Beijing

Beijing is China’s capital and its imperial showcase: the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace sit inside a modern city of more than twenty million people, with the Great Wall in the hills to the north. It rewards planning more than any other Chinese city, because its biggest sights need booking by passport, often a week ahead.

Arriving in Beijing: Capital and Daxing airports, and the rail stations

Beijing has two international airports, and they are far apart, so check which one your ticket uses.

• Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) lies northeast of the center. The Capital Airport Express metro line runs into the city, connecting with the wider metro at Sanyuanqiao and Dongzhimen.
• Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) lies well to the south. The Daxing Airport Express metro line runs north into the city’s south side, where you change to the regular metro.

Taxis queue at both airports; use the official taxi rank or a ride-hailing app and ignore drivers who approach you inside the terminal. Allow plenty of time between the airports if you have a connection that switches from one to the other.

Arriving by train, high-speed services from Shanghai use Beijing South, while many trains from Xi’an and the southwest use Beijing West. Beijing has several other major stations, so read your ticket carefully. Train tickets are sold on 12306, the official rail booking channel. For visa-free entry and arrival paperwork, see Visas and entry and First 24 hours.

Getting around Beijing

The Beijing metro is the best way around the city: cheap, extensive, signed in English and Chinese, and free of the traffic above. Think of the city by metro line:

• Line 1 runs east to west under Chang’an Avenue, past Tiananmen and Wangfujing.
• Line 2 loops around the old city, following the line of the vanished city wall.
• Line 5 runs north to south past the Lama Temple and the Temple of Heaven’s east gate.
• Line 4 links Beijing South station with the northwest, including the Summer Palace.
• Line 8 runs along the central axis through the hutong areas north of the Forbidden City.

Stations are big, and the walk between lines or to the right exit can take ten minutes. Check the exit number before you surface. Ride-hailing and taxis are useful at night and for the Great Wall; shared bikes are great in the hutongs. Pay with Alipay or WeChat Pay; see Paying in China and Getting around.

Beijing’s must-see sights and which ones need booking

Beijing’s must-see sights, and how to get in:

• The Palace Museum (Forbidden City): real-name booking with your passport, through the official website or official WeChat mini program. Slots are limited and sell out, especially in summer and on holidays. Usually closed on Mondays.
• Tiananmen Square: free, but you still reserve entry in advance and pass a passport and security check.
• The National Museum of China: free, booking required, usually closed on Mondays.
• The Temple of Heaven: tickets are sold under your real name; booking ahead is wise on busy days. Go early to see the park full of locals exercising.
• The Summer Palace: a lakeside imperial garden in the northwest; book ahead in peak season.
• The Lama Temple (Yonghegong): Beijing’s great Tibetan Buddhist temple, still an active place of worship.
• The hutongs: the old alley neighborhoods around Shichahai and the Drum and Bell Towers, best on foot or by bike.

Check before you go: Booking windows, closing days and daily caps change. Check each sight’s official channel, and see our sight bookings tool and Booking sights guide.

Plan Mondays around the Great Wall, parks and hutongs rather than museums.

Where to stay in Beijing, by metro line

The best place to stay in Beijing is near a station on Line 1, 2 or 5, where you can reach the central sights without changing more than once.

• Wangfujing and Dongcheng (Line 1, Line 5): central, walkable to the Forbidden City’s surroundings, and full of hotels at every level.
• Around the hutongs and Shichahai (Line 6, Line 8): more atmosphere, with courtyard-style stays; check that the property accepts foreign guests.
• Qianmen (Line 2, Line 8): just south of Tiananmen, handy for the square and the Temple of Heaven.
• Sanlitun and Guomao (Line 1, Line 10): modern, international, good for nightlife and dining, a little farther from the old city.

If you have an early train from Beijing South, a final night on Line 4 or Line 14 can help. Your hotel registers you with the police at check-in; see Hotels and registration.

What to eat in Beijing

Beijing food is northern Chinese food: wheat, lamb, dumplings and roast meats, with every regional cuisine in China represented too.

• Roast duck (烤鸭 kǎoyā): crisp skin, thin pancakes, scallions and sweet sauce. Book ahead at popular places.
• Zhajiangmian (炸酱面 zhájiàngmiàn): thick noodles with fermented soybean paste and pork.
• Dumplings (饺子 jiǎozi): boiled, steamed or pan-fried, ordered by weight in many shops.
• Copper-pot lamb hotpot (涮羊肉 shuàn yángròu): thin-sliced lamb in a clear broth with sesame dipping sauce, best in cold weather.
• Jianbing (煎饼 jiānbing): a savory breakfast crepe from street stalls.

Many restaurants use scan-to-order menus; Food and ordering has the phrases you need, including how to ask for no cilantro.

Day trips from Beijing: the Great Wall and beyond

The Great Wall is the essential day trip from Beijing, and choosing the section matters more than anything else.

• Badaling: the easiest to reach, including by train, and the most crowded. Real-name tickets.
• Mutianyu: restored, scenic and well organized, with a cable car and a toboggan ride down. A good first choice.
• Jinshanling: partly restored, quieter and good for a longer hike, but farther from the city.
• Simatai: known for its night visits, reached through Gubei Water Town.
• Jiankou and other “wild” sections: unrestored and genuinely dangerous in places; go only with an experienced guide.

Leave early, avoid weekends and public holidays if you can, and check the air quality before you set off. Book tickets through official channels. High-speed trains also make Tianjin, Chengde and Shanhaiguan possible as day trips.

How many days in Beijing?

Four days in Beijing is a good minimum for a first visit; five or six is comfortable.

• Day 1: Tiananmen Square, the Palace Museum, Jingshan Park for the view.
• Day 2: The Great Wall.
• Day 3: Temple of Heaven in the morning, hutongs and Shichahai in the afternoon.
• Day 4: Summer Palace, then the Lama Temple or a museum.

With extra days, add the National Museum, a high-speed rail day trip or a second Great Wall section. Avoid Golden Week, which starts October 1, and the Spring Festival if you can. Next on many itineraries is Xi’an or Shanghai, both an easy high-speed train ride away.

The book: Beijing, Day Zero

Beijing, Day Zero: A First-Timer’s Guide to the Walls You’ll Actually Hit, by Kevin Gu, takes this page much further. It is built around the walls visitors actually hit in Beijing: the paperwork at the border, a city that runs on phone payments, apps you can’t reach from home, sights that must be booked a week ahead, subway exits, and menus.

Each chapter explains what stands in the way and how to get past it, then tells the story behind the sights. It covers which Beijing airport to choose, the booking wall, choosing a bed by subway line, the imperial axis in half-days, a Great Wall decision tree, the hutongs, Beijing in winter, high-speed rail day trips, accessibility sight by sight, and sample routes for 3, 4 and 6 days, with a phrasebook and place names in characters and pinyin. The facts are checked for travel in 2026 and 2027, and the US edition is written for readers from the United States and Canada.

The book is coming soon to ebook stores. See the contents and details at Beijing, Day Zero.