5 Days in Beijing and Beyond
Four days covers the monuments and the visa paperwork. Five days lets you add a day that isn’t a monument at all, which matters more than it sounds like it should after four straight days of palaces, walls, and security lines.
| 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 |
| 5 | 798 Art District, Sanlitun |
Book these before you go:
- A Mutianyu Great Wall tour with cable car on GetYourGuide .
- A hotel near Dongcheng or Sanlitun on Agoda .
Landing Logistics, Handled Once
Check the 240-hour visa-free transit rule before you book anything else: 55 nationalities, entry through Capital Airport or Daxing, a confirmed onward ticket to a third country required, clock starting at midnight the day after arrival. A separate 30-day visa-free scheme covers roughly 50 other countries but not the US, confirm which applies via the National Immigration Administration . Get a VPN running and tested before you fly, and link a foreign card to Alipay or WeChat Pay before you leave.
Day 1: Forbidden City, Jingshan, Tiananmen
Book the Forbidden City the second your travel dates are confirmed, tickets drop at 8pm Beijing time exactly seven days ahead through the official site or WeChat. ¥60 peak, ¥40 low, passport required at the Meridian Gate. Jingshan Park (¥2) right after for the rooftop view. Tiananmen Square needs its own reservation and its own security line. Duck dinner at Siji Minfu.
Day 2: The Great Wall
Badaling is the busiest section in the country, closest to Beijing and the default stop for every tour bus, which is the argument against it. Mutianyu, roughly 90 minutes out, entrance ¥45, is well-restored with meaningfully lighter crowds, cable car up (¥100 one-way, ¥140 return), toboggan down.
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 and craft beer wearing a historic street as a disguise. Wudaoying, Fangjia, or the lanes around Houhai are the real thing.
Day 4: Summer Palace and Lama Temple
Summer Palace (¥30 peak, ¥20 low) in the morning, a lake-and-garden estate big enough to eat a full half-day. Lama Temple (¥25 flat) in the afternoon now requires timed-entry booking online for everyone.
Day 5: 798 Art District and Sanlitun
This is the day that isn’t a monument, and you’ll want it by now. 798 Art District in the morning, a converted 1950s factory complex full of contemporary galleries, free to walk, metro to Wangjing South plus a short taxi. Sanlitun in the afternoon and evening, Taikoo Li’s open-air mall for shopping, the bar street nearby if you want a proper night out. Use DiDi rather than flagging a taxi, and link your card through your Alipay or WeChat wallet first, cards added directly inside the DiDi app itself often get blocked by the home bank.
Practical notes. A day with no monument on it isn’t a wasted day on a Beijing-based trip, it’s the day that makes the other four bearable. If five days convinces you the wider country is worth a rail hop, our Beyond Beijing guide covers Xi’an and Tianjin; the 6-day itinerary adds Tianjin as an easy standalone day trip.