Beijing

Beijing

Beijing has been the capital of China for most of the last 800 years, and it still behaves like it. The Forbidden City's 980 buildings, the Temple of Heaven, the summer palaces and the hutongs where families have lived for generations are all inside a city of 21 million people.

And then there's the Great Wall, an hour and a half outside town, which most visitors see at noon in a crowd and remember as a disappointment. Seen at 7 a.m. from Mutianyu, or hiked unrestored at Jinshanling, it's the reason people come to China.

Don't miss

• Mutianyu Great Wall at opening time, then the toboggan down
• The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square with a historian guide
• The Temple of Heaven, where locals still practise tai chi at dawn
• A hutong walk with a courtyard-house visit and a home dinner
• Peking duck, carved at the table, at a restaurant that's been doing it for a century
• The 798 art district, or the Summer Palace if you prefer the classical

How long do you need?

Three nights is the minimum for Beijing done properly — one for the Wall, one for the imperial core, one for the hutongs and the Temple of Heaven. Four lets you add the Summer Palace or a day trip to the Ming Tombs.