What to see/visit ?
In other places in China, most
of Beijing's sights would at a minimum classify as "nice" but this is
expensive and extensive Beijing so it seems fair to make a more drastic
selection...
The must see (or else...) :
-
Forbidden City "Gu Gong" (6513 2255) : Y30 + Y5 jewellery + Y5 clocks' exhibition + other museums (also a Y50 all inclusive ticket but not recommended) / Part of UNESCO World Heritage List since 1987 / Open 8:30 to 17 daily (ticket window close at 15:30) / Buses 1, 4, 10, 22, 37, 57, 203 / Quite a few people are disappointed by what they see but at least they can now talk about it...
Summer Palace "Yiheyuan" (6288 1144) : Y8 entrance, Y5 Grand stage, Y10 Buddhist Sea of Wisdom Temple, Y15 Suzhou street or Y25 all inclusive ticket (not recommended) / Part of UNESCO World Heritage List since 1998 / Open 7 to 18:30 / Bus 301, 203, 332, 333, 346, 374, 384, 904 or tourist minibus from zoo or, when in operation, a boat from near the zoo or Metro to Xizhimen Station (Y3) then Bus 375 (Y2) to the terminus.
The Great Wall at Simatai : Y20, Bus to Miyun from Dongzhimen Bus Station and then another bus or a Tour Bus from Jinghua Hotel (60Y, dep. 8am return 6pm, around 20 peoples) / Forget about the monkeys, bears and Chinese tourists of Badaling and visit the wall where (and while) it is still relatively undisturbed (which does not mean unexploited)... See below for more info about other spots.
Backpacker's Tips :
Blaise Fiedler, France (July 05)
« Summer Palace: Finding the bus no 375 stop at Xizhimen underground
station is very difficult. Here's how: take exit A, turn
a sharp left, follow the road around the bend for approx
100m. There are then 2 different directions the no 375
takes. To get to the summer palace take direction
HANJIACHUAN NANKOU - The Zhengyici Theatre is closed for
renovations / given its state it seems it will be closed
for long. I recommend going to the Lao She Teahouse
instead - great shows start at 7:50pm. »
The very nice sights :
-
Lama Temple (6404 3769) : Y15, open 9 to 16:30, Subway Yonghegong, Bus 2 or 116 / Very colorful, quite big and definitively spectacular with the biggest sculpture carved from a single trunk of (sandal) wood in the world : a portrait of Maitreya, Buddha of the future, 18 m visible plus 6 meters underground...
-
Jingshan Park : Y3 / Go there for the view, the relative peace and to see where the last Ming Emperor hanged himself... A much nicer (and cheaper) experience than getting up Tiananmen gate...
-
Temple of Heaven Park "Tiantan Gongyuan" (6702 2617) : Y14, open 8 to 17:30 daily, Bus 6,106 to North Entrance / Listed in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998 / This is now the symbol of Beijing and if you have traveled a bit in China you must have seen its picture in numerous ads or posters. Now is the time to see the original structure, on location within its nice garden, and without any products nearby (a lot are waiting for you outside however...)
The nice sights :
-
Confucius Temple (6407 3593) : 9 to 17 Tues-Sun, Bus 13,113,104,108 to Andingmennei Jie or subway to Yonghegong then walk
-
Western Fragrant Hills "Xianshan Gongyuan" (6259 1155) : Y10, open 6 to 19, Bus 318 from Pingguoyuan, 333 from Summer Palace or 360 from Dongwumen
Backpacker's
Tips : Yves Mestric, France (Aug 02)
« 5 places of interest in Beijing raised their ticket prices on August 1st (source China Daily):
-The Imperial Palace Museum (Forbidden City): 60Y during the peak season from April 1 to October 31, 40Yduring the off season;
-The Lama Temple (Yong He Gong): 25Y year round;
-Beijing Zoo: 15Y peak season, 10Y off season;
-Beihai Gongyuan (North Sea Park) and Xiangshan Gongyuan (Fragrant Hills Park): 10Y peak season, 5Y off season.
»
Backpacker's
Tips : Anonymous (Sept 01)
« Another nice thing to do is to watch a
Beijing Opera performance. There are a number of places and it is best to skip
the shows designed for tourists (more expensive and not always the real stuff). »
Places also worth checking if you have the time :
-
Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (6513 2277) : free, open 8:30-11:30 Mon to Sat and 14-16 Mon, Wed & Fri, except during summer
Old Summer Palace "Yuanmingyuan" (6255 1488) : Y10, open 6:30 to 19, Minibus 375 from Xizhimen Subway / A tourist trap for some however as very busy with Chinese tourists and therefore not quiet at all. If you go, avoid WE !
-
Great Hall of the People (6309 6156) : Y3, open 8:30 to 14 daily
-
Beihai Park (6404 0610) : Y10, open 6 to 20, Bus 13,101,103,107,109,111
Museums :
-
Museum of Chinese History (6512 9381) : Y3 for the last 140 years + Y5 for the previous years, open 8:30 to 15:30 Tues-Sun, entrance on west side (Tiananmen square)
-
Museum of the Chinese Revolution (6526 3355) : 8:30 to 17 Tues-Sun
-
Ancient Bell Museum & Big Bell Temple (6255 0843) : 8:30 to 16:30 daily
-
Beijing Museum of Natural History (6702 4431) : 8:30 to 17 daily
-
Capital Museum and Library (6401 2799) : 9 to 17 Tues-Sun, Bus 2, 13, 42, 116, 104, 108
-
China Art Museum (6401 9833), Y4, open 9 to 17 (last ticket 16) Tues-Sund
-
China Sport Museum (6491 2233) : 3A Anding Lu, 8:30 to 16:30 daily
-
China Stamp Museum (6302 2542) : 9 to 16 Tues-Sun
-
Military Museum (6851 4441) : 8:30 to 17 daily, Subway to Military Museum Station, Bus 1,4,57
Other places :
-
Temple of Earth Park "Ditan Gongyuan" (6421 4657) : 6 to 20:30, near Yonghegong Subway Station
-
Working People's Cultural Palace (6525 3113) : Y2, open 6 to 21
-
Altar of the moon park "Yuetan Gongyuan" (6802 0940) : 6 to 20, afternoon stamp market
-
Altar of the Sun Park "Ritan Gongyuan" (6502 1743) : 6:30 to 20:30 daily, Bus 1, 4, 9, 29, 48, 57, 103
-
Ancient Observatory (6524 2202) : 9 to 11 & 13 to 16:30 Wed-Sun
-
Drum Tower : 9 to 16:30, Subway Gulou Zhan, Bus 5,44,58,107
-
Zhongshan Park (6605 5431) : 6:30 to 20
-
Niu Jie Mosque (6353 2564) : usually 9 to 21, Bus 61
-
White Cloud Temple (6346 3531) : 8:30 to 16:30 daily
-
White Dagoba Temple (6616 0023) : 9 to 16:30
-
Honglongjin Park (6502 1385) : 6 to 21, Bus 9 to Jintailu then walk
-
Chaoyang Park, the largest in Beijing with water area 3 times larger than Beihai Park. By night a theme park for children open to 5am. Open 8am to 5am. Y0.3. Bus 115 or 43 to terminus.
Not really worth the price or the fuss :
-
Ming Tombs (6976 1424) : Y20 +Y12 Animals avenue, 8 to 17:30 daily, Tourist bus 1,2,3,4,5 / Not much to see and no photos allowed anyway
-
Eastern Qing Tombs : Y90
Tiananmen Gate : Y15 plus bag storage fee, open 8:30 to 16:30 / You go up and you see Tiananmen Square. Exciting ?
Suzhou Street at the Summer Palace : Y15 / A kistchy Chinese tourist trap
The Great Wall ? Listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1987
-
Badaling (6912 1235) : Y30, 6 to 18:30 Mon-Fri., 6 to 22 Sat & Sun, Tourist bus 1,2,3,4,5 from Qianmen, Beijing Railway Station, Zoo or Dongdaqiao / The most touristy part of the wall with a small restored section of the wall. Fortunately, it is also possible to reach unrebuilt sections from there...
-
Jinshanling : Y40 / 50km from city / Bus to Chengde can let you off about 5km from Jinshanling (Y16) / One of the less visited and best preserved part but tricky to reach
-
Mutianyu (6964 2022) : 6:30 to 18, Bus 916 to Huairou from Dongzhimen Long Distance Bus station then tourist bus / 90km / Very touristy /
Simatai (6993 1095) : 8 to 17, Bus to Miyun County from Dongzhimen Long Distance Bus station then minibus to Simatai / The wildest section / See above for more details ("the must see")
See bus schedules to the Great Wall
Backpacker's Tips :
Blaise Fiedler, France (July 05)
« Great Wall at Simatai: This is a fabulous experience as very few
tourists are there. If you go there independently and
leave Beijing very early you can even be on the wall
completely alone! To go there by yourself there are no
direct buses to Simatai - you must take a bus to Miyun
and then hire a taxi there which will cost you 120Y
return, including the driver's wait (count on 3-4h to
get there from Beijing). Count approx. 4 hours at the
site. I also recommend walking until the very end of the
wall - many people stop at the 12th tower - you should
continue another 10 minutes until a Y200 fine sign
(don't worry - you're not concerned) - great view from
there. The great wall at Huanghua is currently closed.
»
Backpacker's
Tips
:
Mark
E.,
UK
(September
03)
« Jinsdhaling Great Wall:
Entry costs 30Y not 40
The cable car (55Y) is utterly unnecessary unless you're a total cripple.
You say "Bus to Chengde can let you off about 5km from Jinshanling (Y16) / One of the less visited and best
preserved part but tricky to reach"
The two sentences are contradictory. BECAUSE the Chengde bus can let you off 5km from the site it is
THEREFORE the very
easiest of all the main wall sites to reach! The point to get off is very obviously marked
(in Chinese) and has a huge stone gateway-arch on the east side of the main road beside a km post 133 (from
where?!). The site is 4-5km through the gate and beyond - pay no more than 10Y for a taxi. Should be less. For
continuing to Beijing (or Chengde if you're heading that way) white minibuses on the Chengde-Beijing run are
very frequent - we waited only 5 mins for one to go by, (full) but flagged down a second one 3 mins later. Note
that those that are already full take the signs out of their front windows. LP says the buses leave from
Dongzhimen in Beijing - don't know the truth as we took the bus TO Beijing and got out at Dongzhimen metro
station (request stop - might be hard to recognise if you didn't know Beijing), however the bus continued into
town somewhere (don't know where).
Chengde-Jingshaling turnoff 20Y. J turnoff to Beijing 30Y.»
Backpacker's
Tips : Ruth, Chinese (Nov 01)
« Simatai peak at the border between Hubei-Hunan
: Remote, most dangerous. A Real experience. Hiking
the ruins of the one mighty great wall. Camping in
towers. Seeing the best view from atop the highest
peak of the great wall. Definitively not the
museum-like refinished Great Wall you'd expect (ie.
Badaling).
Backpacker's
Tips : Anonymous (Oct 01)
«There are places worth trekking. One
of
those
is
Jiankou.
You
can
walk
one
day
from
there
to
the
direction
of
Mutianyu.
There
is
no
entrance
fee
and,
as
not
yet
mentioned
in
the
guide
books,
little
people.
Another
one
is
Huanghua,
60km
from
Beijing.
Although interesting, this part now has a Y15
entrance fee and a few stalls are starting to
appear...»
Around Beijing ?
-
Chengde : (3), train No225 (0729 arr 1210), return No226 (1431 arr 1914). The Largest imperial garden with the biggest group of temples
-
Longqing Gorge
-
Tanzhe Temple (Beijing oldest temple) and Lingshan Mountain, (the highest peak). Bus No336, 326, 921, 931 to Hetan stop off Mentougou District. No931 from Pingguoyuan go directly to Lingshan Mountain & Tangzhe. Tour bus 7 from Qianmen go to Jietai Temple and Tanzhe.
Backpacker's
Tips
:
Mark
E.,
UK
(September
03)
« Chengde
Info:
Now Train No K711 dep 07.20, approx 4hrs. 41Y seat. From Beijing central station. Can buy ticket from window
in the front wall of the station (look for K711 listed to find correct window) rather than going into the station
itself.
On arrival at Chengde touts may bundle you off to a hotel. This seemed a ligit free ride into the centre. They
showed us 120Y doubles in a couple
of ragged old Chinese hotels which bargained themselves down to 80 or
60 (double with bath) when we walked away.
Getting to the Puning Si temple (50Y ouch! but great) take big blue bus 6 from outside Mountain View Hotel.
DO NOT TAKE the little minibus 6 that goes the wrong way from the same bus stop!!
Mountain View hotel is the usual traveller place, but doubles cost 200 (normal discount from 280) in the 'guest
house' section at the back across a courtyard. Much better deals but you have to ask specifically are the 180Y
triples downstairs in the main block(discounts to 150 or less).
What you may like: Brilliantly positioned for the Palace/Park, the decent standards as you'd expect at this price
What you may not like: the rat in the heating ducts, the lack of dorms (find someone on the train from Beijing to
share with)»
Itineraries ?
-
Day 1 : Tiananmen square, Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, (Beihai Park)
-
Day 2 : Tiantan Temple, (Longtan Park), Lama Temple, (Confucius Temple)
-
Day 3 : Fragrant Hills Park, Summer Palace, Old summer palace
-
Day 4 : Great Wall at Simatai
