EXPLORING BEIJING

EXPLORING BEIJING

Beijing is massive. Third largest city in the world kind of massive. There is so much to do in Beijing that you could easily stay in the city for more than a week seeing the sights (there are 7 UNESCO World Heritage sites alone), hitting the hutongs, trying some of the 12,000+ restaurants and even shopping till you drop. But we would recommend spending 4 days exploring the city. And hopefully we have the perfect Beijing tour itinerary below.

DAY 1 – EXPLORING THE MOST FAMOUS SITES

FORBIDDEN CITY
We are kicking off the itinerary with the big one: The Forbidden City. This has to be one of the most impressive city or palace complexes that we have ever seen. There are over 1.8 million pieces of artwork, over 8,500 rooms across 900 odd buildings.

JINGSHAN PARK
You’ll have to exit the Forbidden City on the opposite side to where you entered. Which is great, as right across the road from this exit is Jingshan Park. One of the must do things in Beijing is to take a short walk up Prospect Hill, you’ll be afforded the best view back down over the Forbidden City, as well as a 360 degree view of the whole city. It’s a great way to understand the size and scale of Beijing.

TIANANMEN SQUARE
The square is really impressive, obviously overlooking the Forbidden City, but also the location of the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.

QIANMEN WALKING STREET
If you continue heading south when you depart Tiananmen Square, you will eventually hit Qianmen walking street, which is a great place to rest up and grab some food or coffee. The area was redeveloped to look as it did in the 1920’s and has a number of courtyards and hutongs to explore – quite touristy, but a great area to wander.

DAY 2 – SUMMER PALACE & TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

SUMMER PALACE
For the morning of Day 2 of your Beijing itinerary, we recommend heading to the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Summer Palace, the imperial gardens and palaces from the Qing Dynasty. The near 3 square kilometer park is centered around Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. The Summer Palace is really accessible from the city, all you have to do is take Line 4 north to Xiyuan or Beigongmen Stations.

TEMPLE OF HEAVEN
The temple complex, constructed in the early 1400s, was where emperors from the Ming and Qing Dynasties held their Heaven Worship ceremonies. It was enlarged over time and opened to the public as a park in 1988. The temple grounds cover nearly 3 kilometers and has three main areas: the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a beautiful circular building that stands 38 m tall; the Imperial Vault of Heaven which is a smaller version and the Circular Mound Altar, which boasts incredibly sculpted dragons.

DAY 3 – DAY TRIP TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

The most impressive man made thing that we have ever seen. The Great Wall of China is one of the 7 wonders of the world and when you get to see it first hand, you understand why. The wall just goes on and on – in total there is over 21,000 km of wall. That’s over half the circumference of earth! It’s an incredible feat of building/engineering given that parts of it were started over 2000 years ago. And you really can’t come to Beijing without spending at least one day visiting it.

DAY 4 – TOMBS AND TEMPLES

MING DYNASTY TOMBS
The thirteen tombs of the Ming Dynasty are a short day trip from Beijing (around 50km). You’ll either need to take a private car or a bus, and then walk around the massive area that houses the thirteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty, which ran between 1368 and 1644.

LAMA TEMPLE
A temple of many names – Lama, Yonghe, Harmony and Peace Palace – this temple in the north of Beijing is one of the most beautiful lamaseries (monastery for buddhist teachers) in all of China, and a great place to visit in Beijing. It was built in 1694 as the residence of Emperor Yongzheng but later became a lamasery in 1744, which it still operates as today.

WANDERING THE HUTONGS
Loosely known as ‘neighbourhoods’ but technically a narrow street or alley, a ‘hutong’ is the best way to see real Chinese life in action, forming the heart of Beijing.

DAY 5 - DEPARTURE FROM BEIJING INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Your delightful journey ends today. Fly back to your country carrying fond memories along.