China Footnotes — Beijing (北京): 20 places for a first visit
Walk the Forbidden City in the morning, eat Peking duck at night. Beijing is the China you read about — and the Great Wall is only a day trip away.
Data version 4729dd1ef515, generated 2026-10-07T20:25:51.372Z.
How to use this file
- Read every Beijing place in full: https://chinafootnotes.com/beijing/llms-full.txt
- Read one place: https://chinafootnotes.com/places/{id}.md
- JSON: https://chinafootnotes.com/api/places?city=beijing · https://chinafootnotes.com/api/cities/beijing
- Before you go (visa, paying, apps, internet, booking ahead): https://chinafootnotes.com/before-you-go.md
- The whole guide, all cities: https://chinafootnotes.com/llms.txt
Key figures
- Population: 21.8 million (2025)
- Area: 16410 km² (2026-03-25)
Weather by month
- Jan: 2.3 °C / -6.9 °C, about 0.5 rain days
- Feb: 6.1 °C / -4.2 °C, about 1.2 rain days
- Mar: 13.2 °C / 1.9 °C, about 1.7 rain days
- Apr: 21 °C / 9 °C, about 3 rain days
- May: 27.2 °C / 15.1 °C, about 3.9 rain days
- Jun: 30.8 °C / 20 °C, about 6.9 rain days
- Jul: 31.8 °C / 23 °C, about 8.8 rain days
- Aug: 30.7 °C / 22 °C, about 7.3 rain days
- Sep: 26.5 °C / 16.3 °C, about 4.7 rain days
- Oct: 19.3 °C / 8.8 °C, about 3.3 rain days
- Nov: 10.3 °C / 0.7 °C, about 1.7 rain days
- Dec: 3.7 °C / -5 °C, about 0.7 rain days
Source: WMO, distributed by NOAA NCEI
Book before you go
- The Palace Museum (Forbidden City): Book 7 days ahead from 20:00
- National Museum of China: Free timed booking · 7 days ahead at 17:00
- Chairman Mao Memorial Hall: Reserve 1–6 days ahead
- Tiananmen Square: Reserve 1–7 days ahead
- Prince Kung's Mansion: Online real-name ticket · 10 days ahead at 20:00
- Lama Temple (Yonghegong): Reserve and buy in the official WeChat account
- Mutianyu Great Wall: Real-name ticket; book up to 30 days ahead
- Universal Beijing Resort: Buy dated ticket; reserve flexible products
- Bell and Drum Towers, Beijing: Book through 北京钟鼓楼 WeChat account
Central axis
- The Palace Museum (Forbidden City) (故宫博物院): Museum. Enter a former imperial palace through Meridian Gate and walk its courtyards northward.
- Tiananmen Square (天安门广场): Open neighbourhood. A public square with a separate free, real-name reservation and security check.
- Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (毛主席纪念堂): Museum. A free but separately booked memorial visit within Tiananmen Square.
- National Museum of China (中国国家博物馆): Museum. A free national museum with timed entry beside Tiananmen Square.
- Qianmen Street (前门大街): Open neighbourhood. An 840 m pedestrian street on Beijing’s southern central axis.
- Jingshan Park (景山公园): Park. Climb Wanchun Pavilion for the overhead view of the Forbidden City.
- Temple of Heaven (天坛): Attraction. An imperial altar park with separate tickets for its ceremonial buildings.
Lakes & hutongs
- Beihai Park (北海公园): Park. A royal lake garden crowned by a white dagoba on Qionghua Island.
- Shichahai and Houhai (什刹海): Open neighbourhood. A lakeside hutong district around Qianhai, Houhai and Xihai.
- Prince Kung's Mansion (恭王府): Museum. A Qing princely mansion and garden with a passport ticket exchange.
- Bell and Drum Towers, Beijing (北京钟鼓楼): Attraction. Two historic time towers with separate and joint tickets.
- Nanluoguxiang (南锣鼓巷): Open neighbourhood. A narrow north–south hutong lined with shops and side lanes.
- Lama Temple (Yonghegong) (雍和宫): Temple. A Tibetan Buddhist temple with halls, courtyards and active worship.
Big days out
- Summer Palace (颐和园): Classical garden. Walk lakeside paths and imperial buildings around Kunming Lake.
- Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) (圆明园): Park. Explore the ruins and waterways of a former imperial garden.
- Olympic Green (奥林匹克公园（鸟巢、水立方）): Open neighbourhood. A free Olympic plaza between the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.
- 798 Art District (798艺术区): Open neighbourhood. Former factories turned into galleries, design shops and public art.
- Universal Beijing Resort (北京环球度假区): Attraction. A full-day theme park with dated tickets and a passport entry rule.
Great Wall
- Mutianyu Great Wall (慕田峪长城): Attraction. A restored Great Wall section with ridge walks, shuttle buses and optional lifts.
- Badaling Great Wall (八达岭长城): Attraction. Climb the famous Badaling section; daytime and night tickets have different rules.