Beijing
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Beijing - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Old Summer Palace
Haidian DistrictAbout the size of New York's Central Park, this ruin was once a grand collection of palaces—the emperor's summer retreat from the 15th century to 1860, when it was looted and blown up by British and French soldiers. More than 90% of the original structures were Chinese-style wooden buildings, but only the European-style stone architecture survived the fires. Many of the priceless relics that were looted are still on display in European museums, and China's efforts to recover them have been mostly unsuccessful. Beijing has chosen to preserve the vast ruin as a "monument to China's national humiliation," though the patriotic slogans that were once scrawled on the rubble have now been cleaned off.The palace is made up of three idyllic parks: Yuanmingyuan (Garden of Perfection and Light) in the west, Wanchunyuan (Garden of 10,000 Springs) in the south, and Changchunyuan (Garden of Everlasting Spring) where the ruins are like a surreal graveyard to European architecture. Here you'll find ornately carved columns, squat lion statues, and crumbling stone blocks that lie like fallen dominoes. An engraved concrete wall maze, known as Huanghuazhen (Yellow Flower), twists and turns around a European-style pavilion. The park costs an extra Y15 to enter, but it's well worth it. The park and ruins take on a ghostly beauty if you come after a fresh snowfall. There's also skating on the lake when it's frozen over. It's a long trek to the European ruins from the main gate. Electric carts buzz around the park; hop on one heading to Changchunyuan if you feel tired. Tickets are Y5.If you want to save money, travel there by subway; get out at Yuanmingyuan Park Station on Line 4.
28 Qinghua Xilu, Beijing, Beijing, China010-6262–8501Sight Details
Park and sites from Y10 Rate Includes: Apr.–Oct., daily 7–6:30; Nov.–Mar., daily 7–5:30. -
2. Summer Palace
Haidian DistrictEmperor Qianlong commissioned this giant royal retreat in 1750. Anglo–French forces plundered, then burned, many of the palaces in 1860, and funds were diverted from China's naval budget for the renovations. Empress Dowager Cixi retired here in 1889. Nine years later it was here that she imprisoned her nephew, Emperor Guangxu, after his reform movement failed. Nowadays the place is undoubtedly romantic. Pagodas and temples perch on hillsides; rowboats dip under arched stone bridges; and willow branches brush the water. The greenery is a relief from the loud, bustling city. It also teaches a fabulous history lesson. You can see firsthand the results of corruption: the opulence here was bought with siphoned money as China crumbled, while suffering repeated humiliations at the hands of colonialist powers. UNESCO placed the Summer Palace on its World Heritage list in 1998. The Hall of Benevolent Longevity is where Cixi held court and received foreign dignitaries. It's said that the first electric lights in China shone here. Just behind the hall and next to the lake is the Hall of Jade Ripples, where Cixi kept the hapless Guangxu under guard while she ran China in his name. Strung with pagodas and temples, Longevity Hill is the place where you can escape the hordes of visitors. Most of this 700-acre park is underwater. Kunming Lake makes up around three-fourths of the complex, and is largely man-made. The less-traveled southern shore near Humpbacked Bridge is an ideal picnic spot. At the west end of the lake you'll find the Marble Boat, which doesn't actually float and was built by Dowager Empress Cixi with money meant for the navy. The Long Corridor is a wooden walkway that skirts the northern shoreline of Kunming Lake for about half a mile until it reaches the marble boat. Subway Line 4 stops at the Summer Palace. Get off at Beigongmen and take Exit C for the easiest access to the north gate of the park. Otherwise, you'll have to take a taxi. It's best to come early in the morning to get a head start before the busloads of visitors arrive. You'll need the better part of a day to explore the grounds. Automatic audio guides can be rented for Y40 at stalls near the ticket booth.
View Tours and ActivitiesBeijing, Beijing, China010-6288–1144Sight Details
Rate Includes: Y60 summer (all-inclusive); Y50 winter (all-inclusive), Apr.–Oct., daily 6:30–6; Nov.–Mar., daily 7–5 -
3. Beijing Botanical Garden
Haidian DistrictSitting at the feet of the Western Hills in Beijing's northwestern suburbs, the Beijing Botanical Garden, opened in 1955, hosts China's largest plant collection: 6,000 different plant species from all over northern China, including 2,000 types of trees and bushes, more than 1,600 species of tropical and subtropical plants, 1,900 kinds of fruit trees, and 500 flower species. With its state-of-the-art greenhouse and a variety of different gardens, this is a pleasant place to explore, especially in spring, when the peach trees burst with pretty blooms. An added feature is the wonderful Temple of the Reclining Buddha, which has an enormous statue that, it's said, took 7,000 slaves to build.
Beijing, Beijing, 100093, China010-8259–8771Sight Details
Rate Includes: From Y10, 7–5 (outdoor garden) -
4. Big Bell Temple
Haidian DistrictThis 18th-century temple shields China's biggest bell and more than 400 smaller bells and gongs from the Ming, Song, and Yuan dynasties. The Buddhist temple—originally used for rain prayers—was restored after major damage inflicted during the Cultural Revolution. The bells here range from a giant 7 meters (23 feet) high to hand-sized chimes, many of them corroded to a pale green by time.The giant, two-story bell, inscribed with the texts of more than 100 Buddhist scriptures (230,000 Chinese characters), is also said to be China's loudest. Believed to have been cast during Emperor Yongle's reign, the sound of this 46-ton relic can carry more than 15 km (10 miles) when struck forcibly. The bell rings 108 times on special occasions like Spring Festival, one strike for each of the 108 personal worries defined in Buddhism. People used to throw coins into a hole in the top of the bell for luck. The money was swept up by the monks and used to buy food. Enough money was collected in a month to buy provisions that would last for a year. You can ride the subway to the temple: transfer from Dongzhimen on Line 2 to the above-ground Line 13 and go one stop north to Dazhong Si station.
1A Beisanhuanxi Lu, Beijing, Beijing, China010-8213–2630Sight Details
Rate Includes: Y20, Tues.–Sun. 9–4:30 -
5. Five-Pagoda Temple
Haidian DistrictHidden among trees just behind the zoo and set amid carved stones, the temple's five pagodas reveal obvious Indian influences. It was built during the Yongle years of the Ming Dynasty (1403–1424), in honor of an Indian Buddhist who came to China and presented a temple blueprint to the emperor. Elaborate carvings of curvaceous figures, floral patterns, birds, and hundreds of Buddhas decorate the pagodas. Also on the grounds is the Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carvings, with its collection of some 1,000 stelae and stone figures.
24 Wuta Si, Beijing, Beijing, 100081, China010-6217–3543Sight Details
Rate Includes: Y20, Tues.–Sun. 9–4 -
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6. Fragrant Hills Park
Haidian DistrictOnce an imperial retreat, Xiangshan Park is better known as "Fragrant Hills Park." From the eastern gate you can hike to the summit on a trail dotted with small temples. If you're short on time, ride a cable car to the top. Note that the park becomes extremely crowded on pleasant fall weekends, when Beijingers turn out en masse to view the changing colors of the autumn leaves.
40 Maimai Jie, Beijing, Beijing, 100093, China010-6259–1155Sight Details
Rate Includes: From Y10, Daily 6–6 -
7. Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolutions
Haidian DistrictClosed for major renovations, this museum is scheduled to reopen in 2015. Stuffed with everything from AK-47s to captured tanks to missile launchers, this is a must-see for military buffs. Five thousand years of Chinese military history are on display, and kids especially love every minute of it. It's easily accessible by taking a 10-minute subway ride west from Tiananmen Square.
9 Fuxing Road, Beijing, Beijing, 100036, China010-6686–6244Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Tues.–Sun. 8:30–5 -
8. Temple of Longevity
Haidian DistrictA Ming empress built this temple to honor her son in 1578. Qing emperor Qianlong later restored it as a birthday present to his mother. From then until the fall of the Qing, it served as a rest stop for imperial processions traveling by boat to the Summer Palace and Western Hills. The site also served as a Japanese military command center during occupation. Today the temple is managed by the Beijing Art Museum and houses a small but exquisite collection of Buddha images. The statues in the main halls include dusty Ming-period Buddhas and one of Shakyamuni sitting on a 1,000-petal, 1,000-Buddha bronze throne.
Suzhou Jie, Beijing, Beijing, 100081, China010-6842–3565Sight Details
Rate Includes: Y20, Tues.–Sun. 9–4 -
9. Temple of the Reclining Buddha
Haidian DistrictAlthough the temple was damaged during the Cultural Revolution and poorly renovated afterward, the Sleeping Buddha remains. Built in 627–629, during the Tang Dynasty, the temple was named after the reclining Buddha that was brought in during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). An English-language description explains that the casting of the beautiful bronze, in 1321, enslaved 7,000 people. The temple is inside the Beijing Botanical Garden; stroll north from the entrance through the neatly manicured grounds.
Beijing, Beijing, 100093, China010-8259–8771Sight Details
Rate Includes: Temple Y5, gardens Y10, Daily 8:00–4:30
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