Best Itinerary for a 4-Day Beijing Trip: A Self-Guided Travel Guide

Beijing, the imperial capital of our country, boasts a vibrant economy and abundant tourism resources and services, attracting countless domestic and international visitors daily. Home to Tiananmen Square, the magnificent Palace Museum, and the Great Wall, all globally renowned landmarks, here’s a comprehensive self-guided travel guide for your 4-day Beijing adventure.

Recently, I was watching the variety show “We Came,” which featured filming in Beijing. It looked like a lot of fun, and my best friend has been stationed in Beijing for over a year. Her company arranges hotel accommodations, and she’s been inviting me to visit. She promised to cover my lodging expenses.

Thinking that I should visit Beijing at least once in my lifetime, I immediately booked high-speed train tickets. On Friday evening, August 18th, I arrived at Beijing West Railway Station. My lodging was at Ziyu Hotel in Haidian District, about five kilometers away, which was quite convenient!

On the first day, I visited Tiananmen Square. I expressed a desire to witness the flag-raising ceremony, but my husband was reluctant due to the early morning hour. I argued that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that we should show some patriotism. He responded that he lacked patriotism. Oh well, no flag-raising ceremony for us.

In the morning, I made the mistake of wearing eight-centimeter stiletto heels. At the hotel entrance, I reminded my husband to bring along a pair of flats for me, just in case my feet got tired later. He said it wasn’t necessary.

We’d return to the hotel if we got tired, right? Alright, we found a nearby spot for breakfast. We walked into the restaurant at 8:40, seemingly just as they opened. We were the first customers. For breakfast, we ordered beef noodles, meat sandwiches, and millet porridge. After finishing, we took the subway.

We purchased a one-card pass at the subway station. Over the four days, each pass cost approximately 50 yuan. Beijing’s subway system was built relatively early, resulting in old, dimly lit facilities, poor ventilation, and an overall lack of spaciousness, unlike the subway in my hometown of Wuhan, which is expansive, brightly lit, well-ventilated, and equipped with powerful air conditioning!

Upon exiting the subway, Tiananmen Square, the National Museum, and the Memorial Hall were lined up on the three sides of the road. However, the entire road was blocked off. We had to squeeze through a low, rundown underground passage teeming with people. Once outside, we saw countless people queuing up, but we had no idea where they were going.

We rushed to the front and discovered they were lining up for the National Museum, which offered free admission. Those who had made reservations in advance were granted a dedicated entrance, while those without reservations had to wait in a separate line. We don’t know how long we waited, but it was likely an hour or so before we could enter.

We presented our ID cards to exchange for free admission tickets. The museum displayed records and artifacts from China’s historical development, a vast collection that took us over an hour to explore. We then headed to Tiananmen Square and climbed the Tiananmen Gate. The ticket price was 15 yuan. We joined the queue for ticket purchase and bag storage.

Essentially, only cellphones were allowed on the gate. The bag storage line was unbelievably long. We spent about an hour and a half queuing up, waiting, and then collecting our bags. At one point, I almost gave up.

I considered suggesting that we separate and each take a quick look before descending, but my husband insisted on continuing to wait. Afterward, we visited the Palace Museum, only to find out it had a daily limit of 80,000 visitors and required reservations at least a day in advance. We hadn’t made any reservations, so we couldn’t enter. By then, it was already 3:30 pm. We had been walking non-stop, and my feet were aching terribly.

We searched for a place selling slippers in the vicinity of Tiananmen Square but came up empty. We noticed that Wangfujing was nearby, so we hurried over to buy slippers to liberate our feet. Oh, the pain! The entire journey was either walking or queuing, with no space to sit and rest! Entering Tiananmen Square was a challenge, but getting out wasn’t any easier.

We spent 2 yuan on an entry ticket to the Beijing Municipal Workers’ Cultural Palace next door, where we could exit and board the subway. It was the closest exit available. Wangfujing had a snack street, where we indulged in some street food. We wandered around the neighborhood and then visited Xidan. The pedestrian bridge connecting the shopping malls was flooded with rainwater, quite deep.

I was fine in slippers, but my husband’s shoes would get soaked. A crowd of people were slowly wading through the water on the bridge, but no one was clearing the water. We eventually gave up and went to Nanluoguxiang. The main street was packed with people, so crowded that we couldn’t even squeeze into the shops. We opted to explore the alleys ourselves.

We wanted to experience the authentic hutong culture of old Beijing. We enjoyed some buns at the Qinfeng Baozi Shop and donkey meat rolls at a small store nearby. Both were delicious. As darkness fell, we returned to our hotel and had dinner at the Jiuhua Mountain Roast Duck restaurant next door. They closed at 8:30 pm.

My best friend repeatedly cautioned against eating at Quanjude, saying it was a tourist trap. We ordered one duck for two people. We wanted to order more, but the waiter said it was sufficient for us and took away the menu.

It wasn’t cheap either. The bill came to 272 yuan. I never eat roast duck, but this time, I finished the entire duck with my husband. It was delicious. After dinner, we returned to our hotel at 9 pm for a good night’s rest!

Photos from Nanluoguxiang and Jiuhua Mountain Roast Duck!

On the second day, we climbed the Great Wall, visited the Ming Tombs, and explored the Olympic Park, including the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. We woke up at 5:30 am, packed plenty of water and snacks, and took the bus at 6:10 am. We switched to the 897 tourist bus (I’m not entirely sure about the number) at the Drum Tower, heading to the Great Wall. All the passengers were independent travelers.

Each bus had a tour guide who provided information about safety precautions. The journey took about an hour and 15 minutes. We reached the foot of the Great Wall around 8 am. It was too early for breakfast, so I bought a pancake for 10 yuan and took a bite, but it was too salty and not very tasty. My husband bought a bowl of plain noodles for 22 yuan, but he only took one bite before giving up. It was awful.

We ended up eating the fruits and snacks we brought, preparing for our climb. The entrance fee was 40 yuan. We had purchased tickets through Meituan. My husband’s 62 yuan ticket included a takeaway meal from Badaling Restaurant. By then, some people were already descending from the Great Wall. They must have gotten up extremely early to avoid traffic and crowds! We climbed, took photos, and enjoyed the scenery. It was incredibly crowded, and while the Great Wall wasn’t difficult to climb, the congestion made it slow going. We visited Badaling, the most famous and heavily visited section of the Great Wall.

At 10:30 am, we reached the highest point and attempted to take a photo, but everyone behind us formed a sea of faces in the background. We then descended, completing the trip in an hour.

We had the takeaway meal at Badaling Restaurant. My husband said the food was decent, except that the rice was cold. Afterward, we were the only ones in line for the bus to the Ming Tombs. We started queuing at around 12 pm and waited until 1:15 pm, but there were no buses.

In contrast, the buses returning from the Great Wall to Beijing City were lined up, filling up and departing one after another. During our wait, we estimated that about 30 buses had left, but we were still stuck. It felt like an eternity. We estimated that around 400 to 500 people were waiting for the bus to the Ming Tombs. Our tour guide had mentioned that this route had buses every 40 minutes.

After waiting for an hour, I couldn’t take it anymore and called the Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau hotline. I complained that it was sweltering hot, hundreds of people were stranded here, and there were no buses. I wondered if they were stuck in traffic or what. We had all purchased tickets for the next attraction and wouldn’t be able to make it in time, rendering the tickets useless. The operator promised to investigate and reply, but we don’t know if it was luck or coincidence, but a shuttle bus arrived immediately, taking us directly to the Dingling Tomb (the most notable tombs in the Thirteen Tombs are Dingling and Changling, including the Spirit Way). We were packed in like sardines, with roughly 60 to 70 people on board!

We then explored the underground tomb of Emperor Ming. Changling is located above ground and houses precious golden silk larch wood columns. We also visited the Spirit Way. Reaching these three locations required separate bus rides.

After our tour, we walked over two kilometers to reach the subway station. We took the subway to see the night views of the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. Afterward, we ventured into the nearby shopping district and ate at the Huguoci Snack Street. We tried a little bit of everything, but it was disappointing. We only managed one bite of the old Beijing bean juice, the taste, the sourness, it was incredible, so we stuck to the mung bean cakes. We were planning to return to the neighborhood for another delicious meal, but upon checking, it turned out they closed around 9 pm. We were about to give up and eat instant noodles back at the hotel when we spotted a dumpling place and had a few bites. Then, we went back to our hotel to rest. Two days of sightseeing had completely drained us. Our legs were not our own anymore!

On the third day, we explored gardens: the Summer Palace, the Old Summer Palace, and Tsinghua University. We slept in until we woke up naturally, around 9 am. We planned to have some authentic old Beijing Zhajiangmian (noodles with fermented bean paste). We followed the navigation for about a kilometer, but when we reached the restaurant, they told us they didn’t open until 11 am. What?!

Do people here not eat breakfast? We found a place resembling a Lanzhou hand-pulled noodle shop and had a sour cabbage beef noodle soup, which was fantastic. It was the best beef noodle soup I’d ever tasted! We then took the subway to the Summer Palace. Upon entering the station, they required ID checks. It seemed like being out and about in Beijing without an ID card would be a major inconvenience.

The entrance fee to the Summer Palace was 30 yuan. Since buying tickets online involved exchanging them at a ticket window on-site, we didn’t bother with online purchase. The line for on-site ticket purchase wasn’t long, but the line for online ticket exchange had only one window and was ridiculously long! We didn’t buy a combined ticket because we had limited time, and the park was enormous. We wouldn’t have been able to see everything. After walking for 40 minutes, we reached the lake. It was vast, and we decided to take a boat ride. This proved to be a wise decision.

A family of four from northeast China was looking for someone to share a boat with them, so we joined them. It was an electric boat, with a 400 yuan deposit, accommodating six people. The cost was 120 yuan per hour, averaging out to 20 yuan per person. An hour was ample time to enjoy the water. We were returning to shore with about 15 minutes left when we discovered that the boat wouldn’t move. We called for help, and they said the motor might be stuck in some seaweed. They suggested reversing the engine twice, which worked. We made it back to the shore within the allotted time.

Remember that you have to return the boat to the same pier where you boarded it! After disembarking, we looked for the exit and left through the east gate of the Summer Palace. We took the bus to the Old Summer Palace for 25 yuan. The park was also huge, filled with lotus flowers. There was an option to ride a boat on the lotus ponds, for 70 yuan per person, but it was too expensive, so we walked.

We admired the scenery along the way, arriving at the site of the Old Summer Palace. This was all that remained after it was burned, looted, and ravaged, just some stones. The most iconic image from the old textbooks is the only remaining structure. Other than that, there wasn’t much to see. We exited the Old Summer Palace through another gate and crossed the road to Tsinghua University’s northwest gate. The security guard refused our entry.

Another family happened to arrive and pleaded with the guard to allow them to see the campus for a little while, as it would be a shame to miss it. The guard looked at our IDs and let us in.

We strolled around, admiring the library, the athletic field, the auditorium, and the white Tsinghua Garden gate, which was located inside the campus. It was a popular spot for photos. We spent about two hours inside before leaving. We found a long line of people waiting to visit the campus, all being turned away by the security guard.

Tour buses had pulled up, but the passengers were told they couldn’t enter. The tourists got off the buses and took photos at the entrance of Tsinghua University. It was August 21st, and school had just started. The campus was filled with new students in uniforms.

After our visit, we headed out. Peking University was across the street, presumably also off-limits. We took the subway to Nanmen Roast Mutton, a traditional Beijing hot pot restaurant with a copper pot and clear broth, serving authentic Beijing mutton. It was decent, with reasonable prices. Our meal came to 203 yuan.

The boat trip couple had recommended the Laocheng Yi Guo lamb shank soup restaurant, but we didn’t have the time. We noticed that several good restaurants were near our hotel, all within walking distance: Beijing roast duck, Nanmen Roast Mutton, Laocheng Yi Guo lamb shank soup. After dinner, we returned to our hotel. During our sightseeing days, we averaged over 30,000 steps each day. It was quite physically demanding!

Photos from Nanmen Roast Mutton