Beijing

The Central Axis, a line through the city

Old Beijing was laid out on either side of a single axis. Running 7.8 km from the Drum and Bell Towers past Jingshan Park (景山公园), the Forbidden City and Tiananmen to Yongdingmen, it was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in July 2024 as the Beijing Central Axis. Once you know the line is there, sights that seemed scattered start to read like stops on a single route. The Temple of Heaven (天坛公园), the imperial altar, sits east of the axis on its southern stretch, and Jingshan, once the palace's back garden, sits directly north of the Forbidden City. Climb the Drum Tower near the north end, look south, and Jingshan and the axis running beyond it come into view together.

The Forbidden City and Jingshan, south to north

Completed in 1420 under the Ming Yongle Emperor, the Forbidden City was home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Today it's the Palace Museum (故宫博物院), and visits run one way, south to north: everyone enters through the Meridian Gate (午门) in the south and leaves by the Gate of Divine Prowess (神武门) in the north or the East Glorious Gate (东华门). Admission is CNY 60 from April to October and CNY 40 from November to March, and the Treasure Gallery (珍宝馆) and the Gallery of Clocks (钟表馆) cost CNY 10 each on top. Step through the Meridian Gate onto the stone courtyard in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony (太和殿), and yellow-tiled roofs stack up one behind another. The farther in you go, the narrower the courtyards and the closer the buildings, so you can feel the shift from the halls of state to the imperial family's living quarters in your stride. Leave by the Gate of Divine Prowess and Jingshan Park is right across the road. Pay CNY 2, climb the hill, and the roofs you've just walked beneath spread out at your feet, the tiles turning gold as the sun drops.

Temple of Heaven mornings, Summer Palace afternoons

The Temple of Heaven went up in 1420, the same year as the Forbidden City, and it's where Ming and Qing emperors offered sacrifices to heaven and prayed for good harvests. Its best-known building is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿), a round hall with three tiers of eaves on a white marble base, but the park is at its liveliest around 6 a.m., when the gates open. Among the old cypress groves, locals fill the park first: practicing tai chi, kicking shuttlecocks, singing together. Paid areas such as the Hall of Prayer, the Echo Wall (回音壁) and the Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛) open at 8, so take a lap of the park before then. In the afternoon, head northwest of the center to the Summer Palace (颐和园). First laid out in 1750 as an imperial garden, it was rebuilt in the late 19th century and given its current name. Keep the broad Kunming Lake (昆明湖) beside you and walk toward Longevity Hill (万寿山), where most of the sights are clustered.

The Great Wall: Badaling or Mutianyu

If you're giving a day to the Great Wall, the two sections people pick most are Badaling (八达岭长城) and Mutianyu (慕田峪长城). Badaling is in Yanqing District, about 60 km northwest of the city. In the Ming dynasty it guarded the way to the imperial tombs and the capital, and being this close to town, it tends to be crowded. Mutianyu, in Huairou District to the north, is a Ming-era section where you walk a ridge lined with closely spaced watchtowers. You ride up in an enclosed cable car, and on the way down you can take a sled-style slide. Tickets are sold by real-name booking, up to 30 days ahead. By public transport, take Express Bus 916 from the Dongzhimen (东直门) transport hub to Huairoubeidajie (怀柔北大街), then change to bus H23, H3 or H71 to the Mutianyu entrance. Climb the stairs inside a watchtower and look out through a narrow window: the wall rises and falls along the ridgeline as far as you can see.

Hutongs and lakes, from the Drum Tower to Houhai

Hutongs are the narrow lanes of Beijing's old neighborhoods. Courtyard-house (四合院) gates line the gray brick walls, bikes stand parked by the doors, and older neighbors spend the middle of the day around a game of Chinese chess. A good place to start is the Drum and Bell Towers at the north end of the axis. Zhonglouwan Hutong (钟楼湾胡同), which wraps around the Bell Tower, keeps an old-Beijing scene of red walls and flocks of pigeons. Come out through Yandai Xiejie (烟袋斜街) and you reach Houhai (后海), one of the lakes that make up Shichahai (什刹海); past Wanning Bridge (万宁桥), you can keep walking to the shop-lined lanes of Nanluoguxiang (南锣鼓巷). Along Houhai's shore, people stroll in the shade of the willows by day; after dark, lights come on in bar after bar and live music drifts across the lake.

Beijing at the table, from duck to zhajiangmian

Peking duck (北京烤鸭) is the city's signature dish. Quanjude (全聚德), founded in 1864, has kept the imperial method of roasting ducks hung in the oven for more than 160 years. Once the skin is crisp, the duck is carved thin beside your table, and you wrap it in a pancake with slivered scallion and cucumber and a swipe of sweet bean sauce. Zhajiangmian (炸酱面) is often described as the root of Korean jajangmyeon. The fried sauce is dark and salty, and toppings like julienned cucumber and bean sprouts come on the side for you to add and mix yourself. It's a long way from the sweet flavor the name might bring to mind. When the weather turns cold, shuan yangrou (涮羊肉), thin mutton swished in a charcoal-heated copper pot and dipped in sesame sauce, is just right. In winter lanes you'll often see tanghulu (糖葫芦): red hawthorn fruits coated in sugar and threaded on skewers.

A 3-night, 4-day itinerary

Day 1 — Enter the Forbidden City through the Meridian Gate → Gate of Divine Prowess → Jingshan Park at sunset → Peking duck dinner in Wangfujing (王府井) Day 2 — Temple of Heaven at 6 a.m. → lunch on Qianmen (前门) Street → Summer Palace in the afternoon Day 3 — Mutianyu Great Wall (leave early in the morning) → back to the city → shuan yangrou dinner Day 4 — Drum and Bell Towers → Zhonglouwan Hutong → Yandai Xiejie → stroll around Houhai → Nanluoguxiang → airport

What to eat

• Peking duck (long-standing houses like Quanjude)
• Zhajiangmian (noodles you top and mix yourself)
• Shuan yangrou (mutton hot pot in a copper pot)
• Tanghulu (sugar-glazed hawthorn skewers)

Handy tips

• The Forbidden City doesn't sell same-day tickets. Booking opens at 8 p.m. local time seven days before your visit on the official website or WeChat mini program; reserve with your passport and show the same passport at the gate.
• The Forbidden City is closed on Mondays (except public holidays), and the Temple of Heaven's paid areas, such as the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, open Tuesday to Sunday only. Save Mondays for the Great Wall or a hutong walk.
• Subway gates take overseas-issued Visa and Mastercard contactless cards, so you can just tap and ride. It works on all 27 lines, including the two airport lines, but dual-branded cards (two network logos on one card) and dual-currency cards aren't supported yet, so set up the Alipay metro QR code as a backup.