●Things to See & Do好玩的
Forbidden City 故宫
Nearly a thousand buildings inside the world's largest imperial palace. Go at opening time, hire a guide at the gate, and let the courtyards do the talking. Read the in-depth guide →
Great Wall at Mutianyu 慕田峪长城
The best-restored section for first-timers — fewer crowds than Badaling, a cable car up, and towers to yourself by late afternoon. Read the in-depth guide →
Hutongs 胡同
The old courtyard lanes behind the avenues. Explore by bicycle or rickshaw, and stop at a hutong home-turned-teahouse.
Temple of Heaven 天坛
Arrive at dawn to watch tai chi and singing birds before the tour groups arrive. The blue-tiled hall is the city's most beautiful roof.
●Food & Drink好吃的
Peking Duck 北京烤鸭
Crisp lacquered skin carved tableside and rolled in thin pancakes with scallion and sweet bean sauce. Eat it where the locals queue.
Zhajiangmian 炸酱面
Noodles tossed in savoury fermented soybean paste with cucumber and beansprouts — the everyday flavour of old Beijing.
Douzhi 豆汁儿
A fermented mung-bean drink, sour and acquired — the city's ultimate test of local credentials. Brave travellers earn bragging rights.
●Folk Customs Few Have Heard Of民间习俗
01
Door piers 门墩儿
The carved stone blocks at hutong gates were a social code: box-shaped for civilian families, drum-shaped for military or aristocratic households. Reading the piers tells you who once lived behind the door.
02
Walking the birds 遛鸟
Old Beijing men stroll the parks with covered birdcages, letting the birds sing in the morning air — a slow-living ritual that has survived every modern upheaval.
03
Liulichang etiquette 琉璃厂
On the antiques street, dealers size up buyers by how they handle objects: turn a vase with two hands, never ask price first, and the conversation changes completely.