Beijing
China Travel

Beijing

I visited Beijing for the first time in 2009. By the time of my second visit in June 2016, I had vague memories of the Chinese capital city and was very excited to visit it again.

Formerly known as Peking, it’s the world’s second most populous city proper, with the population of 21.7 million in 2017. Beijing is rich in history. It has been the political, cultural and educational centre of China for much of the past eight centuries. The city is surrounded by mountains on three sides and that’s why it was strategically chosen to be the residence of the emperor. It was in a perfect location for an imperial capital city.

Beijing has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

 

 

FROM NANJING TO BEIJING

 

I travelled by train from Nanjing to Beijing. The train departed from Nanjing South (Nanjing Nan) Railway Station. It arrived to Beijing South (Beijing Nan) Station. I took the train at 12.09pm and arrived to Beijing at 3.55pm. The high speed train covered the distance of 1160km in 3h 46min. That was very impressive.

The journey was easy and comfortable. On arrival to Beijing, I had the rest of the afternoon and the whole evening for myself. I paid 443.5 yuan for my one way 2nd class ticket.

 

Nanjing Beijing High Speed Train
Chinese High Speed Train – maximum speed

 

 

WHERE TO STAY IN BEIJING?

 

I stayed in the Beijing International Hotel, not far from Jianguomen metro station. The hotel was good, but not in the best location. I had to take the metro every day in order to move around the city. But that wasn’t really a problem, because Beijing is a very big city. Inevitably, you will have to use public transport to arrive to places that you want to visit.

However, there are better locations where you can choose to stay, which is either near Wangfujing pedestrian street or the Xidan area. Both locations are full of shops and restaurants.

In fact, you would want to visit them while you are in Beijing. Also, both locations are within walking distance from the Forbidden City.

 

 

HISTORIC SITES

 

I was in Beijing for 4 days. That was enough time to see the most famous historic sites. Because of their size or location, three of them require nearly one full day. But, there is much more to see and do in Beijing, in case you decide to stay longer.

 

 

TIANANMEN SQUARE

 

Tiananmen Square is a big square, in the centre of Beijing. Its name comes from the Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace). The gate is in the north part of the square and separates it from the Forbidden City.

 

Tiananmen Square Beijing
Tiananmen Square

 

You will find the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong in the square. Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China in this square, on the 1st October 1949.

 

The Great Hall of the People Beijing
Tiananmen Square – The Great Hall of the People

 

The Tiananmen or the Gate of Heavenly Peace is a monumental gate, widely used as a national symbol of China. It was built in 1420 during Ming dynasty and it served as an entrance to the Imperial City.

 

The Tiananmen Beijing
Tiananmen

 

 

FORBIDDEN CITY

 

The Forbidden City is a huge palace complex in the centre of Beijing. It was an imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties from 1420, when the complex was finished, to 1912 when the last emperor of China abdicated. It’s now the Palace Museum. Chinese emperors and their families used it as their home for nearly 500 years.

Built in traditional Chinese palatial architecture, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The palace contains the largest collection of ancient preserved wooden structures in the world.

 

Forbidden City Beijing
Forbidden City

 

The Forbidden City is a magnificent palace and, unsurprisingly, it’s also a major tourist attraction. To enter, you will have to present your passport at the time when you purchase your ticket. You will not be able to buy the ticket without your passport.

To avoid huge crowds, go there as soon as the museum opens. But, it’s not guaranteed that you will be able to enjoy its serene tranquillity as, undoubtedly, many other people will have the same idea.

 

Forbidden City Beijing
Forbidden City

 

The palace complex is very big and you will need at least 3 to 4 hours to see everything properly. But if you want to gently absorb its beauty and immensity of everything around you, you will probably need more time.

 

Forbidden City Beijing
Forbidden City

 

Apart from main imperial buildings, there is also the whole city, with houses and streets to visit and this takes time. While visiting this section of the palace complex, I was trying to imagine the life of people within the confines of the palace walls.

 

Forbidden City Beijing
Forbidden City

 

 

GREAT WALL OF CHINA

 

The Great Wall of China is not one continuous wall. Rather, it’s a series of fortifications generally built across China’s historic northern borders, to protect against nomadic intrusions. Several walls were built as early as the 7th century BC. Later, they joined all these separate walls in one bigger and stronger wall. Throughout its history, the Great Wall was rebuilt and enlarged. Most of the existing wall is from the Ming Dynasty.

 

Chinese Wall Beijing
Great Wall of China

 

 

MUTIANYU – BEST SECTION OF THE WALL TO VISIT

 

Some parts of the wall have been restored and are open for tourists. I visited Badaling and Mutianyu. Mutianyu is a much better choice in my opinion, because it’s in a more attractive location. Also, it seemed less touristy, although that’s a relative notion because it was still very busy when I went there. Mutianyu is 90km north of Beijing. You can book a tour in your hotel. But ask for a tour without visits to factories. Thus, they’ll take you directly to the wall and then back to the hotel. You will also get a lunch.

The way it works, they come with a mini-bus and collect you in front of your hotel, at 7am or 8am. After that, the bus makes stops at other hotels and collects more tourists. Once the bus is full, it departs for the wall. You just need to be in front of your hotel at the agreed time.

 

Chinese Wall Beijing
Great Wall of China

 

 

USEFUL TIPS FOR VISITING THE WALL

 

When you arrive to Mutianyu, to reach the wall, you can either climb a very steep hill or you can take a cable car. You will have to pay for the cable car, but it’s an adventure. The cable car takes you to the watchtower 14. From there, I walked all the way to the watchtower 23, which is the official end of the wall open for tourists, in that direction. Our guide recommended to walk that way.

If you manage to reach the watchtower 23, you will arrive to the non restored part of the wall. I didn’t venture much further beyond that point, because the wall didn’t seem safe. Parts of the wall were in a very bad state and I also had to go back. It took approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes each way, although people fitter and younger than me could probably cover that distance much faster. As a matter of fact, there were only a few of us that far. To arrive to that point, you will need to invest some significant physical effort and you will have to climb some very steep steps. That may not be easy for some people.

The difference between the restored part of the wall and the authentic one is very interesting to see. I believe that it would be too costly to restore the whole wall. But I fear that, with the passing time, there will be further damage. It’s a pity, because the wall is so historically significant.

 

Chinese Wall Beijing
Great Wall of China – non-restored part of the wall

 

 

RETURN TO BEIJING

 

After the visit to the wall, I took the cable car back to the entrance area. We had a very nice Chinese lunch in a restaurant near to the ticket office. After lunch, we departed from the wall.

When you arrive back to Beijing, as soon as the bus enters the greater city area, if you spot any metro station, ask the driver to stop and to let you get off the bus. It will be much better if you take a metro from any station back to the centre.

The alternative is to be stuck for a long time in a horrible traffic. My journey back from the wall was unnecessarily long because of that. Also, the bus stopped at other hotels before taking me back to mine. Unfortunately, I thought of the metro option only after I had already arrived back to my hotel, which was obviously too late.

 

 

SUMMER PALACE

 

The Summer Palace was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. It’s a vast complex of lakes, gardens and palaces. Construction of the Summer Palace started in 1750, as a luxurious garden for royal families, to entertain and rest. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1988.

The palace is a true masterpiece of the Chinese landscape gardening. The natural landscape of hills and lakes is combined with pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges in a superbly harmonious way.

 

Summer Palace Beijing
Summer Palace

 

Together with the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace must be on every visitor’s list. The palace is 15km from the centre of Beijing. However, getting there by metro is easy, you should take the line number 4, to Beigongmen station. The entrance to the palace is almost next to the station. It’s not the only entrance, but it’s the most convenient for visitors arriving by metro.

 

Summer Palace Beijing
Summer Palace

 

The palace complex is very big. You will need one full day for your visit, although I don’t think that it’s possible to see everything in one day. You can visit the main part and you can also walk along the lake. Like all other major tourist attractions, it’s very busy. Perhaps, if you arrive there when it opens in the morning, there won’t be too many people.

 

Summer Palace Beijing
Summer Palace – a view from the top

 

 

TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

 

The Temple of Heaven is an imperial complex of religious buildings that emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties visited for annual prayer ceremonies to Heaven, for good harvest. The temple complex was constructed at the same time as Forbidden City. It was extended and renamed in the 16th century.

The complex became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. To get there, take the metro line number 5, to Tiantan East Gate station.

 

Temple of Heaven Beijing
Temple of Heaven

 

 

LAMA TEMPLE

 

The Yonghe Temple or Lama Temple is the Tibetan Buddhism temple and monastery. It’s a combination of Han Chinese and Tibetan architectural styles. It was built on the site where there was an official residence of court eunuchs, in previous dynasties.

The building work on the Lama Temple started in 1694, during Qing dynasty. Then, it became the residence of Yinzhen (Prince Yong). When he became Yongzheng Emperor in 1722, half of the building was converted into the lamasery – a monastery for monks of the Tibetan Buddhism. The other half of the building remained the imperial palace.

Qianlong Emperor, who succeeded Yongzheng Emperor, elevated the temple to the imperial status. He replaced turquoise tiles with yellow tiles, exclusively reserved for the emperor.

The monastery became the residence for large numbers of Tibetan Buddhist monks from Mongolia and Tibet. It also became the Lama administration national centre.

 

Lama Temple Beijing
Lama Temple

 

The temple was declared the national monument in 1949 and it was closed for 32 years. It reopened in 1981 and it is now the functioning temple and a very popular touristic site.

 

Lama Temple Beijing
Lama Temple

 

To get there, take the metro line number 2 or number 5, to Yonghegong Lama Temple station. But be careful because the temple closes at 4.30pm. You will need at least one hour to properly visit this outstanding place.

 

Lama Temple Beijing
Lama Temple

 

 

THE REST OF BEIJING

 

Qianmen Street is a famous pedestrian street that runs from the Archery Tower of Qianmen in the north, to the Tiantan Park in the south. The street is 840m long and it contains late Qing dynasty style buildings. Qianmen Street has a history of more than 570 years.

The street and the whole surrounding area are full of shops that sell various Chinese products. From there, you can also easily venture into the nearby hutongs. Hutongs are typical Beijing residential areas. Qianmen Street is very close to Tiananmen Square.

 

Qianmen Street Beijing
Qianmen Street

 

The National Centre for the Performing Arts is an art centre and it’s also Beijing’s new opera house. Constructed in 2007, in the middle of an artificial lake, the opera house is immediately west of Tiananmen Square.

 

Beijing Opera
National Centre for the Performing Arts

 

This is what I visited during my stay in Beijing. What you do, it depends on how long you are planning to stay. In any case, there are many more things to see there. For example, the Beijing Zoo has a very large panda enclosure and that’s something that I would’ve loved to see.

Maybe next time, if I visit this fascinating city again.

 

 

Back to China

LEAVE A COMMENT

My Forever Travel

Contact Us

[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]

Follow Us