10 places you must see in Beijing

The capital of China has a lot to offer for tourists wanting to learn more about this country and its rich history. You will try foods you’ve never tried before, maybe pick up some phrases and hopefully you will come back with a lot of great memories.

I’ve lived in Beijing for a couple of month when I studied there for a semester abroad, so here are my top tips for must-see sights in Beijing.

Side note: You’re officially required to carry your passport wherever you go in China. However, a lot of tourists don’t like to do this because they’re afraid of losing it. Thus, they take a copy with or a picture on their phone. There are a couple of places you can’t enter without one though, wherever that was the case I mentioned it as a “Tip”.

1. The Great Wall

This is probably a no brainer if you plan a trip to Beijing. The Great Wall is one of the most famous sights in China. If you’ve visited Beijing and have not seen the wall you really missed out.

There are two popular sections of the Wall, Badaling and Mutianyu. Both are well worth a visit. Those two spots are fairly easy to reach by public transport because they are so popular. However, if you don’t want to share this experience with many other tourists you should consider going to one of the other spots (they are a bit harder to reach though).

Tips:

• Plan ahead and go there early. It takes about an hour to get there from the city center. Generally it’s more crowded on the weekends, so if possible, you should consider going during the week (or even off-season).
• You should carry your passport or at least have the number of it on you because you will be asked for it upon entering (we were able to enter at Badaling without a passport, we had the number and our student ID of a local university though).
• Get ready for a workout! They call it “climbing the wall” for a reason.
• The part of the wall shown in this picture is Badaling.

2. The Forbidden City

You might have seen it in movies or read about it in history books. This is a really impressive complex of buildings and you could easily spend half a day there. There are different routes through the city depending on your time and interests. You can see sculptures and art or admire the architecture.

Tips:

• This applies for most of the sights: you should get there early.
• Bring your passport because it’s going to be your entry ticket. Only tourists can buy a ticket at the counter, locals are required to buy it online. Also, in the area around Tiananmen it is very likely that you’d get asked to show your passport, so it’s a good idea to carry it around there anyways.
• When you come out of the Forbidden City you can continue your way up a little hill in Jingshan Park. From there you can oversee the Forbidden City (the picture shown here was taken from there).

3. Qianmen Street

Not far from the Forbidden City is a street that offers a lot of delicacies to try and souvenirs to buy. It is a fairly touristic area but it has a nice ambience to it.

Tips:

• Go there at night to see the beautiful lights that guide the street.
• There is a hostel (Leo Hostel) located close to Qianmen Street where lot’s of travelers come together. It’s very affordable and located close to a lot of sights (a friend of mine stayed there when they came to visit me). The hostel is a great place to meet people and find a travel buddy if you’re traveling solo.

4. Summer Palace

The summer palace has become my favorite place in Beijing while I was living there. It is a big garden (more like a park, really) with many different sights in it, so many that most people don’t go to see them all in one day but like to come back to discover new parts of it.

Built for exactly this purpose, it is a great place to hide from the summer heat or to take long walks. It is also very beautiful in winters.

Tips:

• The lake freezes up in winter and you can rent skates to go ice skating.
• If you stay there for longer or happen to visit Beijing more often, it is worthwhile to visit the summer palace in different seasons.

5. Olympic Stadium

Built for the 2008 Olympic Games, this stadium – that is also called the “birds nest” – attracts a lot of tourists. It is an interesting piece of architecture and at nights the lights turn on and music plays. It’s good place to take a stroll or to go there with friends.

6. Shopping: Wangfujing & Markets

Wangfujing is one of the most popular streets for shopping in Beijing. You can find almost anything there, e.g. clothes, souvenirs, artwork and snacks.

There are also a couple of markets like the Pearl Market (close to the Temple of Heaven) or the Silk Market. I avoided them because they’re always too crowded for my personal taste and you can’t walk a meter without winding up bargaining with one of the sellers. But if you like lively surroundings and would like to practice your bargaining skills, those are the places to go.

Tips:

• I haven’t been there personally but I’ve heard great things about the Panjiayuan flee market.

7. Temple of Heaven

One of the most famous temples in Beijing is the Temple of Heaven. It is located in a big park where you can watch people play games and practice Taiji on your way to the different constructions.

There are a couple of sights on the grounds of the Temple of Heaven but the Temple of Prayer for Good Harvests is the one most frequently shown in pictures (also in this picture).

8. Lama Temple

This temple (it’s actually called Yonghe Temple) was my favorite to visit. It is a beautiful complex built of several halls with Buddha statues in them. The statues get bigger with each hall, the last one being 18 meters tall and really impressive.

Tips:

• You can get incense at the entrance if you’d like.
• You can visit both the Yonghe Temple and the Temple of Heaven in the same day since they’re not very far from each other.

9. Museums

There are a lot of museums in Beijing and they are huge! I’ve never seen a museum that big in my life before.

I went to the Capital Museum which displays various historical artifacts and left me in awe with the craftsmanship that already existed a couple thousand years ago. The museum also offers a changing exhibition so there’s really a lot to explore.

There’s another much recommended museum in Tiananmen Square, the National Museum. However I didn’t personally get a chance to visit it.

Tips:

• Take your passport because it’s required for entry. Also before you enter Tiananmen Square you have to pass security and id yourself.
• If you’re pressed for time: You could easily see the Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the National Museum and Qianmen Street in one day.

10. 798 Art District

This area looks a bit like an industrial district with painted walls. You can go there to see street art or visit changing exhibitions.

Most people go there to take pictures in front of the painted walls though…

Tip:

• Entering the district is free but to see most of the inside art installations you’ll have to pay extra. You don’t have to visit any of those, it’s just good to know, to be able to plan ahead.