Our Five-Day Itinerary, Tourist Spots to Visit in Beijing

A huge country, China is a wonderful destination with magnificent tourist attractions, rich history, ancient cities and beautiful scenery. The country is also packed with new sights and experiences. It’s also home to many heritage sites. I wanted to visit China because of the Great Wall but after spending three full days, I surprisingly got interested to more other places in this country. My friend and I had a great experience spending our time in some of the interesting tourist spots to visit in Beijing. I got amazed that made me wanted to see more beautiful sites and scenic attractions that China has.

It was during the holiday season when my friend and I went to visit China. I was thinking of a place to spend winter and I thought, why not this country? I’ve wanted to see the Great Wall of China. It’s in my bucket list and I thought this would be the perfect timing already to tick that off. Decided that my friend and I would already be spending the holiday season in China, I began looking out for affordable deals online. Luckily I was able to score a great deal after watching the fares for two months. I was able to book roundtrip flight to Beijing for my friend and I with China Eastern Airlines for only about $130 per person.

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My friend and I spent a total of 5 days in China. Three days of which were for sightseeing and two days for our flights and transits. Before our trip, I prepared a list of different tourist spots to visit in Beijing but because of the weather, we only got to see a few. I underestimated winter. It was hard to move around because it was so cold. But that was okay to us. Missing some of the sites means a reason for me to go back.

Tourist Spots to Visit in Beijing

Here are the tourist spots to visit in Beijing that my friend and I were able to explore in three full days.

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City, also known as The Palace Museum, is one of China’s most well known museums. In 1987, it was named as one of China’s UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites. It is located in the heart of Beijing and was home to whole dynasties worth of China’s imperial rulers.

This palace complex is consisting of more than 9,000 rooms that spread over 250 acres. The place is enormous so when visiting this famous site, be prepared to spend at least 3 to 4 hours here. We visited The Forbidden City in the morning and were able to finish around 2:00pm. Inside are garden landscapes and enormous architectural complex. It’s impressively huge city of temples with many buildings, chambers and halls that also contain furniture and works of art.

The Forbidden City is a historical landmark that shouldn’t be missed when in Beijing. Admission ticket to the museum can be purchased online for convenience. You may also book Beijing Palace Museum ticket (The Forbidden City) through this link, which what my friend and I did.

Jingshan Park

After having our lunch, my friend and I went to Jingshan Park. It’s a beautiful royal landscape garden located on a hill. From the peak, it offers visitors full and clear views of the Forbidden City. The park is also a great place to watch the sunset.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square is a historic and massive city square in the center of Beijing. The square contains the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.

Wangfujing Shopping Street

Wangfujing is one of the most famous shopping streets in Beijing, China. The pedestrian street is about 800 meters long located in Dongcheng District. Wangfujing is a popular shopping place for both tourists and residents of the city. It has many stores and malls to shop for clothes, shoes, souvenir items and etc. There’s also a night market with stalls selling exotic street food and snacks.

Mutianyu Great Wall

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A series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials; the Great Wall of China is an ancient world wonder. It’s the most famous site in the country that stretches across the mountains, deserts and grasslands.

The Great Wall of China has several sections to visit such as Badaling, Simatai and Mutianyu. The Mutianyu Great Wall is one of the best preserved and less crowded so we chose this section for our day trip.

My friend and I joined a group tour that we booked online. I wanted a convenient tour for us so this was a perfect arrangement. It already has transfers, tour guide, admission ticket and lunch. But the tour package excludes Cable Car ticket, which can be purchased on site.

It was around 9:00 AM when our group arrived. To get to the Great Wall, one can either hike or ride the cable car. Since hiking up will take 2 hours, all of us in our group chose riding the cable car. But on our way back, there’s a Toboggan. My friend and I tried this slide on our way down. It was an exciting ride, I must say.

Our group had two to three hours to explore. I was excited to walk around and take photos already of this amazing site. Seeing the Great Wall of China in person, I couldn’t help but be stunned. After our tour guide explained some information about this historical site, my friend and I then started walking up and down the Great Wall. There wasn’t much tourist that time yet so our experience was also very relaxed. We ended up having too much photos after two hours exploring Mutianyu Great Wall.

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is an imperial complex of religious buildings. It is considered the most holy of Beijing’s imperial temples. This huge complex is composed of three main parts – Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar.

We visited this historical place early morning. It’s a huge place so prepare at least 3 hours to explore the area.

Summer Palace

Summer Palace is a lakefront attraction renowned for its decorative temples & artworks plus its lavishly landscaped grounds. We visited this place right after Temple of Heaven. It’s far from downtown area of Beijing but can be reached easily by bus and trains.

I liked this place because of the ensemble of lakes, gardens, pavilions, temples and palaces. Inside the complex are also several historic buildings. One of the important features here is the Tower of Buddhist Incense. Too bad, we didn’t able to get inside because it was already closed. But I was still glad because I had a nice photo overlooking the tower. It was a great way to end our trip.

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These are just some of the tourist spots to visit in Beijing that my friend and I were able to go. There are still a lot to see such as Qianmen Street, Lama Temple, Confucius Temple, Fragrant Hills Park and Beijing National Stadium.

Here’s my sample itinerary that you may also use for your future trip to Beijing.

Day 1

• Flight from Clark to Beijing with China Eastern Airlines
• Check in at Sicily Hotel Beijing

Day 2

• The Forbidden City
• Jingshan Park
• Tiananmen Square

Day 3

• Mutianyu Great Wall
• Wangfujing Shopping Street

Day 4

• Temple of Heaven
• Summer Palace

Day 5

• Flight back to the Philippines

Flights – From The Philippines to Beijing, China

Here’s a list of airlines servicing routes from Manila, Clark or Cebu to Beijing.

• Air China
• Cebu Pacific Air
• China Eastern Airlines
• China Southern Airlines
• Philippine Airlines
• Xiamen Air

You may also use the flight search below to find cheaper fares for flights to Beijing, China.

Accommodations – Hotel Options in Beijing

My friend and I stayed at Sicily Hotel Beijing for 5 days. It’s a budget hotel near city center offering clean, nice and comfortable private rooms. For more hotel options in Beijing, please find accommodations using the Agoda search box below.

Tours – Book through Klook

Discover Beijing by booking amazing travel experiences with Klook. Find the best activities, attractions and fun things to do with exclusive discounts.

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Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. For more information, see my disclosures here.