Beijing should be up there on everyone’s travel bucket lists. It’s the capital of China, one of the most powerful and historically fascinating countries in the world. Beijing encompasses all of that. You can get lost in traditional court life in the forbidden city, experience the hardships of the laborers of the Great Wall or flashback to the madness of the Mao era in Tiananmen Square. You would probably need at least a month explore the overflow of culture and history within this city. We only had four days, so hitting that diverse itinerary was essential for us, but more on that later.
Based in Northern China, Beijing acts as its own muncipality, with sixteen districts and is under direct rule of the Chinese central governmnet. It has a mind-boggling population of 21.5 million people, making it the second biggest city in China next to Shanghai. ‘Beijing’ directly translates as ‘northern capital’, of which it has often acted throughout China’s extensive history. Until the appearance of the Communist government, the city was primarily made up of hutongs, traditional style narrow streets with small one story buildings. Mao started to develop a ‘modern’ city, with long boulevards and communist- style buildings. Recently more and more modern architecture has been added to its diverse skyline. The summers are crazy hot and humid, whilst winters are cold and dry, so visit in between, when the climate is much more livable!
As a capital city, Beijing is ridiculously well-connected to the rest of China and the entire world. To get in by plane, Beijing Capital International Airport is the biggest and serves most international flights. If you’re flying domestic, you may end up at Nanyuan Airport, which is closer to the city center. There is also a shit tonne of railways stations, the biggest being Central, west, south or north, and are a cheaper option than flying if you’re nearby. Beijing also has many long distance bus stations, which serve buses all the way from Shanghai and Mongolia, including Xizhimen Long Distance Bus Station, Deshengmen Long Distance Bus Station and Sihui Long Distance Bus Station.
My Accommodation
We stayed at Leo Hostel, and couldn’t recommend it enough for budget travellers looking to make friends during their trip! The location is great- a ten minute walk from Tianamen Square and Qianmen station and surrounded by shops and restaurants. The rooms arn’t the best quality, but that is totally made up for in the hostel’s social scene. The travellers there are exceptionally friendly and you are guaranteed to meet people from all over the world. It also has an onsite bar/restaurant and they organize a Great Wall tour to a super quiet and tourist-free section of the wall. I paid 360 CNY for four nights stay in an eight bed mixed dorm.
Day One
We arrived bright and early from our overnight train from Xi’an, grabbed a Didi from the station and headed to our hostel to drop off our crazy baggage. Then we began our adventure. From Leo Hostel we walked through Tianamen Square to take a journey back in time to see the city’s famous hutongs.
Beijing’s hutongs are narrow alleys of houses representing the traditional life of Beijingers- although of course today they are full of modern shops and restaurants, alongside the more traditional style businesses. They date back to the Yuan Dynasty (from 1271). By 1949 there were thousands, but following the modernisation of the city, there are sadly less than a thousand left today. Regardless, there are plenty to see and explore, and you could spend a week in Beijing seeing them all!
We went for Nanluoguxiang, one of the oldest and most famous. We spent our afternoon getting lost in stores and drinking tea by the river, It really felt like we had rewound time for a couple of hours.
Next we hopped on Mobikes for a bit of an explore of the city! Mobikes are basically bikes you can rent from anywhere and leave anywhere. It’s a great service to use in China so make sure you sign up and have data to make use of it!
Assuming Beijing would be easy to navigate due to its fat boulevards and boxy street organisation, we tried to bike back to our hostel, but of course got a bit lost. No regrets though, its a fun city to get lost in and there’s plenty of stuff to take in on the way. There are cycle lanes everywhere so it is super easy to get around by bike!
Day Two
Our heads still deep in the past, on our second day we visited the Summer Palace, China’s most famous royal park. At almost 300 years old, the Palace was originally constructed for Emperor Qianlong’s mother, but was most used from 1888 when Empress Dowager Cixi used it as her lifelong resort.
It is divided into two sections, the gardens and court area. The court area features a great series of elaborate buildings including temples, opera stages and throne rooms. The architecture is stunning and at the top, you get some amazing views of Kunming Lake and the rest of the Palace, it becomes easy to see why the Empress spent much time here.
Then there’s the gardens, which are taken up mostly by Kunming Lake. You can rent a peddle boat by the hour to explore, which is what we chose to do. Out on the lake you get some great views of the exterior architecture of the palace as well as various bridges and other structures on the lake. And you get a bit of a lake breeze- a sweet respite from the hot summer humidity.
That evening, with dreams of cheap souvenirs and gifts, we headed to Silk Street Market, ready to get some serious bargains. Sadly, it was a seriously emotional experience. Haggling in China definitely isn’t for the faint hearted! Vendors are emotional, harsh and the whole thing can be the most draining thing ever. For those used to haggling in Morocco or South East Asia, that’s just a warm up, China is for the real negotiating talents. By the time my friend was done haggling for a handbag, she and the vendor were both crying!
If I haven’t put you off, the Market host mostly a range of ‘designer’ items- bags clothes and shoes, as well as a few tacky souvenir stalls. Worth a visit if you want something expensive looking to bring home.
Day Three
Here comes the reason why many people visit Beijing, to visit the world-famous Great Wall of China, and of course, we hopped on the bandwagon. You could just come to China for this, and hike it for days or months, if that’s your thing.
Instead, we opted for a day tour- Leo Hostel’s Secret Wall Tour and man it was worth spending a little extra than doing it independently. The section of wall that they took us to was completely empty. Our small group had the wall to ourselves. Perfect!
A wonder of the world and UNESCO heritage site, the Great Wall has a history of 2,700 years and spans for around 13,000 miles. Sadly, because of its age, many parts are derelict and unrestored, therefore kind of unwalkable. Built during the Warring States period to prevent invasion, the construction of the wall was the product of huge amounts of manpower in harsh conditions, which resulted in more deaths than those that died in war (according to our tour guide anyway!). It’s an incredible man made feat, making it a monument of China.
Hiking the wall itself is challenging, particularly in the height of summer. You monitor your progress by each watch tower, which has its own down/up hike. It’s definitely a sweaty struggle, and I got disgustingly sunburnt afterwards, but it was worth it. This place is a must do for everyone, even if you just make it to the first tower on your tour and take in the view.
After a hefty nap, we headed to Houhai Bar Street with some friends from our hostel- my friend was leaving the next morning and she deserved a good send off! Sadly, the night life in Beijing does not provide as much as its historical sites, but there’s a scene all the same, if live music is your thing. Although honestly the live music is generally pretty terrible. Sit outside, smoke shisha and people watching is a much better option.
Day Four
After a heartfelt farewell to my travel companion, I resolved to cram as much as possible into my final day in this crazy country as I could. First stop, Tiananmen Square.
This place has a sad and crazy history, at the central space to the policy of Communist China. As the site of huge rallies and speeches, it acts as an emblem for China’s Mao government. The place is huge, and surrounded by Soviet-style buildings, as well as the Forbidden City embedded with Mao’s portrait. In the centre sites the Monument to the People’s Heroes, a granite monument built in 1952 to memorialise those that fought for the Communist government in China following WW2. Of course, the 10,000 that died in 1988 in the Tiananmen Uprising go uncommemorated, but that is a sad discussion for another day.
You can also see the Great Hall of the People, where the China National People’s Congress meet. It looks Soviet as fuck.
If you’re feeling extra crazy and ready to queue you can head to the Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao, and visit the big man himself, lying in state. It also celebrates the achievements of other big men during his rule.
Despite the burning desire to see the body of the man responsible for my GCSE History stresses (and a hell of a lot of nastiness and suffering for the Chinese), I headed to the Forbidden City to live out my Mulan moment.
Serving as a palace for twenty-four emperors, the Forbidden City originated in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) , constructed for Emperor Chengzu. It is the world’s largest palace complex and has a super extensive history, that ended in 1924 when the last emperor was driven out. For these reasons, it is of course a UNESCO world heritage site.
I wiled away the hours exploring throne rooms, gardens and various luxury objects found in court. The sheer scale of the architecture is enough of course, but the real big moment for me was actually the Clock exhibition. I’ve never seen such stunning and intricate objects, and the craftmanship and creativity was just mad. I was in my happy place.
After getting scammed out of some expensive tea by a local lady (never think you’re making friends when you get invited for tea by someone who takes you to a private room and makes you pay 400 RMB for tea), I took the MTR to my final tourist spot, the Temple of Heaven. Another mega history spot, it was used in the Ming and Qing Dynasties by emperors for heaven worship.
Various spiritual buildings exist in the park complex, which is a pretty place to roam in itself, with lots of pretty trees and well-kept gardens. The temples themselves are an artistic feat in themselves, with super intricate painting and carpentry lining their interior and exteriors. Its also really authentic feeling, with locals playing mah-jong, drinking tea and flying kites. It was for sure a solid round off to an amazing trip in China.
And that was it, after a month of travelling and seven months of working I was saying farewell to China. The following morning, I hopped on a flight and headed to a brand new country, Cambodia!
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