Yes, You Really Do Need A Week in Beijing

It is China travel lore that “you need a week in Beijing”. Now, given we travel at a pace so slow it’s verging on glacial, we were (obviously) going to spend at least a week in Beijing anyway.

But, gentle reader, even if you travel faster than us (which isn’t difficult), and even if you’re the kind of dedicated culture hound who can head out every morning in search of new stimulation with nary a day of lounging around (which is), you too will need a week in Beijing.

And not just for the food…

Trees overhanging water at the Summer Palace, Beijing.

You see, when someone told me you needed to spend either three days or a week on Angkor Wat — and the amazing early Khmer sites that surround it — it didn’t really sink in.

Result? Two intensive days of sightseeing and one very footsore, rather shellshocked wander around a place that really should make every single list of the wonders of the world.

On the plus side, though, I did get a T-shirt (and it even fit!)…

Hey-ho.

Anywise, when folk said we needed a week in Beijing, I listened.

The thing about Beijing, apart from the various world wonders that it holds, is that it’s bloody enormous. Beijing has been the capital of China (with a few breaks for civil wars and suchlike) since Kublai Khan blazed his way out of Mongolia more than 700 years ago.

And everything, nay everything, in the centre of Beijing is built with the kind of megalomaniac grandeur that only emperors who can’t get out of bed without ten thousand concubines and a small army of eunuchs or one-party states with a population of over a billion and a — how can I put this? — brisk attitude to human rights can achieve.

Gate outside the Forbidden City, Beijing.

Tian’anmen Square, for example, is famously the world’s largest public square. That means you need to walk more than half a mile to get from one end to the other. Chuck in extricating yourself from the subway (or, better, walking from your guesthouse in the alleys they call hutong), and that’s a vigorous constitutional in itself. You can walk a good couple of hundred yards just looking for a gap in the railings to cross the road.

Now, people say the Forbidden City is on Tian’anmen Square. It isn’t. It’s a bit of a way to the north of the square. You can add a decent half mile and a hefty acreage of red buildings to your pedometer before you even get to the ticket booth, and, of course, they call the Forbidden City a “city” with good reason.

Beijing also takes a while to get around. The good news is that both buses and subway run regularly and effortlessly and have English language on board. You would, however, be unwise to attempt either — unless you are a fifth dan black belt in elbow jabbing — between 8 and 10 in the morning, or between 4.30 and 6.30 in the evening.

Now, I’m not normally a fan of safari-style sight-bagging (we went to Komodo and didn’t see the dragons). But Beijing is one of few places in the world where this approach is worthwhile.

So, like most people on a week in Beijing, we bagged the Big Four.

The Great Wall

The Great Wall of China on a clear day.
You would, frankly, be a bit mental to visit China as a tourist and not see the Great Wall. You can do this at Mutianyu (where you can toboggan down the slop3) — three hours or so out of the city — or at Badaling (an hour and a half from the city, but rammed with souvenir stalls and people). Generally the best option for folk who don’t like crowds is whatever stretch of “Secret Wall” your guesthouse or hotel does trips to (a couple of hours or so out of the city).

I normally hate group tours. But the Great Wall is so huge that it’s easy enough for a hotel to find a bit with hardly any other tourists. For an independent traveller, unless you speak excellent Chinese or have done extensive research to discover the undiscovered stretch you want, it’s extremely time-consuming.



We waited for a bright day to see the Great Wall, which is genuinely awe-inspiring as it unfolds over the mountaintops for hundreds of miles. On a smoggy day, or in a blizzard, you’ll be hard pushed to see your hand in front of your face and most of the Wall, which is steep with unfenced staircases, won’t be safe to walk on.

Visiting the Great Wall will take you one day. It needs to be a clear one. So allow enough time in Beijing to choose a good day to see it.

The Forbidden City

A stream running across a courtyard of the Forbidden City.
Home to emperors, eunuchs and concubines from the thirteenth until the twentieth century, the Forbidden City dazzles in real life as much as it did in The Last Emperor. The scale, initially, goes beyond impressive into firmly oppressive, as enormous courtyard gives onto enormous courtyard, via enormous throne room after enormous throne room, extending, apparently, for miles.

To capture the reds and golds, the blues and greens, the tranquil waters of the Forbidden City, you’ll want to visit on a sunny day. And you’ll also want to take your time about it — ideally climbing the hill to the north of the City to see it stretching out below you in all its wonders.

The bits we loved about the Forbidden City, in fact, were the more intimate living quarters and gardens to the north and east, a kilometre or so away from the entrance. Like Angkor Wat, it really repays visiting twice — once to get a sense of the scale, and a second time to investigate the details.

The Summer Palace

Sun through smog over the lake of Beijing's Summer Palace in winter.
If the Forbidden City is where the emperors demonstrated their power and might, the Summer Palace was their playground, an enormous pleasure park of opulence and luxury that still dazzles even in winter.

One of the emperors’ summer palaces (the Yuangongyuan) was, famously, destroyed by the British at the end of the Opium Wars. (These are the ones the British fought to force China to abandon prohibition of drugs and accept our opium exports, and look every bit as good in the history books as today’s Oil Wars will look a century or so from now.)

But this summer palace, the Yiheyuan, out in the northwest of the city, is at least as awe-inspiring as the Forbidden City. It’s largely the work of the Empress Dowager Cixi, a lady who progressed from royal concubine to ruler of all China by an unnerving combination of hot sex, manipulation and murder.



Shady gardens of ancient cypresses and countless palaces sit around an enormous lake, lined with bridges, where pleasure boats cruise. One highlight for history geeks? The marble steamboat Cixi had built with money embezzled from the Chinese navy, shortly before it got its ass comprehensively whupped by the Japanese.

Now, I hate to keep saying this, but the Summer Palace is gigantic. It’s really worth spending a day here, wandering, exploring, appreciating the grounds, the buildings and the boats, and getting out further than the tour groups venture.

The Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven, Beijing.
A source of great pride to most Chinese, the Temple of Heaven is one of the best surviving examples of Ming Dynasty architecture. It’s a lovely, tranquil place, set in calm gardens not far from Tian’anmen.

And, unusually for Beijing, the complex is relatively pocket-sized. Meaning this need only take you half a day. Yay!

After the Big Four there is, of course…

The Food

Sichuan shredded potato with pickled greens.
Beijing is an amazing place to discover different sorts of Chinese food, not least because English is, by Chinese standards, widely spoken and both picture menus and English language menus are relatively common, avoiding the “point and hope” approach that can produce gristly surprises.

Don’t miss succulent, gorgeous Beijing-style roast duck and chunky jiaozi dumplings (the classic is pork, but dumpling stores offer them in a cornucopia of flavours and colours).

Sweet treats include candied Chinese haws (and pretty much any fruit, in fact), sunflower seed cakes and ginger honeycake. You can get a headstart on delicious hot-sour Sichuan food at any one of a myriad Sichuanese restaurants, and there’s the range of international restaurants you would expect in a world city.

The Museums

Detail of faded paintwork at Forbidden City, Beijing.
Beijing is not short on museums. There’s at least one museum on everything from trains to militaria to architecture, art, astronomy, calligraphy and jade. Museum buffs could easily spend a week in Beijing trawling these alone.

If you’re not?

The National Museum of China, a gigantic Stalinist-posh edifice opposite the mausoleum where Mao lies pickled on Tian’anmen Square, reopened a few months ago after a complete refurb and is a must-visit. That’s not just for the comedy value of a single building simultaneously housing exhibitions sponsored by BVLGARI and by the Propaganda Department of the People’s Liberation Army.



The basement level, which alone covers a foot-achey 17,000 square metres, offers probably the best overview of Chinese history in the country, all the way through from prehistory to the fall of the emperors. It is well worth a day, or, to combat museum fatigue, a couple of afternoons.

The Theme Park!

Caster at Happy Valley Beijing
If you’re travelling with a child, or your inner child, you would, frankly, be remiss to miss Happy Valley Beijing, one of the best of China’s Happy Valley theme park chain, complete with four full-size rollercoasters and 30-odd fairground-style rides.

The standout? Crystal Wings whirls you face downwards through near-vertical corkscrews between sheer walls, with a balance of pace, pause and drama that is even better than Battlestar Galactica, Singapore.

Not a coaster fan? There’s a hilarious ghost house, a gadzillion fairground rides at paces ranging from terrifying to tame, climbing frames and kitsch aplenty.

If you do one kiddie thing in Beijing, do make it this rather than the waterpark in the Water Cube. That has a couple of good slides in a stunning environment but is freezing in cold weather and feels, frankly, none too hygienic.

The Shows (and the Bars)

Acrobats in Beijing, via Kursal Oostende on flickr.
It would be a shame to go to Beijing and not see Beijing opera, traditional acrobatics or all of the above (not to mention kung fu or circus). Beijing is also an affordable place to get a hit of classical Western culture, be it ballet, opera, or music, often in an iconic building too.

The bar scene, like the restaurant scene, is as grown up and international as you’d expect from a world city with a population of over twenty million.

And More…

It’s easy to spend a week in Beijing. There are parks. Hutong to wander in. Some of the best shopping in China. The contemporary art district. A myriad temples (plus a mosque or two). Street food aplenty. Skating and outdoor skiing in winter…

We spent two, in fact. And we loved it.

Search Agoda for great value Beijing hotels.

Thanks to Kursal Oostende for the acrobat picture.

36 Responses

  1. We spent just over a week in Beijing last winter. It was not nearly enough time. Heck we could have spent a week trying to see all of the Forbidden City alone. It’s enormous! We mainly tried to hit the historic highlights, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, Coal Hill, Summer palace, etc. We didn’t make it to half of the stuff on our list let alone a proper museum. Olympic sights- nope, no time. It is a city that deserves more time and definitely at the very least a second visit from us.

    • Theodora says:

      Amen to that. It’s a city I intend to revisit and spend more time in. Despite the climate, it’s absolutely fascinating — we never got out to the contemporary art district, which we really wanted to visit.

  2. I agree 100%. I spent 5 days there a few years back and it was no where near enough, especially since we devoted a full day to hiking the Simatai Great Wall. The next time I go, it would be at least a week maybe longer…

    • Theodora says:

      Ah — I knew I should have mentioned Simatai. I don’t think there’s any way to do the Great Wall in less than a day, unless you go up to Badaling and just do a photo, but I think you really need to walk at least a bit of it to get the sense of the scale and how it was for the guards at the time. I think we owe Beijing at least another week.

  3. Lisa Wood says:

    I have never been to Beijing, I so would love to 🙂

    The Great Wall of China is on my bucket list, and now so is the theme park!

    The photos are amazing – I guess a week would not be long enough!

    Cheers
    Lisa

    • Theodora says:

      I really would add the Summer Palace to your bucket list. And the Forbidden City. It can leave you a bit cold, but it is absolutely incredible in its scale and detail. And, no, a week isn’t really long enough…

  4. Don Faust says:

    I would love to visit Beijing – I think half of the trip would be a food exploration.

    • Theodora says:

      Then you shouldn’t miss Sichuan, either, Don. Z always says that you haven’t tried Chinese food unless you’ve been to China, and it’s true. One of my favourite restaurants in London was Sichuan style, but the Sichuan food you get even in a standard hole in the wall place beat that hands down. An incredible range of flavours. And so far removed from the standard soy-MSG combination we get in the West that it’s untrue.

  5. Paz says:

    We went to Beijing and only spent three days…totally too short of time. The Great Wall was my favorite! I have to say it was amazing! I wish we would have explored the food a little more. Great pictures!!!

    • Theodora says:

      Three days really isn’t enough, is it? I’m not even sure a week is. I think one’s first encounter with Chinese food is often disappointing, because you have no idea what you’re getting. But I wish I’d done it first in Beijing.

  6. i, too, would head there for the food. 🙂

    • Theodora says:

      The duck is to die for. The best value one we found was on Meishi Jie (south of Tian’anmen), a hole in the wall joint the other side of the roads from McDonalds and a bit north.

  7. hpretty says:

    I think i’l wait til your travel book comes out then book my tour. Safer that way.

    M2M

  8. John says:

    Its not need a week but its need more than week and the places what you have showed here was totally wonderful and really see to visit and each place takes 4-5 days and will visit soon..

  9. Even though we’re in Mexico right now, visiting China is definitely on our bucket list. Our kids are 4 and 7 and I can tell they do enjoy the ride…;-)

    • Theodora says:

      I think it’s a fascinating time to visit China. I reckon your kids will love it. Particularly the sleeper trains.

  10. Dayna says:

    I would love to go to Beijing! The Forbidden City has always been high up on my bucket list. The food and the Temple of Heaven don’t look too shabby either!

    • Theodora says:

      I highly, highly recommend Beijing. The Great Wall is also amazing and well worth adding to your bucket list.

  11. Amanda says:

    I totally agree that you really need at least a week in Beijing – more if possible! I only spent 3 days in Beijing, and didn’t even get to see half of the things on your list!

    • Theodora says:

      Yes. I’d honestly recommend a fortnight, or more. But it doesn’t have quite the ring of a week, particularly in these short attention span days…

  12. because the places are so huge… inside a huge complex, a week is just enough to cover the most important places in beijing. i remember squeezing everything in 3 days and by the last time, my feet were killing me! LOL

  13. Maria says:

    Historical places, beautiful structures, theme parks and delicious food..China is definitely a great place to have a tour. The problem is the language barrier. It would be a good idea to learn a bit of Chinese first just to help us find our way around. I love the photos. China is amazing.

  14. Anthony says:

    Ohh the great wall..its so amazing for me that they built something like that. I promised myself that one day I will walk on it 🙂

  15. Elizabeth says:

    Not in a million years would I board a ride in a Chinese amusement park … after two years living in China, I’ve seen first hand how shoddy maintenance can be (the kids’ playground in our complex should have been condemned) … we make sure not to walk on man hole covers, not trust railings, and keep our eyes wide open.
    That said, we love China, haven’t had many bad toilet experiences (all the malls in our 2nd tier city have decent squats, generally fairly clean) … it is the taxis that bother us and far too often we are requesting “man yi dian” (slow a little) to no avail … however have mastered driving albeit VERY defensively.

    • Theodora says:

      Wow! Maybe I just got unlucky in our third-city malls.

      I’m kind of cavalier about safety after two years in Asia, so taxi drivers no longer scare me, although I didn’t drive in China as I didn’t buy a vehicle. But, yes, you certainly can’t expect things to work or be safe as they would do in the West.

      I love China, though, and looking forward to going back in Autumn, hopefully for a six-month stint with Z in a Chinese school. Are your kids in a local school, or international?

  16. Wow, these pics are incredible! I am heading to Thailand soon for travel writing trips and hope to make it up to China. Everything I see and hear about Beijing makes me want to go there. Thanks for the inspitarion!

    • Theodora says:

      Hey! That’s excellent. China is amazing, it totally rocks. Beijing can feel bewildering at first, but it’s a phenomenal city.

  17. John says:

    Right. It is now Autumn. You are not here. If you like the wall you should check out Great Wall Fresh. Just google it. Went there last week. 50RMB a night for the room. Lovely food.

    • Theodora says:

      Fantastic! And, the way this year is going, it sounds like about the right price for us. Thank you! The only problem is, Zac liked the place we stayed last, which had PlayStation and a flatscreen TV with extensive DVD library, although even in November the heating was, umm, Chinese.

  18. Vicky says:

    Just got to China – and are currently in Beijing. Very excited about spending 6 days here and being able to spread out the sights a bit. Heading to the Forbidden City today and highly looking forward to it!

    • Theodora says:

      It’s fantastic, it really is. I do hope you enjoy Beijing as much as we did. (Oh, and avoid the tea scam. And the art scam. And the fake note scam…)

  19. jalakeli says:

    This post helped tremendously with our trip to Beijing in July, thank you!
    We were there two weeks and very glad for the ‘extra’ time to rehydrate between adventures.