What to do in Beijing

Ritchie-
I just got back from Beijing on a quick 4 day trip over a long weekend. It's a great city. I'll give you our itinerary that we just through together- we saw all we wanted in the short time and it all worked out great. We stayed at the Beijing Downtown Backpackers Hostel which is phenominal and right in the middle of everything.
We arrived early day 1, afternoon we walked to the Forbidden City and bummed around tian'anmen square- it's certainly an afternoon's worth or more. Day 2 we hiked 10 km of the great wall from the Jinshanling to Simitai sections. it was 3 hr. from the city, but worth it and away from the crowds. day 3 we rented bikes- little scary at times, but a super bike friendly town due to the olympics reconstructions. this opened up the sites of the city a lot more for us. we biked to the pearl market, another market i cant think of the name, the olympic park and buildings which are cool. last day we walked to a drum bell tower and a sweet lake area- sorry about the lack of names- maybe someone else has more specifics- it had some good night life, bars, and live music all along the water and was still happening during the day.
I know next to nothing in chinese, Nihao and Sheay sheay (hello and thankyou) and we ran into a big lack of english or willingness of it while there. luckily we bought a small phrasebook that helped immeasurably- I would recommend that.

I got a couple of blogs on our time there- feel free to check them out .

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The lake distriction will be known as 'houhai' (although each lake has a different name), and is north west of the forbidden city.

Keep in mind there are at least 3 parts of the great wall open to the public, of which the simatai part is most distant and least crowded. Also a little more difficult to reach, but doable (especially if you book a tour, but that's a waste of money). And after all, it's just a huge pile of stones.

Forbidden city, well, you have to see it. I found it more entertaining to just hang out on the big square, yes it's got a name, in front of there. Don't listen to art students trying to sell you their art. Just north of the forbidden city are some shrines with low entrance fees. Nothing special, but one of them had a hill with nice view of the forbidden city frmo the north side.

Special for Beijing are the hutongs, poor looking streets where they sell you tourist crap and where you can find cheap hostels (normally the backpackers region of an asian city is in china town... but I couldn't find any china town in Beijing), and little courtyards with houses that look really cheap but you can never afford them. There are some famous ones, of which I only remember one just west of Qianmen lu, which is south of tiananmen square.

However, Beijing remains a polluted stinking city and there are better things to see outside of there. Reply to this

It's already 3 years ago since I went to Simitai. At that time, I took the subway to a bus station (can't remember which, but this was mentioned in the lonely planet). In this minivan there was a guy shouting 'simatai simatai simatai' (which really sounds different from how you expect it would), and then he dropped me, 1 hour later, at another parking place. From there I had to rent a van, which I could share with other travellers (100 rmb, shared by 5).

The trip to get there was more fun than the wall itself. Reply to this

798 art galleries is fun and interesting and gives you an insite into the world of china Reply to this

Hey OceanJeff. I too will be in Beijing soon. Oct 8th. I am not couchsurfing this trip but I am interested in trying to cram in as much as I can for the few days I'm in Beijing. Got the M part of the wall covered, just looking for stuff to do right around the Dongchang area where I'm staying. Would love some advice. Private message me if you can. Thanks. Andrea aka Cabochick. Reply to this

Hello,
I have been to Beijing and really the experience I had is bittersweet. I had difficulty communicating because they have a different language but when it comes to the sights that I saw and the places I have been in there, really nice I have to say. They have this traditional theatre that I saw, because it was near the accommodation that I had through <snip>, that show really made me remember Beijing. It shows how rich their culture is, eventhough I don’t understand what they are talking about, I still enjoyed the show.


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The parks are fantastic and well worth the few kwai it costs to get in, you will see the Chinese doing all sorts of things, line dancing, tai chi, kites, singing - you name it! hou hai is the area with three lakes in a row north to south, Bei Hai is surrounded by eating and drinking options, there's a cool cafe with a roof top area from which you can watch human and rickshaw traffic over Silver Ingot Bridge for hours with a cool beer
Good fixed price gift shopping along a restored hutong running from Silver Ingot bridge towards the drum tower - can't remember the exact name but it has to do with a pipe! Taxi's are cheap and infinitely preferable to line 1 on the subway at rush hour ( although that is an experience in its own right). Just be sure to have a map showing where you want to go, not all the taxi drivers have any English
The subway is amazingly good for getting around on though ( except at rush hour!) get a prepaid swipe card at any subway station, just watch what the locals are doing as there are two kinds, a reloadable and a one use.
Lama Temple is well worth a visit, just down the road and around the corner is the Confucius temple, and a good vegetarian restaurant is opposite the entrance to the Confucian temple
Food street... mmmm... fabulous! specially at night all lit up with red lanterns. Get off the subway at Beixinquao... you will not be able to miss where to go. Lama Temple Hostel is a great back packer hostel in that area as well.
If doing a walk along the Great Wall, do the ten kilometre one, its way less crowded, and way more exciting. Be aware that you will be followed by elderly Chinese locals toting back packs of water etc to sell, they are amazingly fit and will follow you along for ages
I also love ambling around and usually get lost as well in the hutongs. Dont be scared to get off the beaten track a bit! I am 50, and have covered a lot of Beijing on foot alone.
Enjoy!


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You shoud visit Yonghegong (Lama Temple) in Bejing. It is just as beautiful, if not more so, than the more well known temples, and draws fewer crowds. You should also visit Panjiayuan, the main antique market. If possible, go to the Simatai section of the Great Wall instead of Badaling (way too crowded). I also recommend taking a hutong tour. Reply to this