Attraction
Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
The walled palace of the Ming and Qing emperors, now the Palace Museum, with almost a thousand surviving buildings and a vast collection of art and…
The list of things to do in Beijing starts with the imperial city: the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace, all World Heritage Sites, along with Tiananmen Square and the National Museum of China at the heart of the capital. Beyond the monuments, the hutong lanes around Shichahai, Gulou and Qianmen still hold courtyard houses, temples and old shops, while the Great Wall at Mutianyu and the Ming Tombs are within a day trip. Chaoyang, to the east, is the modern side of the city, with the CBD, the embassy district and the 798 Art Zone.
Food is a major reason to come. Peking duck at Quanjude or DaDong, halal mutton hotpot, shaomai on Qianmen and the snacks of Huguosi Street sit alongside some of China's most acclaimed restaurants, including three-Michelin-star Xin Rong Ji. Four or five days covers the main sights, a Great Wall trip and plenty of eating, with an extra day or two for museums, hiking or the art districts. Advance booking is essential for the Forbidden City, and most major sights ask for your passport.
Attraction
The walled palace of the Ming and Qing emperors, now the Palace Museum, with almost a thousand surviving buildings and a vast collection of art and…
Attraction
The Ming and Qing emperors' altar complex for prayers for good harvests, set in a large park where Beijing residents gather each morning to exercise and…
Attraction
The Qing dynasty imperial garden on Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, with the Long Corridor, the Marble Boat and the Tower of Buddhist Incense.
Attraction
The vast square at the heart of Beijing, framed by the Tiananmen gate, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum and the Qianmen gate…
Attraction
A working Tibetan Buddhist temple in a former princely residence, best known for an 18-metre Maitreya Buddha carved from a single piece of white sandalwood.
Attraction
China's national museum on the east side of Tiananmen Square, with free permanent galleries covering ancient China from prehistoric times to the Qing dynasty.
Café
A traditional-style Qianmen teahouse named after the writer Lao She, serving tea and snacks by day and staging Peking opera and folk arts shows in the…
Café
A café, bar and gallery in a renovated courtyard house on Gulou East Street, serving North European breakfasts, homemade cakes, coffee and cocktails near the Drum…
Café
A small café by the Shichahai lakes whose fourth-floor rooftop terrace overlooks Houhai and the Drum and Bell Towers, serving coffee, cold drinks and light meals.
Café
A time-honoured dessert shop near Niujie, founded in 1888, that makes nailao, the traditional Beijing milk curd set with fermented glutinous rice wine.
Café
A time-honoured snack house on Gulou East Street, dating from 1858, serving chatang millet paste and almond, lotus root and water chestnut teas.
Café
A small café on Jingshan West Street, beside Jingshan Park, known for flower-topped coffee and tea drinks and a garden terrace with bamboo and peonies.
Hotel
A five-star, all-suite hotel on Goldfish Lane off Wangfujing, home to the Michelin-starred French restaurant Jing and the courtyard-style Cantonese restaurant Huang Ting.
Hotel
A luxury hotel spread across 42 traditional courtyard houses in the Qianmen hutongs, with Cantonese and Italian dining, a hutong cocktail bar and a spa.
Hotel
A luxury hotel in Chaoyang with seven restaurants and lounges, including the Michelin-starred House of Dynasties, a large heated indoor pool and the Sense spa.
Hotel
A 27-storey luxury hotel in Chaoyang's Liangmaqiao area, with residential-style rooms, an indoor pool, a spa and the Mio and Cai Yi Xuan restaurants.
Hotel
A mid-range Accor hotel on Jinyu Hutong, a short walk from Wangfujing and about 1.5 km from the Forbidden City, with a pool, gym, restaurant and…
Hotel
A design hotel by MUJI near Qianmen, about 450 metres from Tiananmen Square, with a rooftop diner, a 24-hour book lounge and simple rooms using bamboo…
Bar
A cocktail bar on the 80th floor of the China World Summit Wing in the CBD, billed as Beijing's highest, with city views, live acts and…
Bar
The cocktail bar and late-night lounge of Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing, with an outdoor terrace looking over the roofs of the Forbidden City.
Bar
The Beijing branch of New York's Blue Note jazz club, opened in 2016 underground at 23 Qianmen East Street, with live jazz most nights and French…
Bar
An intimate live jazz bar by Houhai Lake, opened in 2006 by saxophonist Liu Yuan as a home for Beijing's jazz musicians and jam sessions.
Bar
The original brewpub of Great Leap Brewing, opened in 2010 in a renovated courtyard house near Nanluoguxiang and known for beers made with Chinese ingredients.
Bar
A large Jing-A Brewing taproom on Qianliang Hutong with 32 taps, draft cocktails and brick-oven sourdough pizzas in a vintage industrial setting.
Restaurant
The first branch of Beijing's best-known roast duck restaurant, founded on Qianmen in 1864 and still roasting ducks in hanging ovens over hardwood fires.
Restaurant
A Michelin-starred contemporary Chinese restaurant in Dongcheng, known for roast duck from young birds and tableside braised sea cucumber.
Restaurant
A two-Michelin-star vegetarian restaurant in a converted courtyard house beside the Lama Temple, serving long seasonal tasting menus that can be made vegan.
Restaurant
The three-Michelin-star flagship of the Xin Rong Ji group, serving Taizhou cooking and East China Sea fish in an elegant modern dining room in Chaoyang.
Restaurant
The main branch of Beijing's best-known halal hotpot brand, founded in 1903 and famous for instant-boiled mutton, now in the APM mall on Wangfujing Street.
Restaurant
A Michelin Bib Gourmand halal hotpot restaurant from the Niujie Muslim quarter, cooking lean grassland lamb in rows of copper charcoal steamboats.
Thing to do
A restored Ming section of the Great Wall about 70 km north-east of Beijing, with 22 watchtowers, a cable car, a chairlift and a toboggan ride…
Thing to do
Three linked lakes north of Beihai Park, once the end of the Grand Canal, surrounded by hutongs, princely mansions, bars and the Drum and Bell Towers.
Thing to do
A former 1950s electronics factory complex in Chaoyang, now Beijing's best-known art district with galleries, studios, design shops and the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art.
Thing to do
Beijing's largest antiques and collectibles market, near the South Third Ring Road, with stalls selling ceramics, calligraphy, jade, furniture and second-hand books.
Thing to do
The burial ground of thirteen Ming emperors in a valley in Changping, with the stone-lined Sacred Way and the open tombs of Changling, Dingling and Zhaoling.
Tour operator
A Beijing hiking company running since 2001, leading scheduled group hikes on unrestored Great Wall sections and in the hills and villages around the city.
Tour operator
A Beijing tour company founded in 2011 that runs guided day hikes, multi-day treks and camping trips on wild and restored sections of the Great Wall.
Tour operator
A Beijing history company founded in 2005 that runs hutong walks and talks from its public history space in Dashilar, drawing on its collection of old…
Tour operator
A cultural centre in a Dongcheng courtyard house running Chinese cooking classes, tea tastings, a Maliandao tea market tour and culinary and day tours.
Tour operator
Small-group hutong food tours run by Lost Plate, whose China operations are managed from Beijing, with evening, breakfast and Great Wall day options.
Four or five days covers the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, a Great Wall day trip and plenty of eating, with extra days for museums, hutong walks or hiking.
Wangfujing and Qianmen are central for the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, the hutongs of Dongcheng suit travellers who want courtyard hotels, and Chaoyang is convenient for the CBD, embassies and nightlife.
Beijing has two international airports, Capital and Daxing; the drive to the centre takes roughly 30 to 50 minutes depending on the airport and traffic. Use metered taxis from the official rank and avoid unlicensed drivers.
It can suit most budgets: the permanent galleries of the National Museum and the 798 Art Zone are free, park tickets are modest, and snacks and dumplings are inexpensive, while luxury hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants sit at the top of the price scale.
Beijing is generally safe, but watch for petty theft around stations, tea and art scams and unlicensed taxis, and do not hike remote Great Wall sections alone.