Best Things to Do in Beijing

Beijing rewards travellers who balance monumental imperial complexes with quiet courtyard lanes, classical lakeside gardens and a full day in the northern mountains. Group your days by district so you spend your energy on stone ramparts and shaded park paths rather than crossing ring roads twice.

1. Walk south to north through the Forbidden City. Enter through the towering Meridian Gate to cross the marble bridges of the Outer Court, study the ceremonial thrones of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and explore the Treasure Gallery and the intimate courtyards of the Six Western and Eastern Palaces.
2. Climb Jingshan Park for the palace rooftop view. Step straight out of the northern palace gate and climb ten minutes up Coal Hill to Wanchun Pavilion, where the entire sea of yellow glazed roofs stretches south along the Central Axis.
3. Hike the Ming Great Wall at Mutianyu or Jinshanling. Ride the cable car up to Mutianyu's serrated pine ridge and climb to Watchtower 20, or head further northeast to Jinshanling for half-restored brick battlements and sweeping mountain views toward Simatai.
4. Visit the Temple of Heaven in the morning. Watch local residents practise tai chi and water calligraphy beneath ancient cypress trees before walking the raised stone causeway to the blue-tiled Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Echo Wall.
5. Stroll Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace. Follow the painted beams of the Long Corridor along the shore, climb Longevity Hill to the Tower of Buddhist Incense, and cross the Seventeen-Arch Bridge.
6. Explore the Drum and Bell Towers and Shichahai lakes. Climb the steep stairs of the Ming Drum Tower, then wander the waterfront alleys around Qianhai and Houhai, crossing Silver Ingot Bridge into quiet courtyard lanes.
7. Breathe incense at the Lama Temple (Yonghegong) and Confucius Temple. Stand before the eighteen-metre sandalwood Maitreya Buddha inside Beijing's premier Tibetan monastery, then walk down tree-lined Guozijian Street and Wudaoying Hutong.
8. See ancient bronzes at the National Museum of China. Spend a focused morning in the underground Ancient China galleries examining Shang ritual vessels, Han jade suits and Tang tri-colour ceramics.
9. Browse galleries in the 798 Art District. Walk through mid-century Bauhaus factory halls converted into contemporary art centres, bookshops and industrial sculpture plazas in Dashanzi.
10. Feast on Peking roast duck and copper-pot mutton hotpot. Pair amber-skinned duck wrapped in paper-thin pancakes with an evening of sliced lamb swished in a charcoal-heated brass pot.