Modernity meets thousand-year-old culture in one of the safest cities in the world. The majority of cars in Beijing are electric. Mobile phones have become an integral part of everyday life. Everything is under video surveillance. At the same time, the city has an incredible cultural heritage. For us tourists who have already seen a lot of the world, the sights were hard to beat in terms of size, power and splendour. We quickly learnt that we had to allow at least twice as much time for each sight.
Temple of the Son of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven is a large park where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties prayed for a good harvest. Construction began in 1406 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor. The area is very extensive, around three times larger than the Forbidden City. The most important building is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest (pictured below). This is where the imperial ceremonies took place with harvest offerings and incense. Other notable buildings include the Echo Wall, the Danbi Bridge and the three-tiered Marble Terrace.
We paid 34 RMB per person for the entrance ticket with access to all temples and halls.
Recommended time for sightseeing: 2 hours
The beginning of the People’s Republic on Tian’anmen Square
It is known as the largest fortified square in the world: On Tiananmen Square, Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the Communist People’s Republic of China in Beijing in 1949. After Mao’s death in 1976, a mausoleum was erected for him on the same square. Directly to the north of Tiananmen Square is the Forbidden City with the Palace Museum.
Forbidden City: 500 years the seat of the emperor
Beijing’s imperial palace: The Forbidden City served as the residence of the Ming and Qing dynasties from 1420 to 1912. Over 24 rulers were enthroned there until the Republic was proclaimed in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty. There are over 9,000 buildings covering more than one million square metres that amaze visitors. You can even see the old imperial throne.
The heart of the Forbidden City is the Palace Museum. You can only walk through the many temples with a ticket for the Palace Museum. Unfortunately, we only found out at the entrance that you can’t buy tickets on site. Tickets must be booked online and at least 24 hours in advance (closed on Mondays). The visit is well worth it, the palace museum is gigantic!
We paid 11 USD per person for the ticket.
Recommended time for sightseeing: 3 hours
Climbing stairs on the Great Wall of China in Mutianyu
Over 21,196 kilometers: The Great Wall of China was built in northern China as a border to protect against nomadic invaders. Its construction began in the 7th century BC and lasted over 2,000 years. Today, various sections of the Great Wall of China are open to tourists. From Beijing, Badaling, Mutianyu and Jinshanling are the most famous places. Badaling is the easiest to reach from Beijing, but is also known to have the most tourists and is very well preserved. We thought Jinshanling was too far away for a day trip. That’s why we opted for Mutianyu.
Mutianyu is known for its many stairs and beautiful views. A total of 23 towers are accessible to visitors. That’s quite enough, because the stairs in between take a lot of time and energy. But the views are fantastic! If you’re not that sporty, you can take the cable car up and down instead of walking the 1,000 steps from the entrance to the wall. There is even a toboggan run where you can slide down into the valley. If you like sport, you can walk the 1,000 steps up to the entrance to the wall, but save yourself the ticket for the cable car.
How do you get to Mutianyu? We read that there is a tourist bus that goes directly from Donghzimen Bus Station to Mutianyu at 8.30 am. Unfortunately, none of the staff knew anything about this bus. So we asked Amap (Gaode Maps) and took bus no. 916 from Donghzimen Station, which took us for 6 RMB to the bus stop “Huairou Beida Street” (coordinates 40°20′05.49″N 116°37′41.79″E). From there, bus no. H23 took us to the ticket office. The entrance fee for the Great Wall of China was 60 RMB per person (approx. 8 EUR). With the ticket for the gondola it was about 140 RMB. It took us three hours to walk all the way from the hotel by bus to the entrance and then up the stairs to the wall.
We paid 60 RMB per person for the ticket. With the gondola ride it costs around 140 RMB.
Recommended time for sightseeing: 4 hours
Summer Palace (Kunming Lake)
The New Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) is located in the northwest of Beijing and comprises many gardens, palaces and lakes. It was built in 1750 by order of the Qing Emperor Qianlong and is now the largest royal garden in the whole of China. The area covers around three square kilometers with many sights. On the banks of Kunming Lake, for example, there is a marble boat. You can walk across the bridge with 17 arches to Nanhu Island. There are important buildings on Longevity Hill and you have a beautiful view of Kunming Lake. You can easily spend half a day or more here.
We paid 30 RMB per person for the entrance ticket.
Recommended time for sightseeing: 4 hours
