such a busy day, we wanted to do something more relaxed and different, so we took a cab and went to explore the 2023 Beijing “Thousand Lantern Nights” Festival at the western section of the Chaoyang Demonstration Zone of Beijing Wenyu River Park. Consisting of eight theme sections and featuring over 1,000 lantern sets, the festival was a new landmark at night in the city. It blends tradition with technology, illuminating the nights with visions of the past and future. To finish the night, we had the best cocoa and hot coconut milk. This day’s experience knocked us down and we softly snoozed into Day 3. 

Day 3: The Forbidden City 

The night was not much better than the one before, but I managed to sleep until 6 am this time. We started again with a great breakfast at the hotel and decided we really wanted to explore the Forbidden City. After breakfast, we came back to the room to book the tickets, but they were all sold out, not just for that day but for any day of our visit. We could not believe it; this place was one of the top ones on our list. Somehow, I decided to check my favourite mobile application, GetYourGuide, and I managed to secure two places with a tour guide that day! It was not the cheapest experience; I paid £60 for the two of us, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Take from our experience and book your tickets in advance, even before you enter China. Booking this tour was a perfect idea.

Before the meeting, we had a little bit of time to stroll around the surroundings, where we saw many photo sessions happening around. It was incredible to see all those traditional costumes. We met the group at 12:50 pm. We could not believe how huge this place was.

We had an amazing tour guide, Lucy, who gave us a lot of insights, such as that there are 18 layers of bricks on the pavement to stop intruders from sneaking into the place from outside. There are no trees on the main plaza to extend visibility for security reasons. The peach is a symbol of immortality, longevity, and good fortune, and many more fascinating facts.

At the end of the tour, we were supposed to end up in Jingshan Park to enjoy the best aerial view of the Palace Museum, but after such an intense day before and this whole walk around the Forbidden City, we said our goodbyes and went for amazing food. Please do not ask me what it was, but I can say it was all beef and was incredible! 

Day 4: Lama Temple and Art Zone 

This day started with breakfast at our hotel again. We took a slow start and decided to explore the Lama Temple.

This was a surprise highlight of our trip. Incredibly well preserved and maintained, there were temples upon inner temples upon even more temples. Huge statues, beautiful buildings, and well-indicated placards so you know what you are looking at. Super peaceful. Highly recommend!

There was some free incense at the entrance (although if you burn it, you are praying for those who supplied it – according to our guide). A wonderful place to take some lovely pictures or just to sit and relax. The smell of the wood, fire, and incense really added to the experience. After our visit, we had a plan in mind, but from a distance, I managed to see some celebrations happening near to us.

We decided to have a look. It was the Ditan Park Temple Fair. The atmosphere was buzzing with live shows and lots of street food stands. We had the best grilled octopus ever. When we left the park, we still had plenty of daytime left, so we took the tube and decided to explore the 798 Art Zone, the only place where you can enjoy street art in Beijing.

We were positively surprised by how spacious it was and how many art galleries we found. You can feel the influence on the architecture from post-war Europe in the art zone. I enjoyed feeling like I was walking in Europe.

After another busy day, we decided to try Chinese McDonald’s, and even though I am not the biggest fan of fast food, I have to say I enjoyed it very much. The burger looked like the one in the advert, the new options and flavours were very appealing, and it was the first night we slept the whole night. 

Day 5: The Great Wall 

Day 5 started incredibly early, before 6 am. Before we went for a walk to see the Lama Temple, we decided to book a trip to the next place we knew we could not miss when in Beijing. Are you guessing what it was? Yes, we planned a trip to the Great Wall. After a very quick breakfast, we went to catch our coach, which took us one and a half hours away from Beijing. The coach I booked through the GetYourGuide application again. When booking the trip, there was an option to only book a coach ride. We decided to visit the Mutianyu site.

We knew that this part of the wall offers both western and eastern routes to choose from. It also has a cable car which helps to reach the western route and a toboggan when you plan to explore the eastern site. Knowing we would not be able to walk so far up, we pre-booked a cable car. What we found out during our ride was that we should not have done that by ourselves. The tour guide said they would book it for us when we were on the bus. We also found out there was a second coach transfer from the place of our coach drop-off to the cable car, which we did not know about when booking the trip. To sum up, to access the wall, you need to reach the main entrance of the area. The best idea is to book a coach or private transport. Booking a coach gives you a financial benefit; for the two of us, we paid £18. For the cable car ride, we were charged £41 (it takes you up and down). The transfer between your coach and the cable car cost some pennies; I cannot say how much as we received this transfer from our guide. So nice of them.

We had 3 hours to enjoy the wall, and I can tell you it is not enough to complete even one side, especially during such a busy time like public holidays. But we went there, we experienced it, and we are sure we will be back there in the future. The view is incredible. When you are on it, you cannot imagine how much challenging work was put into building it and how many sacrifices all those people made.

On the way back, we were given the option to take an earlier stop and visit the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium or go back to the hotel. Of course, we took the opportunity and hopped out to enjoy the Olympic area. It was great to see it lighting up after dusk.

This entire day made us very hungry; we decided to catch the tube and visit Wangfujing Pedestrian Street, a renowned pedestrian street bustling with numerous shopping malls and a variety of restaurants. It is a popular spot for leisurely strolls and relaxation, with an awesome 3D display that shows off every few minutes.

This is where we found a place to eat famous Peking duck, noodles, some pork dish, and drank Chinese white wine. Do not be mistaken, it had 42% alcohol in it. It was an amazing wrap-up of this day; it could not have been more perfect. 

Day 6: Tiananmen Square and Farewell 

Our last day, we wanted to make sure we visited the most important remaining places we missed during the previous days. We, of course, enjoyed our breakfast first. I knew this was the part of the day I would miss the most after returning home.

To visit Tiananmen Square, you must register 24 hours in advance, and to enter the area, be prepared to be checked twice as hard as ever before. The entrance to the plaza is free, but we were charged £6.70 for registration for both of us. We again made this registration through GetYourGuide mobile application, it was very handy during our trip in Beijing.

After wandering around and taking lots of photos, we took our steps to enjoy some street food. I had a scorpion, but it was a waste of money as it was so hard I could not chew a bit. From there, we decided to visit the one place we missed on our second day, the Temple of Heaven.

Somehow, I found out that during the weekend, they light the place up and really wanted to experience that. The queue was crazy, and we managed to buy tickets just a few minutes before the cash registers closed. It was a wonderful experience to witness the change. It was a shame to finish our last day so early. I remembered reading some time ago about a place called The Place.

It used to be extremely popular, and efforts are being made to get it back. The overhead LED screen will catch your attention for sure. More popular is the basement level food outlets and shops. After hot chocolate and several types of cakes, we called it a night and returned to the hotel. 

We still had a last breakfast before we flew back home. This trip was one of the best we ever had. Beijing took a part of our hearts. We did not mind carrying our passports constantly with us, being checked at every corner. The beauty of Beijing compensated us for those inconveniences. The friendliness of the Chinese people shocked us the most. The food is to die for, the history is visible on every corner, and it is overwhelmingly beautiful. We are coming back for more. Would you? 

Share Your Experience! 

Have you ever been to Beijing? What were your favourite places to visit and why? Did you discover any hidden gems or have any memorable cultural experiences? Share your stories in the comments below. Let’s inspire each other to explore the world! 

Travel Tips for Beijing 

• Best Time to Visit: While many recommend avoiding Chinese New Year due to crowds, it can be a unique and enchanting time to visit if you plan well. 

• Public Transport: The metro is clean, efficient, and affordable. Tap your Visa card for easy access. 

• Food: Don’t miss out on street food and local specialties like Peking duck. 

• Accommodations: Stay at centrally located hotels like Grand Mercure for convenience. 

• Hidden Gems: Visit places like the Shizhang Pavilion and 798 Art Zone for unique experiences. 

• Tickets: Book tickets for popular attractions like the Forbidden City in advance to avoid disappointment. 

• Local Apps: Download Chinese mobile apps for easier navigation and booking transport. 

Enjoy your trip to Beijing and make the most of every moment! Happy travels!