Beijing – Day 16 – 20

Back in Beijing, is our final stop. Here we’ll continue our exploration of this city and it’s surroundings before flying back home.

Day 1 – The Great Wall of China

On our first morning back, we should finally take a small trip outside the city, and go see the Great Wall of China.

There are a few ways to reach the wall, the best place I read should be at Simatai, should be a 2 hour drive by taxi from Beijing.

This should give you incredible views; take lots of water with you, cause I see that it could be quite a hike.

I think you get on the wall by cable car and you might be able to take a slide back down (that should be fun).

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Day 2 – The Ming Tombs

Again we’ll take another trip outside the city to see the Ming Tombs. This place sounds very peaceful and impressive at the same time. From what I read, this place is all about keeping with the spirit of “Feng Shui”, since I’m obsessed with everything “Feng Shui”, I got to see this.

It should take an hour by taxi to get there.

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Day 3 – Hutong District

This north part of the city has many old authentic Chinese alleys and it’s near the beautiful lake.

We’ll start our day with the Drum & Bell Towers located on the north.  We’ll start by climbing the tower, checking out the drums on the way up and then taking in the views of the city and the surrounding neighborhood.

Getting down from the tower, start walking towards Qianhai Lake, reaching the lake shore (path), start strolling towards the south end of the lake until reaching the Han Cang Restaurant where you should get your lunch and try the Hakka cuisine, the earthy food of China’s Guest People.

After lunch head back south until you reach Bei Hai Park.

Bei Hei Park is obviously a park, surrounding a beautiful lake in the middle of Beijing, stroll through the park, when you had enough, get back to your Hotel.

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Day 4 – The Lama Temple

Next morning, we’re back in the north part of the city starting off with the Lama Temple, a very impressive Buddhist temple with a huge statue of the Future Buddha (Point A).

Next, head south on Yonghegong St, and take a right on Guozijiang St.

Stop at the Confucius Temple, check it out, and then head across the street to the Confucius Teahouse for a nice noon tea break.

Continue on towards Jiaodaokou St and turn left, then turn right onto Ju'er Hutong St. - this is one of Beijing’s oldest and busiest alleys.

From here turn left on South Luogu Alley walk until you reach no. 108 and stop at the Pass By Bar, here you can get your lunch.

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Day 5 – National Olympic Stadium

On our last day we can’t leave the city without checking out the Bird’s Nest Stadium known from the 2008 Olympic Games. This structure has won environmental awards for all sorts of architectural designs within it and it’s a very impressive structure to see up close.

In the evening try to see an acrobat show, Chinese acrobats are known for being quite magnificent and it would be a shame to leave china without seeing some type of show.

This concludes for now our trip to Beijing and the north of China, I counted 20 days but not including getting to places and setbacks so I would add to the count 5 more days if you wanna do all I suggested.

If you have less time just skip the stuff you aren’t interested in.

Good Luck and Bon Voyage! :)

Beijing - Day 1, 2 and 3

Depending on your time of arrival to Beijing, after you figured the way to your hotel/guest house and settled in, you should start your trip. If you arrived in the evening don’t start sightseeing, it’s better not to go asleep to early so you’ll adapt to your new environment and try exploring your surroundings, where can you eat, buy stuff, catch a cab/bus and change some money.  I always bother the reception agents in my hotel with these questions, they usually speak English, have to be nice to you and give you a free map.

Day 1 – The Forbidden City

Start point:   08:30 – arrive at Mao’s Mausoleum at Tian’an Men Square - see his casket raised from its refrigerated chamber.  It says everywhere to come early to beat the crowds. But it doesn’t say when (So try to ask at your hotel). This sounds kind of morbid but interesting.

B point:        Head north on Tian’an Men Square towards Chang’an Jie street, cross it and head to the building in front of you with Mao’s portrait on it – Tian’an Men. Climb and see views from the gallery.

C point:        Head again strait north towards the highlight of the day – The Forbidden City. From what I checked there’s entrance fees and guided tours. If that’s true I’d recommend checking out the guided tour only if it’s done by a live person and not some headphones.  Spend your day getting lost in this compound and taking lots of pics.

Lunch point:  You’ll probably eat a very late lunch or early dinner this day. From what I read there’s an excellent food court in the basement of the Oriental plaza mall. This sounds like a great way to end the first day, by eating and getting some shopping done at the same time.

Zoom out:

Zoom in:

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Day 2 – The Summer Palace

For our second day we’ll take a break from the center of the city and visit it’s green landscapes.

Beijing has more than a few parks, the one that seems really gorjess, is the Summer Palace. Best way to get there, I think, is by taxi, to the East Palace Gate (which is supposed to be the main entrance).

ETA by Taxi from center – 30 min (Point B).

This is a huge compound and will take you a few hours to explore, try to get here early, again 08:30 should be a smart choice.

Here’s from what I read, the best way to see and enjoy this park:

Start point: East palace gate -> walk along the Long corridor -> get to Longevity hill -> descend and continue towards the Marble boat -> cruise by boat to South lake island -> off the boat, cross the Seventeen arch bridge -> exit the park from same gate.

By the time you get back you probably worked up quite an appetite. I suggest exiting the park, catching a cab and going to Fragrant Hills Park (Xiang Shan). Why not see another amazing park that’s just 20 min away (Point C).

Before entering the east gate of the park, there should be a Sculpting in Time Café nearby, this is a famous café franchise in Beijing, it’s suppose to be really good. Get your lunch here and then enter the park, spend the rest of your day here until you had enough or it closes. Note that the park has admission fees witch not include fees to use the cable car.

Start point: Enter the east gate -> and go right to the Bright temple (Zhao Temple) -> near it you continue to the Glazed pagoda (Liuli) -> go north pass the bridge that runs through the Spectacles lakes -> get on the Cable car to the top of the hill -> walk down until arriving at the Fragrant hills hotel -> exit again through the east gate.

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Day 3 – Temple of Heaven

Yesterday we had quite a tiring day, as we basically tracked trough “Green Beijing”. So today we’ll try to take it easy.

We’ll start the morning (again early to avoid the crowds, say 08:30) walking around the Temple of Heaven. Best to enter the park through the East Gate (Point A).

This is supposed to be quite a big complex, but this time we’ll mainly focus on the main temple which is the Hall of Prayer. This place is from the Ming dynasty and known by being the place that the emperor would make sacrifices and pray at, also this is one of the most famous Chinese temples.

In the evening, around sunset go to Wanfujing street (Point B), to see and eat at the Night Market.

In-between, after leaving the temple and before going to the market take the day to explore the option of buying your first plane ticket out of Beijing (for the day after if possible). Try to find a flight to Louyang for your next destination.

China - Overview

Every other day I change my mind about what will be my next destination, at this point in time China is my new obsession (I can never explain why).

When it comes to China, after studding the subject, you’ll realize that it’s more of a continent than a country, so you need to treat it as such.

You really need to focus your attention on a region or a specific place you’d wanna start from.

Some people wanna just do the basics, hop to Beijing then to Hong Kong and then decide what fancy them more in the region and go from there. Of course it all depends on your budget, your interests and the time you have at your disposal.

I like to look at a map before I go anywhere, and check what would be the best way to… well… “attack” a destination.

Here’s a map of China:



Here’s the thing, Beijing and Hong Kong are very far apart, I rarely like to spread around too much, I like to concentrate on one region at a time.

From looking at a map of China ,there’s no way (unless you have like a few months at your disposal) to see everything.

I rather take it apart, and try to squeeze in as much as I can, one region at a time.

I’m gonna start with Beijing and the following regions: Hebei, Tianjin, Shanxi, Shandong & Henan.


As you can see from the map, these are the regions surrounding Beijing and they’ll be the easiest and the fastest to visit on a trip starting in Beijing.

My plan is to fly internationally, in and out of Beijing. So my trip will start and end in the same place.

So let's start the day planning :)