One of largest cities on earth, Beijing is a fascinating place that is less dense and more sprawling than you might expect. As China’s capital, the city should be on anyone’s list who is interested in the country, and it’s got several of most famous tourist attractions as well.
While it’s not one of Asia’s most beautiful cities, Beijing is an amazing place that has to be seen to be believed. Most things are much bigger than you’d expect and it goes on forever. This is also the closest and easiest place to see some of the Great Wall of China, which is very worthwhile.
The Forbidden City is in the center of the city and should definitely be toured. Most of all you’ll just be amazed at how everything works in this place that is futuristic and traditional at the same time.
| Population | 22,000,000 |
| Area | 22,000,000 |
| Timezone | UTC+8 |
| Currency | Chinese Yuan |
| Airports | Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) |
You need a reservation to tour the Forbidden City because it’s so popular with Chinese tourists as well as foreigners. It’s not as impressive on the inside, but still worth half a day.
Several of the busiest sections of the Great Wall are just outside of Beijing and can be visited independently or as part of a day tour.
| Rating | Price(USD) |
|---|---|
 | 13.00 - 36.00 |
| 18.00 - 98.00 |
| 29.00 - 150.00 |
| 50.00 - 172.00 |
| 69.00 - 299.00 |
| Type | Price(USD) |
|---|---|
| Hostel Bed | 6.00 - 22.00 |
Food and drinks are also extremely cheap by most Western standards, though you’ll have to pay a fair bit more for menus with English translations in tourist neighborhoods. Street food is hard to find in Beijing, but you can get amazing food bargains if you go to local restaurants with photos and prices rather than English translations.
| Budget breakfast | Chinese-style breakfasts, including noodles, can be very cheap. Western breakfasts will cost much more. | $1.54 - $4.20 |
| Budget lunch | Going to the places where the locals eat will get you great bargains and authentic meals. | $2.38 - $4.90 |
| Budget dinner | As always, bargains are available, but fancier places will charge a lot more. | $3.92 - $7.00 |
| Beer (.33l can) | Beer is much cheaper in restaurants than in bars. | $1.54 - $3.50 |
| Cocktails (glass) | Mixed drinks are available all over at a wide range of prices. | $4.20 - $7.00 |
| Beer (bottle, retail) | $0.56 - $0.84 |
There are bus tours that take you to the Great Wall and make other stops as well. It’s actually much easier to take a tour rather than try it yourself unless you can at least read Chinese characters.
Generally speaking, it’s better to see things in and near Beijing as part of a tour with English language commentary and tours are usually cheaper than going yourself as well.
| Month | High F | Low F | Precip (inches) |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35 | 17 | 0.1 |
| February | 41 | 22 | 0.2 |
| March | 53 | 33 | 0.3 |
| April | 69 | 46 | 0.8 |
| May | 79 | 57 | 1.3 |
| June | 86 | 66 | 3.0 |
| July | 88 | 72 | 7.3 |
| August | 86 | 69 | 6.3 |
| September | 78 | 59 | 1.8 |
| October | 66 | 46 | 0.9 |
| November | 50 | 32 | 0.3 |
| December | 39 | 22 | 0.1 |
Weather in Beijing can be tricky because during the peak summer months of July and August you typically get high temperatures and humidity along with fairly frequent rainfall. With this in mind, April, May, September, and October are generally the best months to visit, with generally pleasant temperatures without much rainfall. Winters get very cold, but at least snowfall rarely accumulates to much.
| 21 Mar | 6:17am | 6:27pm |
| 21 Jun | 4:46am | 7:46pm |
| 21 Sep | 6:01am | 6:14pm |
| 21 Dec | 7:32am | 4:52pm |
The Forbidden City is more or less the center of Beijing and there are many hotels in this area. As long as you are staying within 8 kilometers or so of the center, it doesn’t matter so much where you stay. You’ll almost certainly need to get around by public transportation, and there aren’t many great walking neighborhoods in the city (unlike Shanghai).
Hotels in Beijing typically consider their high season to be the months from May through October, but some start as early as April and go as late as November. Prices between the seasons generally don’t change too much at the budget hotels, though great bargains can appear at the higher end during the low season months from November through March.
| Rating | Price(USD) |
|---|---|
| 13.00 - 36.00 |
| 18.00 - 98.00 |
| 29.00 - 150.00 |
| 50.00 - 172.00 |
| 69.00 - 299.00 |
| Type | Price(USD) |
|---|---|
| Hostel Bed | 6.00 - 22.00 |
You’ll be flying into Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) unless you are already in China. Buses go from the airport into the city center, and they can be somewhat confusing at first so booking a private transfer can be worthwhile on your first visit.
Beijing is huge and very spread out so you’ll want to use the Subway in order to get around quickly. It’s pretty straightforward once you get there.
Taxis are affordable, but they can be almost impossible to flag down if you look like you don’t speak Chinese because almost none of the drivers speaks any English. Booking a ride through a rideshare app is the way to go because you can enter your destination in English and the driver will see it in Chinese so you don’t have to talk to each other.
| Type | Price(USD) |
|---|---|
| Taxi from airport to city center | 9.80 - 16.81 |
| Airport express train to city center | 3.50 |
| Shuttle bus from airport to city center | 2.24 |
| 3km taxi ride in Beijing | 1.96 - 2.80 |
| Subway ride in Beijing | 0.42 - 1.26 |
| Bus ride in Beijing | 0.28 |