Beijing will always hold a special place in my heart – it’s the first city I ‘really’ solo travelled, it’s the city that made me fall in love with China, it’s the city where I got pickpocketed the first time. And after more than a year, I am back to Beijing. Re-exploring and redefining the experience I had. I would say summer in China is totally different from winter – much more crowded that is. Sad to say that the increase in human traffic and summer heat did dampen the spirits a little. Despite that said, the capital city of China is definitely filled with exciting activities that you can enjoy.
Day 1
You arrived
Haidilao Hot Pot 海底捞火锅
You can’t go wrong with the Chinese favourite hot pot chain! Kickstart your trip with a fulfilling belly. I highly recommend to get the tomato soup as the base – it makes the meat taste even better and especially if you can’t take spicy! If you’re a spicy lover, you can choose the mala soup base, I am sure you will feel the kick! Ladies, you can get free gel polish services while queuing up for a seat.
Address
8/F, In 88 Shopping Mall, No.88 Wangfujing Main Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China
北京市东城区东单王府井大街88号8层 邮政编码: 100006
Nanluoguxiang 南锣鼓巷
Head over for a stroll at the famous narrow alley street. It was renovated a year ago and the clean street is selling many quirky items and if you’re feeling the heat (or not), there is a delicious matcha house serving matcha soft serve and beverages!
Address
Nanluoguo Xiang, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100009, China
北京东城区南锣鼓巷
We were also near Shichahai (什刹海) where the three lakes were located. It is a less crowded street near Houhai (后海) where you can have a taste of the old Beijing street food – beef tripe mixed with sesame sauce, cabbage, coriander and lots of other sauce (老北京爆肚), the next famous Beijing food after Peking duck. You can skip Wangfujing for the ‘exotic’ ones and get all local instead!
Soybean Paste Noodles 方砖厂69号炸酱面
A small eatery serving authentic black bean noodles. We were absolutely impressed with the warm and attentive service we received during the short time period spent there.
Basically the noodles comes with femented black bean sauce, a little bit of minced pork, sliced cucumber and carrot. There’s not much meat in it so here’s a little bonus for you: just opposite the restaurant, they are selling mutton skewers which you can buy and enjoy it with your bowl of noodles. In China, they are absolutely fine with bringing in outside food. Just be courteous and clear your own rubbish instead of leaving it at the restaurants.
Address
北京市东城区方砖厂胡同1号
1 Fangzhuanchang Hutong, Dongcheng Qu, Beijing, China 100007
Great Leap Brewery 大跃啤酒
Just around the corner from the black bean noodles, we were really excited about having a drink and just chill out. Unexpectedly, this hangout place is no longer a hidden gem and probably the most famous among the expats. Not even much space for standing! I guess partly due to the fact that we were there on a Saturday night.
Nonetheless, the menu is really cool and the beers are freshly brewed at each outlet location.
Address
6 Doujiao Hutong, Di’Anmenwai Avenue, Dongcheng District
北京市东城区地安门外大街豆角胡同6号
Local choice: Panda Brew 熊猫精酿
If you’d like a quieter alternative, you could consider Panda Brew 熊猫精酿. We merely walked past the shop but the humorous opening hours caught our attention!
Address
Dongsi N St, DongZhiMen, Dongcheng Qu, Beijing, China, 100007
北京市东城区东直门东四北大街 邮政编码: 100007
Day 2
Jingshan Park 景山公园
There’s no better spot to oversee the entire Forbidden City in Beijing. Pay a nominal fee, a few steps of stairs and there you will see the dreamy scenery. It’s even better during sunrise, so wake up early!
Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square 紫禁城和天安门广场
This is my second visit to the forbidden city and surely things have changed since a year back. One major change I noticed is that the ticketing no longer accepts cash. There are QR codes printed all over the ticketing area and there are staff to assist in purchasing the tickets with your phone. They do not provide free wifi to connect so ensure you have an internet connect on your phone or purchase your tickets in advance. This is the website the QR code leads to (only in mandarin available): http://m.gugong.228.com.cn/#
As you can tell, people are flooding in the forbidden city during summer! Be prepared to battle the crowd for a peek inside a certain palace.
Beihai Park 北海公园
In the morning, locals gather at the park to exercise, practise water calligraphy on the floor, singing and dancing. During summer, you can join activities such as paddling on boats. In the winter, when the lake is frozen, locals flock to the park to do skiing, cycling on ice, skating, bumper car etc.
On top of the exciting activities, the park is one of the oldest and consist of a few attractions where you should not miss such as Circular City, Haopujian Garden, Qionghua Isle (Jade Island), Quiet Heart Studio, Nine Dragon Screen and Five Dragon Pavilions.
A great alternative to this park would be the popular summer palace.
Jiuhuashan Roast Duck 九华山烤鸭
I personally enjoyed Jiuhuashan roast duck very much as it was first introduced to me by a friend who was born and raised in Beijing. The duck is not as oily in comparison to other popular restaurants.
This time in Beijing, it was a last minute decision that we will not be visiting Jiuhuashan roast duck just because our taxi driver recommended us a local place that is just a stone throw away from our accommodation. To locals, going to places such as Jiuhuashan or even the famous chain stores – Dadong (大董烤鸭店) and Quanjude (全聚德烤鸭店) are mainly for the sake of welcoming guests. It’s a Chinese culture to treat their guest at big restaurants as part of their hospitality culture. On regular days, they wouldn’t visit such restaurants.
With that said, there are plenty of options for Peking ducks but be prepared to pay more than ¥200 per duck excluding the side dishes to go with the meat.
Address
55 Zengguang Rd, Haidian Qu, Beijing Shi, China, 100048
增光路55号紫玉饭店1-2楼
Local choice: Dawanju Restaurant 大碗居餐厅东四店
Alternative recommended by our local taxi driver is Dawanju Restaurant (大碗居餐厅东四店) which is slightly cheaper ¥198 inclusive of all side dishes. I highly recommend getting the bones of the duck fried as a separate dish – still one of the best dish I ever had!
Address
Located 2/F of Hotel Dongdan
343 Dongsi N St, DongSi, Dongcheng Qu, Beijing Shi, China, 100001
北京市东城区东四东四北大街343号 邮政编码: 100001
Day 3
Mutianyu Great Wall 慕田峪长城
I bet you can’t leave Beijing without a trip to the great wall. Mutianyu Great Wall is my first choice (because of the toboggan). It’s not the easiest but you’re guaranteed of much lesser tourists and more challenging steps. I went on this route twice.
If you googled the buses that reach to Mutianyu, you will know that you have to transfer in the middle of the main street. However, if you reach the bus station early, there is direct bus 867 from Dongzhimen station to Mutianyu at 7.00am and 8.30am, from April to mid-November only.
If you missed bus 867, you’ll then have to take 961快 and do a transfer which is troublesome because there are many private car drivers who will intercept foreigners before they reach the transfer stop. They will get on the bus and hoax foreigners to get off by offering really ‘cheap’ prices directly to the great wall and saying the bus direct to great is not operating. Only after getting off and stranded nowhere, they will increase the price 3-fold of what you heard. It’s very dishonest but it’s very common. The bus conductor doesn’t care, the locals don’t care because they know it’s targeted at the foreigners. Be cautious and have a firm stand.
Temple of Heaven 天壇
My favourite place out of all attractions (yeah even forbidden city!). Apart from the few attractions within the same area, it also consists of a large garden that shades you from the burning summer sun and provides comfort from just walking through it. Local elderly plays chess, card games and have tea along the pavilions.
The main attraction is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, stunning architecture and much larger than expected. Against the blue skies of Beijing, it’s the perfect photo spot that you should not miss.
Ghost Street 簋街
If you still have some time, you may wish to visit the ghost street. Decorated with red lanterns, the ghost street is bustling 24 hours specialising in Sichuan spicy dishes such as crayfish, grilled fish and bullfrogs.
Address
Dongzhimennei Main Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China
东起二环路东直门立交桥，西到交道口东大街
If you’re interested in history, arts or culture, you could also squeeze a few museum visits. Have fun travelling in the capital city of China!
