Beijing
China's capital for most of the last seven centuries: a palace of 1420 at the centre, a straight line of gates and halls running through it, lanes of grey courtyard houses around it — and the Great Wall an hour to the north.
北京 · Běijīng · formerly Peking · 39.90° N, 116.41° E
Book first
Forbidden City tickets are online only, by passport, released 7 days ahead at 20:00. It is closed on Mondays. How →
How long?
Four days: the Central Axis, the Great Wall, one more big sight, and a spare in case tickets sell out. The routes →
The Great Wall
Three sections within 60 km, and they are not alike. Badaling, Juyongguan or Mutianyu? →
Where is Beijing?
Beijing lies at the northern edge of the North China Plain, with mountains to the north and west — the Great Wall runs along them — and the port of Tianjin 110 km to the south-east. Shanghai is about 1,070 km to the south, Xi'an 910 km to the south-west and Harbin 1,050 km to the north-east; Seoul is 950 km away across the Yellow Sea, Tokyo 2,090 km to the east and Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, 1,170 km to the north-west. At 39.9° N, Beijing is on the same latitude as Madrid, Ankara and Philadelphia — further south than Rome — but with a continental climate: January nights average −6 °C and July days 33 °C. Tap any city on the map to measure the distance.
Straight-line distances, rounded to the nearest 10 km — not travel distances.
Beijing is highlighted. Tap a city to measure the distance from Beijing.
- Status
- Capital, municipality首都 · 直辖市
- Latitude
- 39.90° N
- Airports
- PEK · PKXCapital · Daxing
- Subway
- 30 linesabout 909 km
- Time zone
- UTC+8
- In Chinese
- 北京Běijīng, “northern capital”
What's Beijing weather like each month?
A continental climate with four sharp seasons: a cold, dry, bright winter, a short windy spring, a hot summer that brings most of the year's rain — 33 °C by day in July — and a clear, mild autumn that is the best time to come. The sun rises at 04:45 in June and sets at 16:50 in December. Tap a month for temperatures, daylight and what is on.
Scale in °C. Bars run from the average daily low to the average daily high. Source: monthly temperature data, last checked 2026-07-30.
Beijing in October
Cool- Average high
- 19 °C
- Average low
- 9 °C
- Sunrise / sunset
- 06:23 – 17:37
- Daylight
- 11 h 13 min
On in Oct
- Golden Week crowds, 1–7 Oct
- China Open tennis at the Olympic Park
How cold is Beijing in winter?
Below freezing every night from December to February, and only a few degrees above it by day — but dry, usually sunny and with very little snow. Indoors is well heated. The wind is what you feel: a north-westerly on an open square like Tiananmen makes 3 °C feel much colder.
December
4° / -5°
Sun 07:28–16:50 · 9 h 22 min
January
3° / -6°
Sun 07:34–17:12 · 9 h 38 min
February
6° / -4°
Sun 07:08–17:49 · 10 h 40 min
Winter
December – FebruaryCold, dry and often brilliantly clear.
January averages about 3 °C by day and −6 °C at night, with a dry wind from the north-west and very little snow. Buildings are well heated. The lakes freeze, the sights are at their emptiest, and the low sun on red walls is the best light of the year — but it is dark before five.
What to wear: A proper winter coat, hat and gloves; lip balm and hand cream for the dry air.
Spring
March – MayShort, warm and windy.
Spring arrives fast: about 15 °C by day in March, 23 °C in April, 29 °C in May. It is dry, and windy days can bring dust from the north. The May Day holiday at the start of May fills every sight on this page.
What to wear: Layers and a windproof jacket; sunglasses.
Summer
June – AugustHot and hazy, with the year's rain in July and August.
Around 32–33 °C by day and humid, with most of the year's rain falling in heavy bursts in July and August. The Forbidden City's courtyards and Tiananmen Square have no shade at all. Start early, spend the middle of the day in a museum, and go to the Olympic Park in the evening.
What to wear: Light clothes, a hat, water and a small umbrella for both sun and rain.
Autumn
September – NovemberThe best season: dry, clear and mild.
September averages about 27 °C by day and October 19 °C, with blue skies more often than at any other time. Most of our photographs on these pages are from September. The catch is Golden Week, 1–7 October, when the Great Wall and the Forbidden City are at their fullest; by November it is 10 °C and quiet.
What to wear: A light jacket in September, a warm one by late October.
The two photographs above are the honest range: haze over the palace in summer, and a deep blue sky over the same palace on a clear day. For how Beijing compares with the rest of the country month by month, see the best time to visit China.
What to see
Old Beijing was built along one straight line, and most of what a first visit comes for stands on it or beside it. Start with the line, then the view that shows it, then the places themselves.
The Central Axis, stop by stop
The Central Axis runs 7.8 km from Yongdingmen in the south to the Bell and Drum Towers in the north, through Qianmen, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Jingshan. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site on 27 July 2024, with fifteen components. Metro Line 8 runs underneath much of it.
Tap a stop on the line or a card.
Northern extension13.4 km from the southern endThe line was extended north for the 2008 Olympics: the stadium stands just east of it and the aquatics centre just west. This part is not in the World Heritage listing.
Olympic Green, Lines 8 and 15
- World Heritage7.7 km from the southern end
Two towers, one behind the other, that beat out the hours for the old city. They close the listed axis at its north end, in the middle of the hutongs.
Shichahai, Line 8
- World Heritage5.9 km from the southern end
The pavilion on the central summit stands exactly on the line. It is the one place from which you can see the axis as a whole.
- World Heritage4.6 km from the southern end
About a kilometre of the axis runs through the palace, from the Meridian Gate through the three great halls on their terrace to the north gate. The emperor’s thrones all stand on the line.
Tiananmen East, Line 1
World Heritage3.6 km from the southern endThe twentieth century’s addition: the monument and the mausoleum stand on the line, the Great Hall of the People and the National Museum face each other across it.
Tiananmen East or West, Line 1
World Heritage3.0 km from the southern endThe south gate of the inner city. The archery tower in the photograph stands in front of the gate tower; both are on the line.
Qianmen, Lines 2 and 8
- World Heritage1.2 km from the southern end
The altar where the emperors prayed for the harvest lies to the east of the axis, balanced by the Altar of the God of Agriculture to the west. Both are part of the listing.
Tiantan Dongmen, Line 5
- World Heritage0.0 km from the southern end
The south gate of the outer city, where the axis begins. The tower you see today is a reconstruction from the 2000s.
What am I looking at?
Two views that every visitor photographs. Tap the numbers to put names to them.
1Gate of Divine Might
神武门 · The palace’s north gate — the way out
The big gate tower in the middle is where a visit to the Forbidden City ends. The sign over the arch reads 故宫博物院, Palace Museum. The crowd on the square in front of it has just come out.
Forbidden City in “What to see” →Tap a number on the photo, or a name in the list.
12 places to see
Filter by district, or by whether you need to be indoors. The Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace are at the end of the list.
- Imperial heritageDongcheng · 东城区Outdoors
The palace of the Ming and Qing emperors from 1420 to 1912, and the centre of Beijing in every sense: the city's main axis runs straight through its gates and throne halls. You walk it from south to north — in at the Meridian Gate, across the great courtyard to the Hall of Supreme Harmony on its three-tiered marble terrace, then through the inner court, where the throne of the Palace of Heavenly Purity sits under the plaque 正大光明, and out at the north gate opposite Jingshan. Allow half a day. Most visitors only look into the halls from the doorway, as in our photograph of the throne; the side courts are far quieter than the central line.
Tiananmen East station (Line 1), then north through Tiananmen Gate to the Meridian Gate (午门), the only entrance. Tickets are sold online only, by name and passport number, through the official 故宫博物院 WeChat mini program; they are released seven days ahead at 20:00 Beijing time and sell out in peak season. Closed on Mondays except public holidays. Bring the passport you booked with.
- Entry
- 60 CNY · 1 April – 31 October; book online with your passport
- Opening hours
- Hours not verified — check on site
Jingshan Park
景山公园Imperial heritageXicheng · 西城区OutdoorsThe hill directly north of the Forbidden City, piled up from the earth dug out for the palace moat. A ten-minute climb brings you to the pavilion on the central summit and the one view that explains Beijing: the whole palace laid out below you, gate behind gate along the axis, a sea of yellow roofs. Our photograph was taken on a hazy summer day, which is what Beijing often looks like; on a clear day you see the towers of the business district beyond. The picture above this list puts a name to what you see.
The south gate is across the road from the Forbidden City's north exit, so the two fit together: palace first, then the hill. The park also has gates to the west, towards Beihai, and to the east.
- Entry
- Price not verified — check on site
- Opening hours
- Hours not verified — check on site
Tiananmen Square
天安门广场LandmarkDongcheng · 东城区OutdoorsThe vast paved square south of Tiananmen Gate. Our photograph looks west across it: the granite Monument to the People's Heroes in the middle and, behind it, the colonnade of the Great Hall of the People, where the National People's Congress meets. The National Museum of China faces it from the east side and Mao Zedong's mausoleum stands to the south. There is no shade and nowhere to sit, so come early or late.
Tiananmen East and Tiananmen West (Line 1) or Qianmen (Lines 2 and 8). Every entrance has a security check and an ID check: carry your passport. Whether foreign visitors currently need to reserve a time slot in advance is something we have not been able to confirm from an official source — ask your hotel the day before.
- Entry
- Free
- Opening hours
- Hours not verified — check on site
Zhengyangmen Archery Tower (Qianmen)
正阳门箭楼 · 前门Imperial heritageDongcheng · 东城区OutdoorsThe south gate of the old inner city, at the bottom end of Tiananmen Square — everyone calls it Qianmen, the Front Gate. It is two buildings: the gate tower itself and, a little to the south, the archery tower in our photograph, with its rows of arrow slits. The city wall that joined them is gone. After dark the tower is floodlit, and the pedestrian street that runs south from it, Qianmen Street, is busy until late. Both towers are part of the Central Axis, a World Heritage Site since 2024.
Qianmen station (Lines 2 and 8) comes up between the two towers. Looking at them from outside costs nothing.
- Entry
- Free
- Opening hours
- Open at all hours
Beihai Park
北海公园Imperial heritageXicheng · 西城区OutdoorsAn imperial garden around a lake, a few minutes' walk west of Jingshan. The white, bottle-shaped Tibetan-style dagoba on the island in the middle was built in 1651 and is visible from half the old city. You cross a marble bridge to the island, climb through a temple to the foot of the dagoba, and come down on the lake side. In summer the water by the bridge is covered in lotus.
Beihai North station (Line 6) is at the north gate; the south and east gates are closer to Jingshan and the Forbidden City. The basic ticket covers the park; the island temple and a few halls need the combined ticket (20 CNY in peak season).
- Entry
- 10 CNY · 1 April – 31 October; 5 CNY in winter
- Opening hours
- Hours not verified — check on site
StreetDongcheng · 东城区OutdoorsThe lanes of grey-brick courtyard houses that fill the old city between the big monuments. The famous ones — Nanluoguxiang, the lanes around Houhai lake — are lined with cafés and souvenir shops. The ordinary ones look like our photograph: parked cars, a tangle of overhead cables, a bicycle against a wall, and nobody about at midday. Those are the ones worth walking: turn off any main street inside the Second Ring Road and you are in one.
For the well-known lanes: Nanluoguxiang station (Lines 6 and 8) or Shichahai (Line 8) for the lakes. People live here — keep out of the courtyards unless you are invited in.
- Entry
- Free
- Opening hours
- Open at all hours
Bird's Nest and Water Cube
鸟巢 · 水立方ArchitectureChaoyang · 朝阳区OutdoorsThe two buildings of the 2008 Olympics face each other across a wide plaza on the northern extension of the Central Axis, about nine kilometres north of Tiananmen. The National Stadium, the Bird's Nest, is a bowl wrapped in a lattice of steel; the National Aquatics Center, the Water Cube, is a box of translucent cushions that glows blue. Both are at their best after dark, when they are lit and the plaza fills with families, dancers and kite-sellers. That is when we went.
Olympic Green (Lines 8 and 15) or Olympic Sports Center (Line 8). Walking around the plaza is free; going inside either building needs a ticket, which we have not checked. The National Tennis Center, where the China Open is played, is in the same park.
- Entry
- Free
- Opening hours
- Open at all hours
National Museum of China
中国国家博物馆MuseumDongcheng · 东城区IndoorsThe long colonnaded building on the east side of Tiananmen Square, and the place to see the bronzes you know from book covers. The one in our photograph is the best known of all: a square wine vessel from the Shang dynasty, more than three thousand years old, with a ram's head at each corner. The permanent exhibition Ancient China runs from the Stone Age to the last dynasty; give it two hours and you will still only have seen a part.
Tiananmen East station (Line 1). Entry is free, but you need a reservation for a time slot, released seven days ahead; whether the booking accepts a passport number without a Chinese phone number is reported differently, so try early. Closed on Mondays except public holidays.
- Entry
- Free
- Opening hours
- Hours not verified — check on site
798 Art District
798艺术区ArchitectureChaoyang · 朝阳区OutdoorsA state electronics factory of the 1950s, designed by East German engineers in a plain Bauhaus manner, turned into galleries, studios, design shops and cafés from the early 2000s. The saw-tooth roofs, brick chimneys and overhead steam pipes are still there, with sculpture parked along the streets between them. It is a place to wander for two or three hours rather than to tick off; the galleries change their shows all the time and many are free.
In the north-east of the city, about 12 km from Tiananmen and not on top of a metro station — a taxi is simplest. The streets are open at all hours; most galleries close on Mondays.
- Entry
- Free
- Opening hours
- Open at all hours
Peking duck
北京烤鸭FoodCitywide · 全市IndoorsThe one dish to eat in Beijing. The duck is roasted until the skin is glassy, then carved in front of you — in a good restaurant by a cook at a trolley beside your table, as in our photograph — into thin slices that each keep a piece of skin. You wrap a few slices in a small pancake with spring onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce. The carcass comes back later as soup if you ask.
A whole duck feeds three or four; most places sell half. Many restaurants take orders by QR code at the table — see our guide to ordering food.
- Entry
- Price not verified — check on site
- Opening hours
- Hours not verified — check on site
- Imperial heritageDongcheng · 东城区Outdoors
Where the emperors prayed for the harvest: a round, triple-roofed blue hall on a marble terrace, in a park of old cypresses south-east of Qianmen. It is a World Heritage Site in its own right and part of the Central Axis listing.
Tiantan Dongmen station (Line 5) is at the park's east gate.
- Entry
- Price not verified — check on site
- Opening hours
- Hours not verified — check on site
- Imperial heritageHaidian · 海淀区Outdoors
The Qing court's summer residence in the north-west of the city: a lake, a hill of temples and a long painted corridor along the shore. A World Heritage Site, and a half-day on its own.
Beigongmen station (Line 4) is at the north gate; Xiyuan (Line 4) is closer to the main east gate.
- Entry
- Price not verified — check on site
- Opening hours
- Hours not verified — check on site
Entry prices and opening hours are marked unverified where we have not checked them against an official source. We would rather show a gap than a number we made up.
Three more, and the station for each
- Lama Temple 雍和宫Yonghegong Lama Temple station, Line 2/5. The temple is right by the station.
- Wangfujing (shopping street) 王府井Wangfujing or Jinyu Hutong station, Line 1/8. Wangfujing is on Line 1, Jinyu Hutong on Line 8 – both stations are on the shopping street.
The Great Wall and the Ming Tombs
Badaling, Juyongguan and Mutianyu compared, how to get to each, and the one day in which we saw two sections of wall and the Ming Tombs. 9 places, all in our photographs.
Great Wall from Beijing →
Beijing off the beaten path
For a second visit or a fifth day: the bridge with the stone lions, a hall full of steam locomotives, eight temples up a valley — 11 places most visitors skip.
Places most visitors skip →
Routes that don't double back
The Central Axis on foot, in the only direction the Forbidden City allows, and an afternoon-into-evening for the modern city. The Great Wall day has its own page.
A full day · about 3.6 km between the sights, plus the palace itself
Qianmen: the Archery Tower
Walk 13 min· 900 m
Tiananmen Square
Walk 19 min· 1.5 km
Forbidden City
Walk 10 min· 800 m
Jingshan Park
Walk 6 min· 400 m
Beihai Park
5 stops · 48 min walking
An afternoon and evening · one taxi ride and a walk across the plaza
798 Art District
Taxi 13 min· 11.5 km
Bird's Nest
Walk 15 min· 1.1 km
Water Cube
3 stops · 15 min walking · 13 min by taxi
Stop by stop
The Central Axis, south to north
The classic first day, and it only works in this direction: the Forbidden City lets you in at the south gate and out at the north. Book the palace first and build the day around that ticket. Not on a Monday — the Forbidden City and the National Museum are both closed.
Come up from Qianmen station between the two towers and walk north.
- Entry
- Free from outside
- Hours
- Open at all hours
Walk 13 min· 900 m
2Tiananmen Square
天安门广场Through the security check and across the square, the Great Hall of the People on your left and the National Museum on your right.
- Entry
- Free
- Hours
- Not verified
Walk 19 min· 1.5 km
Under Tiananmen Gate and on to the Meridian Gate. Inside it is about a kilometre from the south gate to the north gate in a straight line — and much more if you leave the central line, which you should.
- Entry
- 60 CNY (Apr–Oct), online only
- Hours
- Closed Mondays
Walk 10 min· 800 m
4Jingshan Park
景山公园Out of the north gate, across the road and up the hill for the view back over everything you have just walked through.
- Entry
- Not verified
- Hours
- Not verified
Walk 6 min· 400 m
5Beihai Park
北海公园Leave Jingshan by its west gate for Beihai's east gate; cross to the island and the White Dagoba.
- Entry
- 10 CNY (Apr–Oct)
- Hours
- Not verified
Easy add-ons: The National Museum of China is on the east side of the square, if you would rather spend the morning there and the afternoon in the palace. After dark, Qianmen's archery tower is floodlit.
* Walking times and distances are computed from OpenStreetMap walking routes between the gates; the taxi time is an OpenStreetMap driving time without traffic — allow about double at rush hour. They do not include the time you spend inside. Stops marked with a star have prices or opening hours we have not checked.
Getting there and getting around
From Beijing Capital Airport (PEK)
- Capital Airport Express 首都机场线Runs from Terminals 3 and 2 via Sanyuanqiao (change to Line 10) and Dongzhimen (Lines 2, 13) to Beixinqiao (Line 5). About every 10 minutes.25 CNYfrom T3 6:22–22:52, from T2 6:36–23:10, from Dongzhimen towards the airport 6:00–22:30
From Beijing Daxing Airport (PKX)
- Daxing Airport Express 大兴机场线Express line from the airport north to Caoqiao (change to Line 10) and on to Lize Business District.10–35 CNY. Standard class by distance; from Caoqiao or Lize to the airport 35 CNY. Business car: flat 50 CNY.
Airport transfers from our Beijing Subway dataset, checked 13 September 2026.
Nonstop from Europe
Our flight list has nonstop routes to Beijing Capital from 28 European airports: Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Belgrade, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Geneva, Istanbul, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw; and to Daxing from Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Istanbul, Lisbon, London Heathrow, Milan. Check which of the two airports your ticket names — they are on opposite sides of the city. Airlines and frequencies →
Flight data checked 12 September 2026.
Five stations called Beijing
Your train ticket will name one of these. They are far apart.
- Beijing South 北京南站The high-speed station for Shanghai, Tianjin and Qingdao. Metro Lines 4 and 14.
- Beijing West 北京西站Trains to the south-west and west, including Xi'an. Metro Lines 7 and 9.
- Beijing 北京站The old main station east of the centre, on Metro Line 2.
- Beijing North 北京北站At Xizhimen (Metro Lines 2, 4 and 13): the start of the high-speed line to Zhangjiakou, which stops at Badaling Great Wall station.
- Beijing Chaoyang 北京朝阳站In the east of the city: high-speed trains to Shenyang and Harbin. We have not checked which metro line serves it.
By high-speed train
Beijing is the northern end of the high-speed lines to Shanghai, Xi'an, Harbin and Guangzhou. Your ticket names the station, and they are far apart — see the list above. We have not checked journey times against the 12306 timetable.
Schedules and journey times not yet verified against an official timetable.
The subway, in short
Beijing Subway in detail →Thirty lines and about 909 km (end of 2025), and every line takes a contactless foreign bank card at the gate. For visitors, Line 1 runs east–west under Chang'an Avenue past Tiananmen, Line 2 circles the old city, and Line 8 follows the Central Axis from Qianmen north to the Olympic Park.
- Pay with
- Contactless cardon all lines
- Fare from
- 3 CNYfirst 6 km
- Network
- 539 stations
- Exits
- A · B · C · D
Tap a contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express or UnionPay card on the gate reader, and the same card again on the way out. Everyone needs their own card. Bags go through a scanner at every station.
Fares by distance: 3 CNY up to 6 km, 4 CNY up to 12 km, 5 CNY up to 22 km, 6 CNY up to 32 km, then 1 CNY more per 20 km. Airport lines have their own fares.
First and last trains differ by line and station; we have not checked them line by line — look at the display in the station.
| Forbidden City, National Museum | Tiananmen East 天安门东 | Line 1 |
| Tiananmen Square | Tiananmen East / West, Qianmen 天安门东 / 天安门西 / 前门 | Line 1/2/8 |
| Qianmen archery tower | Qianmen 前门 | Line 2/8 |
| Beihai Park (north gate) | Beihai North 北海北 | Line 6 |
| Hutongs: Nanluoguxiang, Houhai | Nanluoguxiang or Shichahai 南锣鼓巷 / 什刹海 | Line 6/8 |
| Bird's Nest, Water Cube | Olympic Green or Olympic Sports Center 奥林匹克公园 / 奥体中心 | Line 8/15 |
| Temple of Heaven | Tiantan Dongmen 天坛东门 | Line 5 |
| Summer Palace | Beigongmen or Xiyuan 北宫门 / 西苑 | Line 4 |
| Lama Temple | Yonghegong Lama Temple 雍和宫 | Line 2/5 |
| Wangfujing | Wangfujing or Jinyu Hutong 王府井 / 金鱼胡同 | Line 1/8 |
Source and date: Fares, contactless cards, network size and stations for the sights: our Beijing Subway page, checked 13 September 2026 against the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office, Beijing MTR and People's Daily Online. Beihai North: the station is named after the park's north gate.
Beijing is one of the cities we price up on the trip cost calculator, if you want to model a budget.
Before you go
Most European passports are visa-free for a short trip — under a one-sided waiver with an end date worth checking before you book:
- UK passport
Visa-free up to 30 days per trip, currently until 31 December 2026.
- EU passports
Dutch, German, French, Irish, Nordic and most other EU passports: visa-free up to 30 days, currently until 31 December 2026.
- US passport
No general waiver: a visa, or the 10-day visa-free transit if you fly on to a third country.
Both Beijing airports are entry points for China's 10-day visa-free transit, for travellers continuing to a third country. Check your passport.
- Pre-trip checklist
Payments, SIM, apps — you will need WeChat working to book the Forbidden City.
- Golden Week 2026
1–7 October: booking windows and daily caps for the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
- How to order food
Scan-to-order menus, step by step — including in duck restaurants.
- China Open tennis
Late September to early October at the Olympic Park.
- Shanghai
The other half of most first trips, about 1,070 km south by high-speed train.
- Harbin
The ice city, 1,050 km to the north-east.
FAQ
Is Beijing worth visiting?
Yes — it is the one city in China where the scale of the imperial state is still there to walk through: a palace a kilometre long, a straight line of gates running for nearly eight, and the Great Wall an hour away. It is less easy than Shanghai: distances are large, the big sights need booking by name and passport, and summer is hot and hazy. Plan it rather than drift through it and it repays the effort.
How many days in Beijing is enough?
Four. One for the Central Axis — Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Jingshan and Beihai, which is our first route. One for the Great Wall, with the Ming Tombs if you have a car. One for the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace or the hutongs. And one spare, because tickets for the Forbidden City sell out and you may not get the day you wanted. With three days, drop the spare; with five or more, see our page of places most visitors skip.
Is the Forbidden City closed on Mondays?
Yes. The Forbidden City is closed on Mondays, except when the Monday is a public holiday. The National Museum of China on Tiananmen Square keeps the same rule, and so do most museums in the city. Tiananmen Square itself, Jingshan, Beihai and the Great Wall are open every day.
How do foreigners buy Forbidden City tickets?
Online only — there is no ticket window. Only via the official "故宫博物院" WeChat mini program; one ticket per ID per day, non-changeable. Tickets are released 7 days ahead at 20:00 Beijing time and cost 60 CNY from April to October. You enter your passport number when booking and show the same passport at the Meridian Gate. If the mini program will not accept your details, ask your hotel to book for you.
Do I need a reservation for Tiananmen Square?
Every visitor passes a security and ID check to get onto the square, so carry your passport. Whether foreign visitors must also reserve a time slot in advance has changed more than once, and we have not been able to confirm the current rule from an official source. Ask your hotel the day before.
Which section of the Great Wall should I visit from Beijing?
Badaling if you want to go by train or have trouble with steep steps, and do not mind crowds; Mutianyu for the best balance of scenery and space, by car or tour bus; Juyongguan if you want it quiet and are combining the wall with the Ming Tombs. Badaling is about 60 km from the centre. Our Great Wall page compares the three side by side.
When is the best time to visit Beijing?
September and October: September averages 27 °C by day and October 19 °C, with the clearest skies of the year. Avoid Golden Week, 1–7 October. April and May are the second choice. July is the hottest month at about 33 °C, with most of the year’s rain; January is the coldest, 3 °C by day and -6 °C at night, but dry, bright and uncrowded.
Is Beijing safe?
For visitors, very. Violent crime against tourists is rare, the metro runs late and the streets are busy in the evening. The things that actually go wrong are practical: traffic that does not stop at crossings, unlicensed taxis at stations and the airport, and “tea house” or “art student” invitations near Tiananmen and Wangfujing that end in an inflated bill.
Is the air in Beijing bad?
It varies by the day. Our photograph from Jingshan was taken in summer haze; the one of the Hall of Supreme Harmony on a day of deep blue sky. Autumn and winter days after a north wind are the clearest. We have not compiled pollution figures — check a current air-quality reading on the morning and swap an outdoor day for a museum if it is poor.
How do I get from the airport to the city?
From Beijing Capital (PEK): the Capital Airport Express, 25 CNY. Runs from Terminals 3 and 2 via Sanyuanqiao (change to Line 10) and Dongzhimen (Lines 2, 13) to Beixinqiao (Line 5). About every 10 minutes. From Beijing Daxing (PKX): the Daxing Airport Express. Express line from the airport north to Caoqiao (change to Line 10) and on to Lize Business District. Standard class by distance; from Caoqiao or Lize to the airport 35 CNY. Business car: flat 50 CNY.
Can I pay for the Beijing subway with a credit card?
Yes. On all lines you tap a contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, UnionPay card on the gate and pay by distance, from 3 CNY. Everyone needs their own card.
What is Beijing in Chinese?
北京, pronounced Běijīng — “northern capital”. The older English name Peking is the same word in an earlier spelling; it survives in Peking duck and Peking University, and German still says Peking.
Do I need a visa for Beijing?
Not for a short trip on a British, Irish, Dutch, German, French, Nordic or Australian passport: all are visa-free for up to 30 days per trip, under a one-sided waiver that currently runs until 31 December 2026. US passport holders have no general waiver, but can use the 10-day visa-free transit through Beijing if they fly on to a third country. Check your own passport on our visa check page.
Sources and status
All photographs on this page are ours: the Forbidden City, Jingshan, Tiananmen Square, Qianmen, Beihai, the hutong, the Olympic Park, the bronze and the duck in 2026; the 798 Art District in September 2025. Faces of passers-by have been blurred. Data sources: Monthly temperature data, Beijing; Palace Museum: visit information (prices, hours, booking); Beijing Central Axis inscribed on the World Heritage List (Beijing municipal government, 27 July 2024); Beihai Park ticket prices (Beijing Bendibao); National Museum of China: booking rules (Beijing Bendibao); Beijing Foreign Affairs Office: subway tap-and-go with five international card brands.
Changelog (1)
- 2026-09-30Page created, with our own photographs. Forbidden City, Beihai Park and National Museum tickets and rules checked on this date; metro data from our Beijing Subway page (checked 13 September 2026).