The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven tend to dominate most guides about the things to do in Beijing. They’re incredible to visit, but they also only tell part of the story.
We’ve visited Beijing twice in recent years, and one of the reasons we wanted to return after that first visit is that there isn’t just one thing that makes the city feel iconically Beijing. It’s a city of big contrasts, where history exists in tandem with a rapidly developing modern culture.
Stunningly beautiful temples contrast against future thinking, modern skyscrapers. Vast shopping streets with anything you can imagine turn off onto smaller hutongs. Creative districts put their bold stamp on former industrial spaces. Visiting cafes and stopping for coffee or food becomes a ritual.
Whether you’re scanning for ideas or are deep into planning for an upcoming trip, we’re sharing the places, districts and experiences that have helped us get to know Beijing better after our two visits over the last couple of years.
The more time we’ve spent exploring, the more we’ve realised that understanding how the different parts of the city fit together help you appreciate it far more than simply moving between the main attractions.
Of course, we’ve included the low down on the iconic landmarks, but we’ve also included the experiences that make Beijing feel textured. The creative districts, the hutongs, the local food to try, and everything else we’ve experienced that goes beyond the usual checklist of sights.
Even if you’re short on time, we think it’s still entirely possible to weave in a few of our suggestions below to get a sense of the complexity and contrasts that make this city what it is. Get prepared to be surprised by Beijing.
The Best Things to do in Beijing
There is so much to explore in Beijing, it feels vast and full of life. Even after visiting twice, we still feel like we’ve only just scratched the surface.
We found Beijing to be a city that seems to reward curiosity. Some of our favourite experiences happened in those in-between moments where we ducked into a coffee shop that looked good or a small art gallery that had something interesting on the wall.
Below, we’ve shared the experiences that made the biggest impression on us during the time we’ve spent in Beijing so far. The big sights, the incredible architecture mixed with nature and the places that helped us understand the city, and the people who live there, better.
Explore Beijing's Creative Side
If you love creative cities, then you’ll enjoy Beijing. As naturally very visual people, we loved how arty Beijing is. Everything from contemporary art to fashion offers a really different perspective on the city.
Spend the Day at 798 Art District
Beijing 798 Art District is a little out from the main draw of the city, but its also incredibly easy to get to on the subway. If you’re into art and independent fashion, then you will probably want to give yourself a whole day here.
The 798 Art District in Beijing, also known as 798 Art Zone is a complex of old factory buildings. It’s now a complex of buildings that form a village and the original architecture is part of the charm.
Old warehouses are used as studios and galleries with exposed brickwork. Other spaces are used as walk in ateliers that feel incredibly personal, some, the artist is even there to speak to.
Iff you enjoy coffee, this is probably one of the places we found the highest concentration of stunning coffee shops throughout Beijing. Sipping coffee, then heading to a gallery, finding another coffee, looking round a pottery studio. Feels like the perfect day.
If you’ve ever visited Berlin, you might think it has a similar vibe to some of the warehouse based art studios. However, there is something so unique about 798 Art District that it feels like nowhere else on earth.
Go Gallery Hopping
There’s a real mix in Beijing of contemporary art, big traditional galleries focusing on Chinese art and smaller galleries featuring independent artists and shows. If you love art, you’ll love the gallery scene in Beijing.
For a larger contemporary art museum, you’ll want to head to Today Art Museum. We loved this gallery. Its mission is to help develop Chinese art through emerging artists.
Beijing Art Museum is a private gallery well worth checking out too. It has a more specialised collection with a lot of pieces from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The National Art Museum of China is one of the largest in the country. It’s a fantastic place to see collections that will help you learn about traditional Chinese art, previous dynasties and so much more.
We’d recommend booking your ticket in advance for this on GetYourGuide as it means you can just enter when you get there. You can buy that here and we thought it was well worth it.
A little note for when you’re visiting National Art Museum of China. It’s pretty close to the Forbidden City, so you can combine the two.
You’re also only 10 minutes’ walk from our favourite biang biang noodle place in the city. This is called Yellow River Noodles Xiaoshanwa Biangbiang Noodle. 24A Meishuguan East Street. Don’t miss it!
We personally think some of the best art galleries in Beijing are the smaller ones. If this sounds like your kind of thing, then head to the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre and Caochangdi Art District as well.
Get Inspired by Beijing's Fashion
If you love fashion, you’ll love Beijing. It’s one of the most visual cities we’ve ever visited, and this is even more obvious on the people who make the city what it is.
If you love street style, then you’ll love it even more. We both bought some great pieces that felt really individual with different cuts and really creative finishes.
Chinese fashion and creative design when it comes to clothing is simply incredible, and you can expect to find designer pieces at affordable prices you likely won’t see anywhere else and definitely one of the more unusual things to do in Beijing.
Head to Dongsi, Shichahai and 798 Art District for some of the best chances of shopping for unique pieces. Many of the best places are dotted around these areas and some along hutongs. From experience, pop up shops and studios change locations so frequently that you have to hunt a little bit, but it’s completely worth it!
Spend Some Time Exploring Dongsi District
Dongsi or Dong Si was a district we discovered by chance. We found it as we decided to take an alternate route from the main street to a restaurant we wanted to try one day.
What we found in this area were some very cool bars, cafes and lots of cute shops with so much going on. Particually around Lianfeng Hutong, Dongsi 1st Alley, Dongsi 2nd Alley etc (they go up in order along the block).
You could easily spend a few hours around here going into the little whole in the wall cafes, coffee shops, brew pubs, cocktail bars, fashion stores and everything in-between.
Dongsi is a great place to explore if you plan on going to the National Art Museum. It’s really close by so you could easily explore both in the same day. Perhaps heading to Dongsi to explore later in the day for drinks or dinner.
Wander Through Beijing's Neighbourhoods
Whilst Beijing’s landmarks are impressive, some of our favourite experiences came from exploring the neighbourhoods that make up the area without a fixed plan.
The areas below gave us a different feel of Beijing. Alongside everything that comes to mind when you think of Beijing, they helped us to experience parts of the city that felt more lived in. If you have the time, we’d strongly recommend making space to check out some of these neighbourhoods.
Explore Beijing's Hutongs
We’d heard about Beijing hutongs in our research before we travelled and were ready to seek them out. Hutongs aren’t specific to Beijing being present around China, but there are many in Beijing to explore.
A hutong is a narrow lane or alley. They are, in many ways, the heart of the city and combine residential and commercial areas. From our experience there is a whole lot of cool stuff happening across them to explore.
Along hutongs you’ll find a maze of independent cafes, hole in the wall food sellers, boutique clothing stores, flower shops, artists’ studios and everything in between. We loved exploring the Beijing hutongs and spent a lot of time doing so.
One of our favourite things to do was wander around and spot street scenes to photograph. There is so much vibrancy and life happening down hutongs.
We personally found the most interesting things happening in the city were usually around hutongs. They’re not hard to find either. Go to any area and the side streets are usually hutongs.
Though some of them are more interesting than others, so it takes a bit of exploring to find interesting things. But that’s half the experience and one of the really fun things to do in Beijing.
We thought some of the best Beijing hutongs were Jinyu hutong, Quianliang hutong, Juanqing hutong, Dajiang hutong, Lianfeng hutong and around Chongwenmen Xiheyan. Easily one of the best things to do in Beijing!
If you want a little further inspiration on finding hutongs, we had this guided tour through GetYourGuide bookmarked. It looks like a great way to explore with a local.
Head to Shichahai to People Watch
We stumbled across Shichahai, Beijing one day when on the metro. We noticed a lot of very stylish looking people getting off and decided the next day to factor in Shichahai to our plans. Glad we did.
Shichahai is a district and shopping area which sits by the side of Houhai Lake. It’s also about a block or so down from the Drum Tower and Bell Tower, which you can buy your entry ticket for here.
This area is a little touristy, but there are plenty of areas that aren’t – making it one of the fun things to do in Beijing. As soon as we came out of Shichahai metro station, you’re met with the ultra cool, neon lit shopping and food market.
This is a great place to try local specialities like pot helmet (which we’ll cover more later). There are various individual hotpot places, tea shops, fried chicken and Beijing noodle stalls within this to check out.
Step out from the metro and you’ll find a mix of amazing street wear, and traditional dress. It’s quite common to rent traditional Chinese outfits for the day from nearby.
When we visited it was right in the Spring festival season when all the cherry blossom was starting to come into full flower. There were so many incredibly dressed people making the most of the festivities, which was so fun to see.
You can then head down Fangzhuanchang Hutong and Maoer Hu Tong to explore. Head in the other direction and you’ll hit Qianhai. Further down is Beihai and Qiongdao Island, also worth exploring, and easy to fit into the same day.
We absolutely loved exploring Shichahai and it’s a great place to people watch, enjoy the vibe and eat some good food. It’s more on the touristy side in certain parts, but you can easily find more individual things happening here too.
Explore the Area Around Qianmen Street
When visiting Tiananmen Square, we quickly found Qianmen Street afterwards. This large pedestrianised shopping area is well worth checking out.
If you’re visiting Tiananmen Square, we’d really recommend spending some time here afterwards and it’s a great way to utilise your time to fit in more of the many things to do in Beijing.
On an initial glance, the Qianmen Street, Beijing contains lots of food and drink vendors as well as gift shops. However, explore onto the side streets and Hutongs all around and you’ll find loads of very cool places.
When we explored it was becoming evening, and we think this is easily one of the best things to do in Beijing at night. It becomes so vibrant with neon lights and is a huge hub of activity.
We found some extremely cool side streets one being the concept store called Beijingfang that is split over three of four storeys. This held lots of very cool art books, prints and everything in between.
There’s loads more to explore too and there’s plenty of street food markets to try local delicacies. So many great little hole in the wall bars and specialist tea houses. This just scratches the surface!
Go Shopping on Wangfujing Street
Wangfujing Street is one of the main shopping districts in Beijing. Here you’ll find a lot of places you’re likely familiar with as well as lots you won’t be.
We really loved checking out these shopping streets and it’s so obvious that this modern Chinese city is buzzing! It’s quite an immersive experience as it turns from day to night with all the neon lights and signs.
We generally explored in the evening and loved it. It never seemed to die down and was as busy at 4pm as it was at 11pm.
We particularly loved some of the tea shops along here. One which we found by its long line of people outside waiting for matcha soft serve ice cream. This is roughly the location (though it doesn’t come up specifically on maps).
Wangfujing Snack Street was also one of our favourites. We had the best cold noodles (liang pi) of our lives here as well as very spicy fried tofu in a sauce we still dream of.
Experience Historic Beijing
There are plenty of famous landmarks in Beijing that you’ll undoubtedly want to add one, two or all of depending on your interests.
These are some of the main locations that we think are worth considering. Though if you’re short on time, we’d stick to the Lama Temple and seeing the Forbidden City from above at Jingshan Park.
Visit Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square, Beijing is culturally very significant. The large square was host to protests in 1989. These peaceful protests focused on pro-democracy were turned violent on the hands of the Chinese Government.
The Tiananmen Square Beijing 1989 protests and the information surrounding them has been heavily suppressed by the Chinese Government. The events that happened here are still, very rightly so, sensitive.
The memory and legacy of what happened at Tiananmen Square on the 5th June, 1989 in Beijing has been contentious for a very long time. So, looking at this area felt both interesting and heavy.
Whilst Tiananmen Square is quite touristy now because of its history in Beijing, we would still recommend you go and see it. It’s culturally very important and it allowed us to think deeply about some of the freedoms we take for granted.
There aren’t tickets to Tiananmen Square as such, but it is required to use a registration service in Beijing to enter. Without a Chinese phone number, this is actually quite difficult.
So, we used a service on GetYourGuide that will register you for a small fee with your passport. You need to do this one day in advance of the day you want to visit Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.
The registration service we used is linked here on GetYourGuide. It was well worth it, made it super easy to visit and took the stress out of things, meaning we could just focus on taking everything in.
As you’ll be close by, we’d also recommend spending some time after your visit looking around the area of Qianmen Street, which we’ve also included in this guide.
Explore the Forbidden City
The Forbidden City, in the heart of Beijing is important to Chinese history. It was built in the 15th century as a palace for the Ming emperors.
The Forbidden City, Beijing was used by the Ming Dynasty and then the Qing Dynasty up to as recently as 1912. After 1924, it was turned into a museum and it’s possible to go and explore it.
Going to visit the Forbidden City is absolutely incredible and deeply rooted in East Asian history. Whilst it is one of the best things to do in Beijing, we do want to warn you that it is also one of the busiest places we’ve ever visited.
If you’re really keen to see this stunning piece of history, incredible art and beautiful architecture, then just go into it with your eyes open. There is no real way to beat the crowds.
It’s so busy that we’d recommend getting your tickets to the Forbidden City in Beijing in as much advance as possible. You can book these online in advance from GetYourGuide here.
Likewise, there are plenty of tours on offer of the Forbidden City that also take in Tiananmen Square (as they are next to each other). Tours like this can be a good way to learn more from a local guide familiar in detail with the history.
If you prefer something on a budget as a group, then we’d recommend this tour on GetYourGuide. There are also plenty of private tours too, like this one. Tours like this can also take the stress out of how to get tickets for the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Another way to see the Forbidden City in Beijing, China is to see it from above. This does allow you in many ways to beat the crowds, especially if you visit on a weekday.
Head to Jingshan Park, which we’ve covered as a whole section later on in this article and take the short walk up Pagoda Hill. From here you’ll be able to look over the Forbidden City. It’s pretty fantastic and still gives you an overview if you’re struggling to want to deal with the crowds actually in the complex.
Visit the Lama Temple
We were really excited to visit the Beijing Lama Temple. At the start of a much longer trip that would involve a lot of East Asian architecture of historical significance, this felt like a great introduction.
The Lama Temple, Beijing was built in 1694 and is a Buddhist temple that also happens to be Beijing’s biggest. We didn’t know until we arrived, but it’s actually considered one of the biggest centres of Buddhism outside of Tibet.
The Lama Temple is absolutely incredible, featuring incredible art, decoration and style and is without a doubt one of the best things to do in Beijing. The smell of incense and the calmness of the place is a complete must see and something we really enjoyed.
Visit the Imperial Ancestral Temple
The Imperial Ancestral Temple sits just outside the Forbidden City. It’s important historically as it was used for sacrificial ceremonies during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
It’s built up of three buildings which in many ways looks pretty similar to the floor plan of the Forbidden City. It has been said that it’s one of the most sacred sites in the area and because of this, is one of the top things to do in Beijing.
We didn’t find the Imperial Ancestral Temple as interesting as some of the other places we visited in Beijing. But because of its significance, we still think it’s one of the most important places to see here.
Eat & Drink Your Way Around Beijing
One of the main reasons we were keen to visit Beijing was our love for Northern Chinese food. The heavy hand of Sichuan pepper, fragrant chillis and comfort food just really hits the spot for us.
It’s fair to say we spent a lot of time eating and drinking in Beijing. Our guide below covers what to eat in Beijing as well as some interesting options to try for both food and drink.
We’ve also covered some of the bustling spots we visited where you can get great Beijing food as well as a lively atmosphere. Perfect for evenings after you’ve spent the day exploring.
Experience Authentic Northern Chinese Food
If you’re wondering what to eat in Beijing, you’re going to have a field day if you’re a foodie like we are. We both agreed that the food we ate here was some of the best we’d had around the world.
If you’re not familiar, Northern Chinese and Beijing food has a pretty different feel to a lot of the Cantonese style food you may be used to from Westernised Chinese restaurants. You’re in for a real treat.
Northern Chinese food prioritises rich chilli sauces, Sichuan pepper, BBQ meats, and a lot of really excellent noodles. To make things better, most of the places you’ll eat (if you follow our suggestions) offer cheap eats that will keep you heartily satisfied.
You also get a great mix of Uighur food too, which is Northwest Muslim and combines Middle Eastern, Central Asian and East Asian influences. We have been lucky to try this cuisine before, and it’s just so comforting.
If we had to say visit anywhere, it would be Yellow River Noodles Xiaoshanwa Biangbiang Noodle. They do the best Biangbiang noodles we’ve tried, incredibly authentic, comforting (so much so there may have been a few tears shed when eating). Thinking about them right now is giving some serious food cravings.
Another dish to try is Liang Pi: a cold noodle dish using handmade noodles, wheat gluten, cucumber, sesame sauce, and chilli sauce topped with a lot of coriander. It’s utterly addictive. The fried tofu stall next to it is delicious too for the perfect pairing.
Then there’s stinky tofu. You may think that the idea of stinky tofu sounds kind of terrifying. Honestly when you see it, it looks it. However, try a portion and you’ll either love it or hate it. It’s worth the experience though. We loved it, it kind of grows on you.
Of course, Peking duck is very popular too, and many of the stalls you’ll see will be offering roast duck, in differing amounts. Likewise, Beijing noodles are really popular.
Pot helmet was also another street food we weren’t expecting. A thin layer of dough is cooked on a stone grill plate. Inside is usually a mix of picked veg and meats, or just veg for vegetarians. Delicious.
As a tip, when you head into any of the canteen style places, you will likely be handed an English menu. This just contains a few things and is never as good as the Chinese menu.
Use your Alipay app to take a picture of the menu and translate it to see what you want to order. Likewise, many of the menus have photos, so if you get stuck, you can point at which item you want to order from the menu.
If you’re vegetarian, Liang Pi, Biangbiang noodles and stinky tofu are all worth looking out for. We’d also recommend having a translation of “without meat” saved on your phone to make ordering easier.
Get Engrossed in Beijing’s Third Wave Coffee Movement
If you’re used to the third wave coffee scene in the UK, Europe and the US then you will love what Beijing has to offer when it comes to coffee. We love coffee and were incredibly happy with what we found here.
As with most things in Beijing, coffee shops have created their own twist. You can expect coffee to be an experience and easily one of the cool things to do in Beijing.
Of course, many cafes and independent coffee shops offer straight up European style coffee: latte, piccolo/cortado, flat white etc. However, look a little further and you’ll find really interesting scenes and movements taking it a step further.
We’d recommend trying things like cold brew and tea infusions as well as the brilliantly named ‘dirty’ which can’t really be described and you’ve just got to try.
Many of the Beijing hutongs also have some of the best shops, but really, you don’t have to go far before you’ll find the perfect cup, infusion or something different. We encourage you to try something other than your usual order, you won’t be disappointed!
Seek Out the Best Spots for Beautiful Chinese Tea
Naturally when visiting China, we were expecting good tea, but in reality, it was on a whole different level. Tea of course is a huge part of Chinese culture, particularly green and oolong.
Whether you like your tea hot or cold, sourcing out the best places to have tea is one of our top things to do in Beijing. What we loved was that you can choose between traditional tea houses, and more modern cafes offering iced teas, fruit teas and various infusions you’ll likely never have seen before.
More traditional tea houses offer you the chance to relax, do tastings and take in the silence and tranquillity. Drinking tea in traditional tea houses almost feels like a form of meditation – and absolutely an experience to savour.
There also plenty of curated and guided experiences which show you the best of tea in Beijing and just what it means to Chinese culture. We had this tea ceremony experience on GetYourGuide bookmarked. We thought it looked incredible and wished we’d had time to make it work!
Newer, more modern tea places, not to be entirely confused with places offering bubble tea, produce light, vibrant and highly caffeinated iced teas. These are often made of unique blends of mountain herbs and flowers to give a distinct flavour.
There are also plenty of tea merchants offering selections of different teas to buy. We ended up buying more jasmine tea varieties (which is Fay’s favourite) than we probably care to admit. In fact, we’re drinking a cup of iced jasmine tea from a shop we picked some up in Beijing as we write.
We both love tea, so this was without a doubt one of the very cool things to do in Beijing for us. We’d really recommend you try some of the options available.
Visit Dongzhimen Outer Street for Local Food Specialities
We found the the Dongzhimen Outer Street and general area by chance. We were walking around when returning from our Great Wall day tour and were drawn to all the neon lights.
As we explored further, we found Dongzhimen Outer Street. On the Friday night we were around, there was such a good atmosphere with everywhere buzzing with activity.
We spent the evening just exploring and hopping into a few places that didn’t really have names or map locations. So, we’d advise you just to go explore, take some pictures and get involved. It’s one of the best things to do in Beijing at night.
Whether you can get some of the best food in Beijing around here or not is questionable and likely depends on your tastes. This area was as much about the buzz as it was the food. But if you love BBQ, beef noodles and hot pot, you will likely be pretty happy.
There were a lot of restaurants serving specialities of the area – one such that seemed really popular was Maloxia Longya (river crab) and Mongolian hot pot. We didn’t try this, but were told it is a very popular food in Beijing.
Time in Nature and Day Trips from Beijing
Beijing isn’t just a buzzing city, there are plenty of places to get some time in nature and explore beautiful Chinese architecture at the same time. There are also options just a short distance away that make for great day trips from Beijing too.
Of course, the options you explore here will be based on how long you have in here. But even just spending a few hours in some of the parks in Beijing will give you a rounded view on what this city has to offer.
Visit Jingshan Park (including great views over the Forbidden City)
Admittedly one of the main reasons we sought out Jingshan Park was because we’d heard that from the top of the hill, there’s stunning views over the Forbidden City. Look at Jingshan Park photos, and this is one of the first things you see.
We headed to Jingshan Park in Beijing on a sunny Sunday afternoon and explored for a few hours. We found we didn’t really want to leave, and seeing the Forbidden City was just such a small part.
Once you get into Jinghan Park, you’ll find plenty of architecture and gardens synonymous with China and East Asian style. On a Sunday, there were plenty of singing groups gathered around, which felt really special to experience.
If you’re just looking for views over the Forbidden City, then head up to Pagoda hill. It’s a short walk uphill for great views over the city. Though we’d recommend exploring the whole top as there are iconic city views not to be missed.
Jingshan Park is in our opinion one of the best things to do in Beijing, China to see a variety of what the city has to offer, and you’ll see plenty of locals there too. Basic Jingshan Park tickets are very cheap (well under £1/$1 and can be bought on entry with cash).
If you want to go inside some of the buildings within the park, we’d recommend that you buy a ticket in advance via GetYourGuide here so you can look around at leisure.
If you also like the idea of finding out more from a local’s perspective, we had this two hour Jingshan and Beihai walking tour on GetYourGuide bookmarked. It looked really good and being a private tour, it seemed really good value!
Head to the Tranquil Qiongdao Island
When we headed out to Shichahai, we also visited Qiongdao Island. It’s set within Beihai Park. This is a really beautiful park including lots of stunning Chinese architecture such as Beihai Bridge and Beihai White Tower Temple.
At the start of April when we visited, the blossom was out hundreds of trees with differing blooms were being cherished by a lot of locals, dressed up traditionally and having photos taken. It was such a lovely experience and one of the fun things to do in Beijing.
Aside from people watching, enjoying nature and checking out some of the East Asian design, you can also walk up the short but steep hill to Beihai White Tower Temple. This is well worth a short detour.
As they’re so close to each other, and if you have the energy, you could include Shichahai, Qiongdao Island and Jingshan Park together. Beijing has so much by way of stunning parks!
Go on a Day Trip to the Great Wall of China
Visiting the Great Wall of China has been a must do for Fay since being a little kid. So, we were over the moon when we realised that visiting Beijing opened this up to us as a day trip from Beijing.
Visiting the Great Wall of China from Beijing is really easy. You can book onto a tour that will collect you from a specific point in the city. We had about 6 hours at the Great Wall, and it felt like more than enough.
You’re also left on your own after you arrive, which means you’re not looking around with an entire bus of people all day. Which is much more our kind of thing!
The tour we did was through GetYourGuide, which you can book here and we’d highly recommend it. Be sure to come back soon for our full guide on visiting the Great Wall of China from Beijing.
One of the most asked questions we found in advance was ‘how far is the Great Wall of China from Beijing’ thinking it must be a long way away. However, the bus tour we took had us arrive within about 1 hour 40 of setting off.
The section you’ll visit is Mutianyu which has been restored and means you can walk along to various different towers. The views are simply incredible, and it felt like a real highlight for us both, Fay especially.
It didn’t matter that it was incredibly busy, seeing the Great Wall in the flesh was such a brilliant experience. We spent most of our time walking between different towers and taking hundreds of photos and just being in our element.
When you arrive, you’ll head through the main food, drink and gift area where you take a short shuttle bus up to the cable car station. The shuttle bus is included in your GetYourGuide ticket, but the cable car isn’t, but they cost well under £10/$10 per person.
On our trip it was made easy as you could just buy the tickets for the cable car through the bus representative. So, all we had to do was scan our passports to get through the barriers, which was very stress free.
You can also take a slide from one of the other areas, which you get up to with a chair lift. We were advised not to do this due to how busy it was going to be that day. But it also didn’t appeal to us. However, your guide will be able to tell you more about this if you want to do it!
Planning a Trip to Beijing
Onto the slightly more boring, but also important stuff. Getting to grips with planning a trip to Beijing can feel a little overwhelming. However, getting there, getting around and generally finding your feet is much easier than it might first seem.
Below, we’ve covered some of the things we learnt from visiting, that are worth considering before your trip to help things run smoothly.
Understanding Beijing's Key Areas
Beijing is vast! We think one of the most important things to understand when you visit is that it’s impossible to see everything. Trying to rush between different places often stops you from actually enjoying those in-betweens that make the city what it is in the first place.
A lot of people will just focus on some of the major landmarks, but there’s time for a lot more too. Getting a broad understanding of the kind of feel you can expect in some of the different areas will help you decide where you want to spend your time. As well giving you more time to play with so you can simply explore too.
Of course, Beijing has a massive array of areas to explore, but there are a number of key areas that we think are worth becoming more familiar with, as these are likely where you’ll spend good amounts of time on your trip.
The areas included below all relate to the ideas for things to do in Beijing that we’ve covered in our guide below, so you can plan experiences around other sights. We found things fitted together really well in Beijing with the subway system too, so made it much easier to explore.
We found it incredibly helpful to see these areas like this, as it helped us to make a better plan for how to make the most of our time. It also helped us feel like we weren’t rushing around still had time for things that unfolded at the time.
Historic Beijing
This is where most people will head to and spend a lot of their time, especially if they’re only visiting for one or two days. This includes areas like the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Tianamen Square. If you’re into history, then you’ll want to dedicate a good amount of time to the historic side of the city, but even if not, a short amount of time can still give you a contrast to some of the other areas.
Gulou & Shichahai
Every guide we looked at before we visited said that Shichahai and Gulou was a blend of ancient hutongs, architecture and old Beijing. The lakeside is right by this area and there are some almost unbelievable picture postcard scenes here. However, we found that as well as this, it seems to be an area that a lot of incredibly fashion forward and impeccably stylish people gravitate toward.
This is one of the best areas for wandering without a purpose, visiting the lakesides, people watching, eating and drinking at places you discover around the hutongs and easily combined with historic Beijing.
Wangfujing
This is where a lot of people choose to stay, especially because it’s so close to many of the things to do in Beijing if your focus is on history. But it also has a lot more going for it aside from that.
It’s busy, and you’ll probably find yourself passing through Wangfujing quite a bit. At first glance it can seem a little less full of character, but it’s also incredible if you want to go shopping.
For example, in the apm mall on Wangfujing Ave, you’ll find pretty much everything you could need. It’s incredible for experiencing Chinese fashion, tech and pretty much everything in-between.
Dongsi
Right next to the National Art Museum of China, the sub district Dongsi, including streets like Dongsi N Street and the alleys off to the right, and the Hu Tongs off to the left were some of our favourite to explore and spend time in. You’ll find independent coffee shops, independent fashion ateliers and record stores everywhere.
Qianmen & Dashilar
Close to Zhengyanmen and Tianamen Square, this area is incredibly busy, has so many shops to explore and a very curated feel. It is without a doubt very touristy, but it’s also such a visually overwhelming experience, we recommend heading there at least once.
There’s more to it than that as well, and you can also find plenty of smaller, quieter experiences to be had in places like Metal Hands Coffee on Qianmen Street.
798 Art District
We loved our time checking out 798 Art District and came back with a lot of affordable art, fashion, coffee and polaroids! This is one of the best places to experience Beijing’s creative side through the eyes of the artists. A little out from the main city, but very easy to get to on the subway. This former industrial space has been taken over by warm galleries, studios, ateliers, smaller brands and a lot of very good coffee shops!
How to Get Around Beijing
We made use of the metro system to get around more than anything. This was made easy for us by the fact that we had a metro station right outside our hotel (and the same hotel we’ve stayed in both times we’ve been to Beijing).
The metro in Beijing is great. It’s clean, fast, makes sense and is inexpensive. Though keep in mind it only runs from 05:00-23:00. Signs are in both Chinese and English, so easy to use. It’s also really inexpensive, with journeys costing around 60p/0.80 USD and £1/1.30 USD.
It’s actually really easy to pay for the metro with a contactless bank card (Visa, Mastercard and AMEX were all accepted), as well as Alipay and Wechat, which you can just tap on the barrier. You don’t need to buy tickets in advance anymore, which makes things so easy.
Where to Stay in Beijing
There are plenty of options when it comes to accommodation in Beijing. From more budget options to more luxury accommodation. As Beijing is generally on the cheaper side, we opted for something in the mid ground.
We stayed at the Howard Johnson Paragon Hotel Beijing, which was made cheaper with our Genius Rewards on Booking.com (which we’d recommend you sign up for if you haven’t already here).
The hotel was gorgeous, spacious, quiet and the staff were really friendly and helpful. It was also close to a number of really good noodle and BBQ places outside, which we made plenty of use of!
What we loved about this hotel was that it made it really easy to explore everything Beijing had to offer. It was within a minute’s walk from the metro station just outside Beijing Railway Station, so well connected.
This made it easy to get to everything we needed really quickly. Whichever hotel you decide to stay in, we’d recommend using the map feature in Booking.com to see which hotels are closest to metro stations, as this will make a huge difference to your trip enjoyment!
When is the Best Time to Visit Beijing
What is the best time to visit Beijing if you can plan your trip at any time? Generally, April and May as they offer good weather. September and October are also good times too. If you suffer with allergies, September and October may be best.
The best time to visit Beijing will generally depend on your personal travel requirements more than anything. It’s worth keeping in mind that between November and February, it can be very cold, so best to avoid these times.
We visited at the start of April. Whether this was the best time to visit Beijing, China or not was secondary in some ways as it was part of a wider trip to Vietnam too. We based our plans mostly on when the best time for visiting Vietnam was and worked around this.
However, April was a really great time to visit. It was about 20 degrees Celsius with sun most days. It’s also a great time to see the blossom (though not so great if you have pollen allergies).
Things to Know Before Visiting Beijing
Here are some of the main things from our experience, we think are worth considering before visiting Beijing.
Maps for Getting Around Beijing
We pretty much entirely rely on Google Maps for finding our way around places, but Google Maps sadly doesn’t work in China. So, you’ll have to use an alternative.
We both have iPhones, so it was easy enough for us to use Apple Maps. If you’re using an Android, you’ll need to find an alternative. Apple Maps does work pretty well, and we didn’t have an issue there using it outside.
Keep in mind that a lot of restaurants, food markets and generally social related places don’t come up as an exact location on maps. This can make things feel a bit more ‘exhausting’ than you maybe think they could be as a touris.
Social Media, Email and Staying Connected
It’s really worth keeping in mind that most western social media apps, and app companies (like Google services) aren’t available in China. So you either get to have a great break from social media and email, or find a work around for accessing them still.
On our first visit, we didn’t have much luck with setting up e-sims that actually worked in China that would allow us access to everything we needed. However, our second visit was much easier.
We managed to get e-sims through Alipay, and they worked really easily once we landed in China. None of the main e-sim apps worked for us, so we’d recommend not buying any data in advance of your trip.
This then allows you data and to use everything as normal. Apart from when you’re in your hotel and on wi-fi and you’re on the hotel network. If you still want to use western social media, you just need to make you’re not on your hotel wi-fi network. The same goes for things like Netflix.
Alipay, WeChat & Payments
Most places in China use Alipay or WeChat as their main methods of payment. You basically download the app, set up and authorise your details (you’ll need to upload your passport for this) and then add your bank card.
When you arrive, you should be able to scan the QR code that comes up under ‘pay’ and pay vendors in shops, much like contactless card payments. Most places don’t just take card, especially smaller food stalls. Most vendors are happy to help you with payment and within not too much time, you’ll get your head around it.
Always set these apps up before your trip, as they seem to rely on sending you confirmation codes via text message, which, when you arrive, you’ll likely have turned off your data on your home sim. This will save you hours of agony in your hotel, trust us!
Do You Need A Visa to Visit Beijing?
The visa you need to visit Beijing will really depend on where you’re from. For us, our entry requirements were different as we both hold different nationality passports. They also changed slightly from our first visit to our second (the second being more relaxed). We would advise you to look on your government’s travel advisory site as the first step if it isn’t clear.
Do People Speak English in Beijing?
Not really! Some people, mostly people in your hotel, in shops or cafes may speak a few words, but English isn’t widely spoken. We made great use of the Alipay translate feature. Though it was still hard to communicate. There was a lot of pointing and awkward smiling at points, but we got by! You will just need a little bit of an adjustment.
Toilets
It took us a minute to clock onto the fact that restaurants don’t generally have toilets. The fancier ones do, but most of the places we ate (which in our opinion were the best) don’t. The same with cafes.
Public toilets are much more a thing in Beijing, and you’ll find them dotted everywhere. They’re looked after and some are in better condition than others.
One thing to keep in mind for the women’s toilets is that they use mostly squat toilets with one or two sit down toilets depending on the size of the building. This can take some getting used to!
They also generally don’t provide toilet paper. So, we just ended up bringing some in our bags from our hotel room for the day to use.
Is Beijing Safe?
When thinking about whether Beijing would be a suitable destination for you, especially as a marginalised individual there are a few things to consider.
We saw a good number of solo travellers in our hotel. The metro system is safe and easy to use and getting around is safe. It also felt very safe at night too.
LGBTQIA+ people should have no issues travelling in Beijing. It’s a huge city with a lot of scenes and an actively queer scene. It is generally culturally less accepted to hold hands for any couple in Beijing though, so keep this in mind.
Beijing is also a pretty safe place for POC. Though be prepared for people to stare at you when passing – this is very common for all foreigners in general as Chinese people are naturally curious to see foreigners. It’s just not as common there.
Of course, it’s important to take in your own considerations when travelling. Be sure to do your own research to determine whether travelling to Beijing will be safe for you or not.
Is Beijing Accessible?
Beijing is accessible in some ways and not others. The roads and pavements are generally flat and level, so walking doesn’t involve a lot of up and down when it comes to getting about.
Beijing is a big city, and with that there are quite significant distances between certain areas. If using the metro, there can be walking distances between your station and where you want to go that can lead to quite a lot of ground to cover over the day.
Taxis can be difficult to navigate with some drivers trying to hike up prices for tourists. This can get quite stressful and doesn’t feel like the calm that may sometimes be needed when trying to get from one place to another.
It does get quite hot from May until about September/October and this can increase fatigue quite considerably. From a wheelchair perspective, the Beijing Subway is designed to be accessible. For this, you can get hold of a printed map at the subway station which shows accessible lines to help you plan a route.
Public toilets in Beijing aren’t always accessible for wheelchair users. Some are, but it’s hard to tell until you’re there, which does make things difficult. To be honest, they aren’t always accessible for everyone in general. This is down to some of the squat style toilets used.
It can also be difficult to communicate as speaking English is very infrequent and can lead to getting frustrated and overwhelmed. So, it’s important to consider this as a factor too.
Enjoy Beijing
Beijing is one of those cities that sort of stays with you, even when you’ve moved onto your next location. Even when you get home.
The more time we’ve spent there, the more we’ve realised that a lot of our favourite experiences came from the contrasts that make up this vibrant place. The contrasts that are celebrated. The contrasts that make the city unique.
Of course, the landmarks and the big hitter attractions are beautiful, impressive…but it’s often the neighbourhoods, creative spaces, food and unique things you discover along the way that keep us remembering Beijing.
We hope our guide to the things to do in Beijing gives you an idea that you can do both. You can see all some of the cultural icons, and you can also get a textured and deeper feel for this fantastic city.
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