# Beijing: map, what to do and when to go

In Beijing you visit the 7.8km ceremonial axis, with the Forbidden City, and the hutongs, alleys of low houses, beside eight-lane avenues. It hosted its first court in 938, has been China's capital since 1949, and has 21.8 million residents, on streets laid out by compass point.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Beijing: what should you sort out before flying to China?** Install Alipay or WeChat Pay, link an international card, and arrange an eSIM or roaming while you're still at home.
- **Beijing: how do you get from Capital Airport (PEK) to downtown?** Capital Airport (PEK), 25km to the northeast, connects to downtown via the Airport Line, for 25 CNY and about 20 minutes to Dongzhimen, where you change to lines 2 and 13; by taxi it's 90 to 130 CNY in 40 to 60 minutes.
- **Beijing: what's the stretch of the Wall at Jinshanling like?** The Jinshanling stretch is 130km to the northeast, about 2 hours 30 minutes by car: it's 10km of Ming wall with minimal restoration and 67 watchtowers, with a fraction of Mutianyu's crowds.

## The Central Axis, end to end
8am: enter Tiananmen Square with your reservation already made and passport in hand; on the east side is the National Museum of China, free but also requiring a named slot.
- Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
- Tiananmen Square
- Jingshan Park
- Drum and Bell Towers and Shichahai

## The Wall and the valley of the tombs
Leave at 7am for Mutianyu, 73 km northeast, by tourist bus from Qianmen (about 80 CNY round trip) or by car with a driver (500–700 CNY for the day).
- The Wall at Mutianyu

## Temples, shopping alleys, and art
At 7:30am, enter the Temple of Heaven through the south gate, before nine, to see the tai chi, opera and dance groups among the cypresses.
- Temple of Heaven
- Yonghe Temple (Lama Temple)
- 798 Art Zone

## The Summer Palace and Shichahai
9am: start at the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), in Haidian, to the northwest: 290 hectares, three quarters of it taken up by hand-dug Kunming Lake.
- Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
- Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace)

## Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-cidade-proibida
Donghuamen Subdistrict
Imperial palace built between 1406 and 1420, with 72 hectares and about 980 buildings, home to 24 Ming and Qing emperors until 1924 and a World Heritage Site since 1987. Entry only through the Meridian Gate and exit through the Gate of Divine Prowess; tickets cost 60 CNY in high season and 40 in low season, booked by name with a passport up to seven days ahead, closed on Mondays.
Check access

## Tiananmen Square
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-praca-tiananmen
Donghuamen Subdistrict · One to two hours
44 hectares between the 1420 gate and Mao's 1977 mausoleum, with the Great Hall of the People (1959) to the west and the National Museum of China to the east. Entry requires advance booking and a passport check; the flag-raising happens at sunrise and fills the square an hour before.
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## Temple of Heaven
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-templo-do-ceu
Tiantan Subdistrict
A 273-hectare ritual complex opened in 1420, where the emperor prayed for a good harvest in the first month of the lunar year, at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, and worshiped heaven at the winter solstice, at the Circular Mound Altar. The hall is 38m tall, has three circular blue roofs, and is assembled without a single nail; the current version dates from 1890, rebuilt after a lightning strike. Arrive before nine to see the tai chi, opera, and dance groups in the cypress grove.
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## Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-palacio-de-verao
Distrito de Haidian
290 hectares to the northwest, three-quarters of it taken up by Kunming Lake, dug by hand. The Long Corridor is 728 m long with about 14,000 painted scenes on its beams; the Empress Dowager Cixi rebuilt the complex in 1888, tradition says with funds meant for the navy. A World Heritage Site since 1998.
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## The Wall at Mutianyu
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-muralha-em-mutianyu
Mutianyu
A restored 5.4 km stretch 73 km to the northeast, with 22 watchtowers built starting in 1568 under general Qi Jiguang. Admission around 45 CNY, internal shuttle bus and cable car extra (about 140 CNY round trip); it's the less crowded alternative to Badaling, which absorbs the tour buses.
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## Jingshan Park
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-parque-jingshan
Shichahai Subdistrict · Up to half an hour
An artificial hill 45 m high, made from the earth dug out of the Forbidden City's moat in the 15th century. From the Wanchun Pavilion at the top, the whole axis lines up, from the Yongding Gate to the Drum and Bell Towers; it was on the eastern slope that Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in 1644. A token admission fee, about 2 CNY.
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## Yonghe Temple (Lama Temple)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-templo-yonghe
Dongcheng District
A princely residence from 1694 converted into a Tibetan-Mongolian monastery in 1744 by Qianlong. In the Hall of Ten Thousand Happinesses stands a Maitreya rising 18 m above the floor, carved from a single sandalwood trunk brought from Nepal. Across the street are the Confucius Temple and the Guozijian, the imperial academy founded in 1306.
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## Drum and Bell Towers and Shichahai
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-torres-do-tambor
Andingmen Subdistrict
The two towers close off the northern end of the Central Axis: the Drum Tower marked the hours with 25 leather drums, one large and 24 smaller, and the Bell Tower, rebuilt in 1747, holds a 63-ton bronze bell. Around them are the lakes of Qianhai and Houhai and the city's best-preserved stretch of hutongs.
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## Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-yuanmingyuan
Qinglongqiao
350 hectares of ruins, lakes, and canals to the northwest, the Qing's favorite palace, looted and burned by Anglo-French troops in October 1860. What mainly remains are the stone columns of the Western Mansions, designed by Jesuits in the 18th century and kept fallen as a memorial.
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## 798 Art Zone
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/pequim/#g-lugar-zona-de-arte-798
Jiuxianqiao Subdistrict · Up to half an hour
A complex of electronics factories in Dashanzi built in the 1950s by East German engineers, with sawtooth roofs and a Bauhaus-inspired structure. Artists began occupying the buildings in 2002; today it holds galleries, the UCCA museum, and bookstores, free to enter, with many of the spaces closed on Mondays.
Check access

**Beijing: what should you sort out before flying to China?**
Install Alipay or WeChat Pay, link an international card, and arrange an eSIM or roaming while you're still at home. Sorting this out at the airport, with the filtered network and no Chinese phone number, usually takes hours.

**Beijing: how do you get from Capital Airport (PEK) to downtown?**
Capital Airport (PEK), 25km to the northeast, connects to downtown via the Airport Line, for 25 CNY and about 20 minutes to Dongzhimen, where you change to lines 2 and 13; by taxi it's 90 to 130 CNY in 40 to 60 minutes.

**Beijing: what's the stretch of the Wall at Jinshanling like?**
The Jinshanling stretch is 130km to the northeast, about 2 hours 30 minutes by car: it's 10km of Ming wall with minimal restoration and 67 watchtowers, with a fraction of Mutianyu's crowds.

**Beijing: how much does a day cost?**
Budget US$40–70 per person per day, with a three-star hotel, local food, and the subway. The currency is the yuan renminbi (CNY), at about 7 to the dollar and 1.3 to the real in 2026, and almost everything is paid by QR code on Alipay or WeChat Pay.

**Beijing: what's the best time to go?**
Between September 20 and October 25: dry skies, 15–25°C, and yellow leaves in the parks, except for the October 1–7 week, a national holiday. Late April and May also work, with 18–28°C.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 4 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/pequim/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/pequim/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/pequim.md