4 Days in Beijing and Beyond
Four days is the sweet spot for a Beijing-based trip: long enough for the headline sights without rushing, short enough that the visa and payment groundwork still has to happen before you land, not on day one.
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Visa check, Forbidden City, Jingshan, Tiananmen |
| 2 | Great Wall at Mutianyu |
| 3 | Temple of Heaven, real hutongs |
| 4 | Summer Palace, Lama Temple |
Book these before you go:
- A Mutianyu Great Wall tour with cable car on GetYourGuide .
- A hotel near Dongcheng on Agoda .
Before You Land
Confirm you qualify for the 240-hour visa-free transit: 55 nationalities, entry through Capital Airport or Daxing, a confirmed onward ticket to a third country, clock starting at midnight the day after you arrive. A separate 30-day visa-free scheme covers roughly 50 other countries with no onward-ticket requirement, but not the US, check both against your passport via the National Immigration Administration . Set up and test a VPN before you fly, and bind a foreign card to Alipay or WeChat Pay ahead of time.
Day 1: Forbidden City, Jingshan, Tiananmen
Book tickets the moment your dates are fixed, they release at 8pm Beijing time exactly seven days out through the official site or WeChat. ¥60 peak, ¥40 low season, actual passport at the Meridian Gate. Climb Jingshan Park (¥2) directly after, then Tiananmen Square on its own separate WeChat reservation. Dinner at Siji Minfu for Peking duck.
Day 2: The Great Wall
Skip Badaling, the closest section and the busiest by a wide margin. Mutianyu, about 90 minutes out, entrance ¥45, well-restored, real crowd relief, cable car up (¥100 one-way, ¥140 return) and toboggan down. Arrive at opening, plan nothing else around it.
Day 3: Temple of Heaven and the Real Hutongs
Temple of Heaven in the morning (¥15 park-only, ¥34 combined peak). Skip Nanluoguxiang for the afternoon hutong walk, it’s souvenir shops wearing a historic street as a disguise. Wudaoying and Fangjia Hutong, or the backstreets around Houhai, are the real thing.
Day 4: Summer Palace and Lama Temple
Summer Palace in the morning (¥30 peak, ¥20 low), a lake-and-palace estate large enough that half a day disappears fast. Lama Temple in the afternoon (¥25 flat), timed-entry booking required online for every visitor now, reserve a day or two ahead. If you’re flying onward, Sanlitun’s Taikoo Li mall is the easiest last-minute shopping stop near the airport road.
Practical notes. Everything runs on the yuan, and Alipay or WeChat Pay linked to a foreign card covers nearly everything. If four days is the start of a longer trip, our Beyond Beijing guide covers the rail hops to Xi’an and Tianjin; the 5-day itinerary adds a full breather day at 798 and Sanlitun before any of that.