The Best Travel Guide to Beijing

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Beijing

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Overview

Beijing The guide was updated: 2025-11-18

Beijing's famous Tiananmen Square is vast enough to hold one million people, while the historic Forbidden City boasts thousands of imperial rooms. The city continues to grow with the emergence of ever-higher rising towers, new restaurants, and trendy nightclubs. Despite this rapid development, China's capital has managed to retain its unique charm. The small teahouses in the backyards, traditional fabric shops, old temples, and bustling street restaurants make this city one of a kind.

Facts

Population:	22.6 million (2025)
Currency:	Chinese Yuan (CNY, ¥)
Search Accommodation:	Hotels »
Emergency numbers:	Ambulance: 120 Fire: 119 Police: 110
Newspapers:	China Daily: www.chinadaily.com.cn Global Times: www.globaltimes.cn Beijing Review: www.bjreview.com
Website:	https://english.visitbeijing.com.cn

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Section in Beijing

Beijing is a city of layers. Ancient palaces and temples sit alongside quiet hutongs and lakes, while contemporary art districts and bustling shopping streets show a very different side of life. The Great Wall is never far from anyone’s itinerary, but within the city, there’s a mix of history, culture, and everyday rhythm that keeps each walk, each street, each park feeling a little different.

Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China

Undoubtedly one of the world’s top tourism destinations — and officially one of the New Seven Wonders of the World — the Great Wall stretches for thousands of kilometres across northern China. From Beijing, the easiest section to reach is Badaling, about 70 km from the city. It’s well restored and has a cable car, but it also draws the biggest crowds. Mutianyu is another popular choice with fewer tour groups if you go early. For a wilder feel, head to Simatai or Jinshanling, where much of the wall is original and the hikes are longer. Huanghuacheng is partly submerged by a reservoir, so you get the unusual sight of watchtowers half surrounded by water.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square is where Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The square is dominated by the red Tiananmen Gate and Mao’s enormous portrait, which you’ll see everywhere. Every morning at sunrise, there’s a flag-raising ceremony, and on the first day of the month, it’s done with a military band. The square is also home to the Monument to the People’s Heroes, a 38-metre granite obelisk in the centre, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, where people still queue to pay respects.

Forbidden City

Forbidden City

Once home to China’s emperors, the Forbidden City has more than 800 buildings and nearly 10,000 rooms. This vast imperial household opened to the public in 1949, and it’s remarkably well-preserved. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, covered in thousands of dragon motifs, hosted grand ceremonies, while the Palace of Heavenly Purity was where emperors lived, with bedrooms and private halls. Walking through the courtyards and along the red walls, it’s easy to feel the scale and ritual of life here.

Summer Palace

Summer Palace

Built in the mid-18th century for the Qing emperors as a retreat from the heat of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace is a vast imperial garden centred on Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, both man-made. The lake was modelled on Hangzhou’s West Lake, with islands, bridges, and long covered walkways. Scattered around are pavilions, temples, and a recreated riverside street designed to look like a traditional market town. Later restored under Empress Dowager Cixi, it became her favoured residence. Today, it’s worth visiting not just for the palaces themselves, but for the long lakeside walks, shaded courtyards, and the sense of space that feels very different from central Beijing.

Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven

Built in the early 1400s, around the same time as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven was where emperors prayed for good harvests. The vast park contains several ceremonial buildings, the most striking being the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests with its blue-tiled roof and intricate wooden ceiling. The original hall was destroyed by lightning in 1889 but rebuilt soon after. Other highlights include the Hall of Abstinence, where emperors fasted before rituals, and the Circular Mound Altar — a three-tiered marble platform symbolising heaven itself. Today, the park is as much about everyday life as it is about history: locals gather here in the mornings for tai chi, dancing, and music.

Lama Temple (Yonghe Temple)

Lama Temple (Yonghe Temple)

Built in 1694 as the residence of the future Yongzheng Emperor, the site was later converted into a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and remains one of the most important of its kind outside Tibet. The complex is a series of richly decorated halls and courtyards filled with incense smoke and prayer wheels. Inside the Falun Dian stands a bronze statue of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug (Yellow Hat) school. The highlight for many is the towering 18-metre-tall Maitreya Buddha carved from a single piece of sandalwood, housed in the Wanfu Pavilion.

798 Art Zone

798 Art Zone

Once a 1950s military factory complex, 798 has been converted into Beijing’s best-known contemporary art district. The old concrete workshops and warehouses now house galleries, studios, and design shops, featuring everything from major exhibitions to small, experimental shows. You’ll find photography, video art, installations, and plenty of one-off pieces that change all the time. The area has also filled up with cafés, bars, and restaurants, so it’s easy to spend a few hours wandering, eating, and people-watching. It’s in the Dashanzi area, northeast of the centre, and the mix of Mao-era industrial buildings and modern art is half the experience.

Liulichang

Liulichang

Liulichang, whose name means 'Glazed Tile Factory', started as a hub for Beijing’s literati and artisans and remains a centre for traditional arts and culture. The 750-metre street is full of shops selling Chinese paintings, calligraphy brushes, ink stones, antiques, and rare books — perfect for collectors or anyone curious about traditional crafts. Restored and expanded in the late 1980s, it’s a good place to wander slowly, soak up the old-school atmosphere, and maybe pick up a souvenir that feels genuinely local.

Chaoyang Theater

Chaoyang Theater

For a glimpse of a uniquely Chinese form of entertainment, head to Chaoyang Theatre to watch traditional acrobatics. The one-hour show includes feats with bicycles, chairs, and other daring stunts that have been perfected over generations.

Beihai Park

Beihai Park

Just behind the Forbidden City, Beihai Park is one of Beijing’s oldest and best-preserved imperial gardens. It’s quieter than some of the larger tourist spots, with lakes, pavilions, and tree-lined paths perfect for a stroll — the central White Dagoba on Qionghua Island is a highlight here.

National Museum of China

National Museum of China

Sitting on the east side of Tiananmen Square, the National Museum of China is one of the largest museums in the world, covering both Chinese history and art, from ancient artefacts to modern works. The exhibitions are vast, so you could easily spend a full day here, though most visitors focus on a few sections that interest them. English signage is available in key areas, but a guide or audio tour can help make sense of the collection.

Shichahai

Shichahai

Shichahai is a chain of three lakes just north of the Forbidden City, surrounded by old hutongs, temples, and courtyard houses. It’s a popular spot for walking, cycling, or renting a paddle boat in summer, while in winter the frozen lake often turns into an ice rink. Around the water, there are plenty of cafés, restaurants, and teahouses, along with a stretch of lively bars — many with live music in the evenings. The side alleys are worth exploring as well, with small shops selling antiques, snacks, and local crafts.

Nanluoguxiang

Nanluoguxiang

One of Beijing’s oldest hutongs — the city’s traditional narrow alleyways lined with courtyard houses — Nanluoguxiang has kept its Ming dynasty street layout while changing completely in character. Today, the lane is dotted with cafés, bars, boutiques, and souvenir shops, drawing a mix of tourists and young locals. It runs from Drum Tower East Street down to Ping’an Street, and it’s usually packed in the evenings when the lights come on. The old courtyards are still there behind the modern shopfronts, so you get a contrast between Beijing’s past and its current street life.

Beijing Olympic Park

Beijing Olympic Park

Built for the 2008 Games, the park is home to two of Beijing’s most recognisable landmarks: the National Stadium (the 'Bird’s Nest') and the National Aquatics Centre (the 'Water Cube'). Both are still in use for sports and events, and they light up at night, which is the best time to see them. The park itself is also one of the largest green spaces in the city, with long open avenues, lakes, and gardens — a good spot for a walk if you’re in the north of Beijing.

Dashilan

Dashilan

Just outside Qianmen, Dashilan is one of Beijing’s oldest commercial streets, with a history of over 600 years. It used to be the busiest suburban market and remains full of character today. Some of Beijing’s oldest brand boutiques started here, alongside the city’s first cinema, and many are still operating. Walking the street gives a sense of everyday life beyond the imperial palaces, where locals have shopped, worked, and socialised for generations.

Happy Valley Beijing

Happy Valley Beijing

For adrenaline-pumping rides, head to Happy Valley Beijing, Beijing’s main theme park, with six themed zones, around 40 rides, an IMAX theatre, and a shopping area. It’s popular with both locals and tourists, so weekends and holidays can be very busy.

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